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The Roundtable

Better go and grab it: Krystal Joy Brown in "Merrily We Roll Along" on Broadway

By Sarah LaDuke
Published May 8, 2024 at 11:33 AM EDT
Krystal Joy Brown and Jonathan Groff
Matthew Murphy
Krystal Joy Brown and Jonathan Groff in MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG on Broadway

Following sold-out runs in London and at the New York Theatre Workshop, the current revival of “Merrily We Roll Along” is a sensation of this Broadway season. The production at The Hudson Theatre has extended and been nominated for numerous awards including 5 Drama League Nominations and 7 Tony Award Nominations. Maria Friedman is nominated for Direction of a Musical and the show is nominated for Best Revival.

“Merrily We Roll Along” has music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth. The plot of Merrily moves backwards in time and charts the turbulent relationship between three lifelong friends — played by Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez.

This is actor, composer, writer and activist Krystal Joy Brown’s sixth Broadway show with previous outings as Eliza in “Hamilton,” Diana Ross in “Motown,” Josephine in “Big Fish,” Ornella in “Leap of Faith,” and Dionne/Abe Lincoln in “HAIR.” In Merrily, she plays Gussie. Her portrayal is stunning, sultry, and dimensional.

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The Roundtable merrily we roll alongstephen sondheimkrystal joy brownmusical theatrebroadwaygeorge furthmaria friedman
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Sarah LaDuke
Sarah has been a public radio producer for over fifteen years. She grew up in Saranac Lake, New York where she worked part-time at Pendragon Theatre all through high school and college. She graduated from UAlbany in 2006 with a BA in English and started at WAMC a few weeks later as a part-time board-op in the control room. Through a series of offered and seized opportunities she is now the Senior Contributing Producer of The Roundtable and Producer of The Book Show. During the main thrust of the Covid-19 pandemic shut-down, Sarah hosted a live Instagram interview program "A Face for Radio Video Series." On it, Sarah spoke with actors, musicians, comedians, and artists about the creative activities they were accomplishing and/or missing.
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