| A post directed at no one, in particular, in this thread. Just some thoughts. | |
| Posted by: garyd 09:14 pm EDT 07/11/23 | |
| In reply to: re: “MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG” EXTENDS BROADWAY RUN - Chromolume 04:55 pm EDT 07/11/23 | |
|
|
|
| By just about any definition, Frank is the protagonist. Furthermore, his actions and his relatable character flaw, influence the character arc of both Mary and Charlie. This is Frank’s story. However, the brilliance of the musical,is the character exposition of both Mary and Charlie. The audience is offered the opportunity to feel empathy for all three. The musical presents us, in the end, with three people who meet ( yes, Frank and Charlie already know one another) due to a global ,almost,cosmic ,event that suggests the metaphoric possibility for exciting change. Thanks to serendipitous artistic goals, they become best friends and form an alliance. The story then beautifully moves from the cosmic to the human as one character , Frank, influences the dramatic arc of the other two characters. The true brilliance is that all three share in the degradation of the friendship/alliance even though both Mary and Charlie remain caught in Frank’s gravitational pull. Mary primarily due to unrequited love? (a weakness in the book, I think) and Charlie for perhaps more aesthetic reasons. Charlie does become artistically and financially independent in his own right but continues to feel betrayed by Frank. The original production attempted to introduce the optimism and, perhaps naïve though sincere, idealism of youth as a reminder of the original intent of the nascent Frank/Charlie/Mary alliance and friendship. But that is a discussion for a different time and place. Merrily is an important piece of the musical theatre canon with a score that, arguably, conveys the story far beyond the weakness of the book. (And yes, I am cognizant of the fact that the book provided the basis for the brilliance of the score). Which actors receive Tony nominations in which categories seems beside the point. Feel free to respond. I'm no expert. |
|
| reply | |
|
|
|
| Previous: | re: “MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG” EXTENDS BROADWAY RUN - Chromolume 04:55 pm EDT 07/11/23 |
| Next: | re: “MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG” EXTENDS BROADWAY RUN - showtunesoprano 11:34 am EDT 07/11/23 |
| Thread: | |
Time to render: 0.009598 seconds.