Merrily We Roll AlongProgram Cover
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by George Furth
Based on the original play by George S. Kaufman and Max Hart
Review by Ernest Edwards
Lyric Arts 2026/2027 season is off to a strong start with the Stephen Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along.
If you have never heard of Merrily We Roll Along before, it focuses on the friendship of three friends Charlie (Noah Hynick), Frank (Brandn Veerman) and Mary (Maureen O’Malley). The story flows backwards from 1976 back to 1957. The musical asks the questions “How did you get to be hear?” “What was the moment?” As the show progresses, we see the moments that shaped the journey the characters take during the musical.
In addition to the talented cast, what really brings this show together is the costumes designed by Eleanor Schanilec. With the story taking place in the 1960’s and 1970’s, we get see some great fashions from those time periods. Scenic Designer Greg Vanselow and Projections Designer Brady Whitcomb do a great job of showing us the Hollywood Hills in the 1970’s and various locations for NYC in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The scene change choreography during the interludes was fun to watch.
This musical contains some of the Stephen Sondheim songs like “Not Day Goes By”, “Old Friends”, “Merrily We Roll Along”, “We Got a Good Thing Going”, “Our Time” and many more.
Let’s talk about this cast! Noah Hynick as Charlie is the one to watch during this musical. He has so many great moments. One of the his best moments is the song “Franklin Shehard, Inc”. Emily Grodzik plays Gussie, Steven Ramirez plays Joe, Faith Winship Smith plays Beth. For last nights production Frank Jr was played by Jaxson Kingdon. Maureen O’Malley as Mary, brings a lot to the story. She is the glue that tries so hard to keep Charlie and Frank together through thick and thin. Brendan Veerman plays Frank. Frank goes through a lot throughout with this musical. There’s a range of emotions that Frank goes through and Brendan Veerman is able to take us on along on Frank’s journey. The rest of the ensemble does an amazing job rounding out the rest of the cast in the musical.
What Stephen Sondheim and George Furth do with this with this musical, is they start with a dark future
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| Photo by Dan Norman |
and take us back to the beginning where the future is bright and optimistic.
Spoiler Alert! Director Scott Ward adds a moment at the end where he has the cast freeze, and Frank steps out and looks at the stage and is filled with a wave of emotion. Like Frank has been able to look back on his life and where it has lead. Does he have regrets? He just might. I have never seen a production with that for the ending before, it’s a quite powerful.
This is one of my favorite musicals. It’s a mix of the songs, the core characters, and telling the story backwards that seems to hit all the right moments to me.
Merrily We Roll Along plays through October 4, 2026. Check out www.lyricarts.org for tickets.
