“Merrily We Roll Along” is a musical with a book by George Furth and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by Kaufman and Hart. The musical ran on Broadway for only 16 performances in 1981 - a disappointment movingly chronicled by original cast member Lonnie Price in the documentary film, “The Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened” -- which is available to stream on Netflix.
Roundabout Theatre Company’s company in residence, Fiasco Theater, is shifting ground and opening a new version of the show off-Broadway at Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre. Previews begin tomorrow. In 2014, Fiasco and Roundabout collaborated on an innovative and lively production of “Into The Woods,” - another Sondheim show.
Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld are co-Artistic Directors of Fiasco Theater, along with Jessie Austrian. For this production, Brody directs and Steinfeld plays Franklin Shepard.
Fun fact: The show’s Music Director is Alexander Gemignani who’s also providing Orchestrations & New Arrangements. His father, the great Paul Gemignani was the Music Director on the original production.
