Merrily We Roll Along premiered on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on November 16, 1981, with book by George Furth and direction by Harold Prince. It closed after 16 performances and 52 previews — the most devastating failure of Sondheim’s career. The show has been revised extensively since and received its vindication in the 2023 Broadway revival (transferred from London), which won five Tony Awards and ran over a year.
The structure (from the 1934 Kaufman and Hart play of the same name) tells the story backward: we begin in 1980 with Franklin Shepard, a wealthy Hollywood producer, at a disastrous party. Then we move backward through time — 1976, 1973, 1968, 1964, 1962, 1957 — watching Frank’s friendships disintegrate, his marriage fail, his artistic principles erode, until we reach 1957: three young friends on a rooftop after their high-school graduation, full of idealism, singing “Our Time” about the future they will create together.
The reverse chronology is emotionally devastating in a way that forward narrative cannot achieve: we know where these characters end up, so every scene of hope and connection carries the weight of its future destruction. Sondheim’s score contains some of his most accessible melodies (“Good Thing Going,” “Not a Day Goes By,” “Old Friends”) because Frank is a popular songwriter — his music must sound like hits.
Collecting Merrily We Roll Along
Original cast recording (RCA Victor, 1982): LP.
2012 Encores! cast recording (PS Classics): CD.
Market values:
- Original cast LP, sealed: $30–$80
- Published script, signed by Sondheim: $100–$300