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| re: “Merrily We Roll Along” — Maria Friedman-directed: Why no cast recording? (I know — it’s the economy, stupid..) | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 12:20 pm EST 11/22/18 | |
| In reply to: re: “Merrily We Roll Along” — Maria Friedman-directed: Why no cast recording? (I know — it’s the economy, stupid..) - Unhookthestars 02:10 pm EST 11/19/18 | |
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| I would be honestly interested to hear some explication, maybe with some details, of the way in which you and other feel that Maria Friedman "found a key" into the story of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG that hadn't been found before, because I didn't see that based on the cinecast. | |
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| re: “Merrily We Roll Along” — Maria Friedman-directed: Why no cast recording? (I know — it’s the economy, stupid..) | |
| Posted by: Unhookthestars 02:48 am EST 11/24/18 | |
| In reply to: re: “Merrily We Roll Along” — Maria Friedman-directed: Why no cast recording? (I know — it’s the economy, stupid..) - Michael_Portantiere 12:20 pm EST 11/22/18 | |
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| As I’ve acknowledged above, I’ve actually never seen a live production of Merrily. In fact, the Friedman telecast is the first full mounting I’ve ever watched. I just wanted to highlight that full disclosure before I try to answer your question. When I agreed with another poster that Friedman seemed to have “found a key” into the story, all I was saying was – with minor quibbles – this version worked for me pretty much from beginning to end both structurally and emotionally. Perhaps my reaction has partly to do with all the “bad publicity” about the “problematic” nature of the show I’ve heard and read about over the years. Maybe I was expecting the show to be confusing in parts, this possibility having been hammered into me so often. Maybe I was expecting not to be as moved by the ending -- as the creators presumably hoped the audience would be -- because of the episodic nature of the story. Maybe I was expecting the three actors wouldn’t come across as such tight, life-long friends, rendering their falling out less heartbreaking than it could have been. None of these fears came true. I totally believed in the story and the characters. Because it’s the day after Thanksgiving and I’m feeling a food coma coming on, I’m going to be lazy and quote a post I made above citing an example of one way I think this production worked: “Personally, I loved Friedman’s choices. Just as an example, you can see through many little moments throughout the show how Mary is/has been pining for Frank over the years. You notice this in subtle glances, gestures, and line readings in ‘Now You Know,’ ‘Opening Doors,’ and ‘Our Time.’ It’s true that this is the only complete production of Merrily I’ve ever seen and that I only have YouTube clips of other versions as a point of comparison, but I felt this mounting succeeded in clearly and movingly conveying the friendship, love and resentment among the principal characters. In contrast -- and to take just one specific number as an example -- the Kennedy Center version of ‘Now You Know’ seems overchoreographed and way too ‘Broadway’ (in a bad way) to bring out the intended emotions. For what it’s worth, I also thought the KC ‘Opening Doors”l’ was overchoreographed. But again, I’m only going by YouTube clips, so feel free to take these comparisons with a grain of salt.” An insight I read in a review also made sense to me: The actors were clearly directed to be frequently and affectionately touching each other — and now I’m giving my own examples of this — whether it’s one character slinging his/her arm over another’s shoulder, Charley grabbing and playing with Frank’s shirt collar as a sign of affection, Charley and Mary playfully kissing Frank in the middle of “Now You Know” while singing “and after all you, you still got us,” or Charley smiling at Frank while singing “Good Thing Going” and the two friends hugging at the end of the song. Going back to Mary’s unrequited love for Frank, during “Opening Doors,” we see that Frank and Beth are showing signs of the beginning of a romantic relationship as Frank is teaching her the numbers for the revue they’re rehearsing. At some point during the song, Mary sneaks a disapproving look at the couple, obviously jealous at their budding romance. Then, at the end of the number as the four characters are lined up in front of the stage and about to hit the final note, Frank looks lovingly at Beth and slings his arm around her shoulder, at which point Mary grabs his arm and raises it in a sign of victory — victory at doors now opening again for the group of friends — but also of disapproval for Frank and Beth’s growing romance, the gesture cutting off their physically intimacy. I loved the double meaning of that gesture. Again, the only thing I have to compare this to is a clip of the same number from the Kennedy Center version, so I’m not claiming to be any expert on how this number has been staged in past revivals. All I can say is that while the KC revival got the humor and cleverness of the song, the love triangle wasn’t at all exploited. The fact that Friedman’s production did made the moment during the subsequent “Our Time” scene when Frank tells Mary that “I just met the girl I ought to marry” just much more poignant. Long story short: The accumulation of effective directorial decisions made the entire evening work for me, leaving me in a puddle by the time curtain closed. Whether similar choices have been made in past productions is not something I’m privy to, so I freely acknowledge that others might have found previous revivals just as riveting for having delved into the book/text at least as deeply. |
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