Merrily We Roll Along

COS productions

Merrily We Roll Along      The Barn Theatre, Cirencester                May11th 2019

Director: Bob Hills          Assisted by: Belinda Ogle-Skan

MD: Richard Abrams

The show opens in 1976 at a party to celebrate the premier of the latest film of wealthy producer Franklin Shepard, and then moves backwards in time to 1957, when he was a penniless composer, showing important events, which have shaped his life.

The set had been extremely cleverly designed to give maximum adaptability.  There was a cyclorama at the back of the stage for the use of mood changing colour washes, a slightly raised area at the back, a permanent structure stage left, which showed the dates as the action moved backwards, two very versatile constructions, which were on casters and could be moved, turned around and had fold out flaps, one housing a piano, and then pieces of furniture were brought on as necessary.  All the scene changes were done swiftly and efficiently by the cast, it all worked very well.  The wardrobe and makeup teams had done an excellent job producing costumes, hairstyles and makeup, which rooted the action to the correct period of time, which was constantly changing.  The lighting was well designed and operated helping to establish the right atmosphere.  The sound was well operated with well-cued effects and good balance between voices and musicians.  The props team had provided well-sourced items, which were in keeping with the era.

As always with Sondheim the music is challenging, but both musicians and singers rose to that challenge to produce some lovely harmonies and individual singing.  Musical Director, Richard Abram’s, had obviously worked hard with everyone, I did not know the show and was relying on the singers to tell the story and I heard almost every word.  The solos and small group numbers were very clearly sung, and all with such sincerity.  As Richard was also taking the role of Franklin Shepard he was not always available to conduct, and first keyboard player Sian Noctor did sterling work controlling everything while he was performing.

The show was well cast and had attracted some new faces.  The show presents some interesting challenges to the principals, as usually, with a show, which covers a long period of time, you expect a character to develop and become stronger, but with this one, they had to become more naïve versions of themselves.  Richard Abrams did an amazing job switching between acting and conducting, accompanying himself on keyboard and his costume changes.  Whenever he left the musicians he was immediately in character.  The other members of the cast gave good performances in their cameo roles.  They all worked very hard with their many appearances, costume changes and set changes.

Director Bob Hills, had designed a clever, workable set and helped his cast create well-rounded, believable characters.  This is one of Sondheim’s less well-known and infrequently performed musicals and the company were brave to take on the challenge.  I do not think the show can be fully understood at one sitting, as the concept of going backwards in time and ending at the beginning of the story is alien to most people; but I did enjoy the opportunity to see it.  Well done everyone.

 

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