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| re: MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG -- Can the Original 1981 Version Ever Be Shown Again? | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 08:36 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 08:29 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
| In reply to: re: MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG -- Can the Original 1981 Version Ever Be Shown Again? - comedywest 07:53 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| At the end of the day, my final thought is a simple but mighty one... it is that whatever they think they fixed in act one or even the first half of act 2, gutting and undoing the incredible and unique emotional momentum and impact of the last few scenes/songs nullifies any good any other rewriting did or is said to have done for the show. It is now a hollow shell of what it once was, flaws and all. And of course that is only achieved from setting up certain things in act one, like the graduation opening scene. And I don't think most of the revisions before the last 1/4 of the show are improvements, mostly I think they have weakened and worsened it. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Furth especially, and Sondheim, were so traumatized and scarred by the experience of how the broadway production went after the first preview that their vision was clouded and tainted irrevocably. They were no more able to revise it for the better than they were able to see it for what it was anymore. In my estimation. Watching the Merrily documentary film is all the more heartbreaking to see them and Hal discussing what they intended, why the wrote the show, what they were doing... because in their trauma-fueled rewriting and re-seeing of it, they betrayed so much, and so much that was essential, to why the piece came into existence and why they wrote it originally the way they did, and what about it worked (so much). Just simplified, to have an original production that has such an unusual conceit of the young cast AND the backwards timeline together, in a production that doesn't try out anywhere before opening directly on broadway, AND to have the legendary director have a creative breakdown and sabotage the entire endeavor with his last minute changes to the look and feel of the show... I mean, it's absolutely bonkers that Sondheim & Furth never let that version of the script and score be produced by another director without the T-shirts etc, to see if it works as is, or as a 80% foundation that works but needed a bit more revising/polishing... but they wrote the entire thing off. The issue, I really maintain, was much more the production mixed with the reception at the time on Broadway, not the SHOW. The show was not something that even should have been on Broadway. It should exist as it was and performed *IN SCHOOLS* or in regional and community theaters by a cast of young people... where the audience understands the conceit going in. This wasn't meant to be a musical for 40 year olds to perform all the roles, and it doesn't work this way any more than it did with 22 year olds. But the 22 year olds version... where it works, it works exponentially better and with more emotional impact and creativity than the 40 years version ever does. It's such a shame. And you know what... given that the show still works backwards and still has the same actors playing all ages of the timeline, including the young versions... so there's no real reason the show can't STILL start with a graduation, why did they think it had to start in Frank's home for the movie party? |
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