Merrily We Roll Along

by Stephen Sondheim

The much-beloved musical by Stephen Sondheim and GeorgeFurth, available again in print for the first time in 20 years.Written over forty years ago, Sondheim and Furth’s spirited and affecting Merrily We Roll Along boasts an innovative structure that begins in the present and moves backwards in time over 20 years, tracing the personal and professional lives of a successful producer and composer and his two (now estranged) friends. With wit, irony, and a crackling score by Sondheim, Merrily poignantly captures the ways success can corrupt youthful ideals, and crumble the foundations of friendship in its wake.

Genres: Plays, Theatre

Paperback

First published November 1, 1999

About the author

Stephen Joshua Sondheim was an American musical and film composer and lyricist, winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards (seven, more than any other composer), multiple Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize. He has been described as the Titan of the American Musical.

His most famous scores include (as composer/lyricist) A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, and Assassins, as well as the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy. He was president of the Dramatists Guild from 1973 to 1981.

Reviews

[Eva B.]

Merrily fans, we may be cooked. I don't think this is EVER coming out :/ seems unavailable wherever I look.

I actually almost auditioned for a local-ish production of Merrily back in December, but ended up missing the audition because a school shooting happened on the one day I would've been able to make the audition and so that sort of took precedence.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

So the scenes are written in reverse chronological order. The first few scenes I was pretty "meh" on the whole thing. And then about half-way into Act I, all the pieces start fitting together more neatly and you can pick up on all the story-threads and the foreshadowings, and that's when it gets interesting. Then, you get to Act II and every scene from then on just starts filling in huge chunks of backstory and giving you the origins of the things that have meaning. Consequently, the scenes shatter your heart more and more the further on you go, until you're in the last scene and you're a puddle of useless emotions left longing to have more time back at the beginning to straighten the characters out and get them closer to how they once were. Because they have a truly, tragically beautiful friendship that you have to see come apart at the seams.

[Sam Goldberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

An an absolute treasure. Really interesting read! It takes time to adjust to the backwards, anti-chronological progression, but eventually it really pays off in this emotionally perceptive, poignant and thought provoking piece of theatrical literature. No dought a valuable contibution to the 20th century canon of post-modern art!

[Anonymous Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute poetry. I have watched this musical countless times but I’ve also read the script some times on its own and I have nothing to say except that it is poetry. And that we should start giving George Furth credit for this, and he did NOT ruin the musical with the book. Where else would we get these hilarious one-liners? Nowhere else but Furth’s unusual but great sense of humor. I recommend this and not ironically for once!

[Hailee Medaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

i will never understand how this show wasn’t appreciated at first

[jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

tentative 3.75/5 for book and lyrics- i'll finalize once our run is finished!