Merrily We Roll Along -

Unlike almost any other show in the canon, Merrily We Roll Along moves . We start in 1976 at a lavish Hollywood party, watching three friends—Franklin Shepard (a sell-out movie producer), Charley Kringas (the hot-headed lyricist he abandoned), and Mary Flynn (a novelist who has drowned her talent in gin). They hate each other now.

Telling a story in reverse is a gimmick in lesser hands. In Sondheim’s, it’s a scalpel. We know where these people end up. We see Frank as a soulless producer before we see him as a hopeful pianist. So when young Frank makes a small compromise—skipping a rehearsal for a TV gig, taking an easy paycheck "just this once"—the audience doesn’t see a mistake. We see the first crack in a dam that will eventually drown his soul. Merrily We Roll Along

Here’s the miracle: Merrily refused to stay dead. Unlike almost any other show in the canon,