by David Slifer

From Feb. 22 to Feb. 24, the Greensboro College theatre department put on its production of “Merrily We Roll Along,” a musical written by accomplished playwright George Furth and well-known composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim. The show was directed by David Schram, assistant directed by Rebecca Hawkes, music directed by Blake Moran and choreographed by Ashley Hyers.

The play follows the rise and fall of the friendship of Franklin Shepard, Charley Kringas and Mary Flynn. We get a look at their lives, mainly Frank’s, but in reverse. From the perspective of the character Frank, we see that he has made it to the top and has everything you think he could want except, this is actually all a lie and an act that he is putting on. The show continues on and we see how he ended up where he is at the beginning, and what relationships he ended to get to where he is.  

When it first opened in 1981, the show did not do as well as Sondheim and Furth had hoped. Since then though, the show has gained popularity over the years and is currently being performed on Broadway by stars Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsey Mendez. This version, along with Greensboro College’s version, shows how far the show has come since then. Many places perform this show and it continues to gain more acknowledgement and popularity. 

The cast of this show on campus included Demari Jackson as Franklin Shepard, Ash Christian as Charley Kringas, Haley Mosteller as Mary Flynn, Rebecca Hawkes as Gussie Carnegie, Jalen Troublefield as Joe Josephson and Breanna Jones as Beth. The ensemble cast included Eli Brown, Gabby Iwaszkiewicz, Will Hoard, Ariana Avila, Lexi Chester, John Dibbins, Brook Dunlap, Anthony Rose, ShaMeira Williams and Jackie Deane. Everyone had a moment to shine in this show and this cast did such a great job at telling this story and bringing the emotion needed in each scene. 

The show had an amazing set that was designed by Professor Sean Saari. A cool aspect that was part of the set was a wagon system. Parts of this show, such as the greenhouse, make-up room and news platform were all on a wagon. This was a great way to easily change the setting and help the audience understand the area around the setting. Another great aspect of this set was the structure at the back of the stage which represented the apartment that Frank was living in. Behind the glass frames of the structure, you could see buildings representing the setting of New York City. Another fun part of this show that made it more unique than most musicals performed by the theatre department was the inclusion of a live orchestra. The music director Blake Moran, along with six other talented musicians, helped bring this show to life by performing the music.  

The actors did a phenomenal job singing and acting out the music. One song that really stuck out to me was “Franklin Shepard Inc.,” sung and performed by sophomore student Ash Christian. The scene playing out during this song is an interview of Frank and Charley on live television, and there is high tension between the two. The entire song is a vent session by Charley, ranting about how Frank does not have time anymore to work together on their shows. The physicality that Christian, who plays Charley, brought to this song really made it stand out. His character is mentally and physically done with putting up and being put low on Frank’s priority list, and Christian perfectly demonstrated this, singing the song in such an impressive manner.

This show can be confusing at times as it is not like most shows. Instead of going from beginning to end, it goes from the end to the beginning. There was a specific moment that helped viewers realize that this was the ending of the show. In that scene, the three main characters are on the rooftop singing about how nothing will be the same for them as they start this new friendship and journey. At the end, all the characters except Frank leave the stage. This is not a story with a happy beginning or happy ending. This scene is when the audience realizes that this was all a reflection and that Frank is all alone now.  

This was a great and unique show put on by the theatre department. The story was carried out greatly and the cast and crew did a great job at putting this on. If you did not get a chance to see this show, there are three more shows lined up for this year: “CabaREVUE,” “Communicating Doors” and “The Ties That Bind.” This has been such an amazing year of production for the theatre department, and we cannot wait to see what else they have in store.