If Only The Heights Players Could Have Extended The Run, Or Moved This To Another Venue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             When I found out The Heights Players were going to be doing Sondheim's "Merrily We Roll Along," after the extraordinary Broadway production and film version thereof that I had seen, my first thought was they had to be kidding.  And questions abounded in my head--which version were they going to do?  Because before Maria Friedman put her definitive stamp on it, each iteration I had seen was different in so many ways. What songs?  What kind of presentation?  And after the magnificent work Friedman had done with it, the last thing I wanted to see now was a trumped up 'Merrily.'

                               Well, darlings, look at the egg on my face!  This 'Merrily' was the best thing I think I have ever seen The Heights Players do!!!!!!!!!!!  I am prejudiced on behalf of the show, which may have something to do with it--having seen the original 1981production twice!!!!!!!!!  And then the celebrated Original Cast Album, which certified its cult status, leading to future productions.

                                  Girls, I am happy to report that director Marie Igrisano Isner has done right by the show.  She has given audiences the 2023 production that knocked every one of us who saw it off our feet.  The leads are terrific, and she even dresses Sean Costello and Alex Cook similarly to Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe, playing Franklin and Charley. The costumes here were designed by Andrea Bernardo and Sarazina Joy Stein, who do not get hung up on time periods, but have everyone dress representationally.  Which is pretty much the way Isner stages the show, and it works wonderfully, allowing the characters and songs to come through as they should.

                                      Kudos must also go to Kat Sinclair for playing Mary differently.  For starters, she is not plus sized, which frees up the role, demonstrating all you need for Mary is a terrific actress and singer.  Kat's reprise version of "Not A Day Goes By" broke my heart, as did Cook's rendition of "Good Thing Going.  Note how this song is threaded throughout the production--first as a series of notes by Frank, then Cook's rendition, Gussie's torch version, and then listen to "Who wants to live in New York?"  It is "Good Thing Going" with an up tempo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                      It is interesting the leads are miked, but the ensemble is not.  Words are important with all Sondheim shows and I think the director and musical director Anne Rebold wanted to make sure the beauty of both the music and lyrics came through as clearly as possible.  A wise decision.

                                      'Merrily' is a very personal show for me.  I feel as though I was in on it from the beginning, when, back in 1980, 1981, a coworker of mine at the NYU Bookstore kept auditioning for something but would not tell us what.  When she was cast and told us we were all excited and I was excited about the new Prince-Sondheim show.  Of course, I had heard all the negative stuff prior, but when I saw it the first time, I loved the performers, and I loved the score.  But what was not right was Prince's staging, because he, of all people, was not able to find the proper way to stage it.  And neither were the other iterations I eventually saw.  To think it took 42 years, and Maria Friedman, to get it right. I am so thankful I lived to see it.

                                        The show is very personal also as it causes me to reflect back.  I will say this--the older I get, and the further 'Merrily' moves back, the more it breaks my heart.  When I saw it in 1981, I thought of "Our Time" as a beautiful song.  Now, decades later, it moves me so, making me wonder did I do the right things with my time???????????  Rather like in "A Chorus Line," with "What I Did For Love?," or when one of the dancers says, "These bodies don't last forever."  Both resonate for me now, when they did not back in 1975.

                                           This 'Merrily' has closed, and I wish it could have been extended so others could have seen it.  It will be a benchmark in the history of The Heights Players, and I have come to believe henceforth that this will be the show's definitive version.

                                              May future productions find equally extraordinary casts as this one.  I know the talent is out there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!