"Merrily we roll along" by Into Sondheim at Stantonbury Campus Theatre. 26 - 29 September 2007 by Mark Niel

Stephen Sondheim can arguably be referred to as a “Marmite” artiste. His work seems to divide the theatre-going public into lovers or loathers of his unique style. His scores are challenging to perform and respect has to be given to any company attempting to stage them. “Into Sondheim” (There’s a clue in the title folks!) recently took on “Merrily we roll along” at Stantonbury Theatre.

The stated aims of Into Sondheim (established in 1991) are “to bring together the worlds of amateur and professional talent, daring to produce and promote the work of Stephen Sondheim to as wide an audience as possible”. The word “daring” is a clue. Even devotees of his work have to “dare” to tackle Sondheim. However the world of Performing Arts is a broad church and there is room for all passions and art forms. Where would we be if only the simplest, populist dumbed-down work were ever attempted? The West End probably, watching “him off the telly”.

So what of this production of “Merrily”? I attended two of the four performances and it is fair to say each night offered a markedly different experience. The Thursday night performance was beset by a number of difficulties, not all of which were in the company’s control.

To start with, the theatre was very cold. (Shame on you, Stantonbury Theatre). This does not help the attention span and I know that some audience members did not return for the second half because of this. The chill factor caused the audience to be unresponsive (you would have thought clapping their hands would have warmed them up!) and there were also some technical issues that marred the evening. Some microphones didn’t work at times or made strange noises.  Some off-stage chatter leaked through the sound system and inconsistent volume levels meant we were unable to hear some solo lines when sung against the chorus or the orchestra at full volume. The orchestra did an excellent job on both nights, expertly led by Musical Director, Paul Moylan.

The show tells the story of three young friends who drift apart over time but unusually the action moves backwards through time. We meet Franklyn Shepard, (an excellent Milton Keynes debut for Richard Cowling) one-time composer of Broadway musicals who is now a successful but cynical film producer more concerned with money than quality of the work. As a result he has lost his closest friends, including Mary (Lisa White) and longtime collaborator Charley Kringas, (sensitively portrayed by Michael Simpson).

 This performance could best be described as tentative with noticeable errors creeping in with lines, some movement, and singing. In spite of this there were some memorable, well delivered moments that were very touching from the central characters of Mary, Charley and Frank and great support from Ann Skelly and Fiona Mitchell as Gussie and Beth respectively, two of Frank’s many romantic encounters. Overall it was decent show from a hard working ensemble cast with some stand out performances

I am pleased to say that the Saturday night show was very much more assured from the outset. The ensemble found their feet and ably supported some strong principal performances. Some scenes are worthy of particular note: Charley finally losing patience with Frank and denouncing his money grabbing ways in a live TV interview; Beth’s introduction after an audition for Frank and Charley’s revue show.

This was a night when everything fell into place and the overall performance exceeded the sum of its parts. More stage discipline was evident from the chorus and the singing, acting and movement was sharper, more focused and committed from the first note.

The storytelling was well paced and flowed from year to year with the many costume and scene changes skillfully accommodated by the direction of Dianna Moylan. The audience was warmer (in both senses) and this encouraged the cast as they raised their game. The uplifting ending is set on a New York rooftop where the three friends first meet while waiting for Sputnik to pass overheard. This was a genuinely moving climax tinged with the bittersweet knowledge that we had already seen their triumphs and the progress towards the tragic breakdown of their friendship.

It was a shame that the show wasn’t better supported as the effort and energy put in by Into Sondheim deserved better audiences that attended. I know the sofa can seduce you into staying in and watching X Factor when the nights grow darker and colder but make the effort to see live theatre especially from home grown companies like Into Sondheim. It is more challenging but in the end, more rewarding.

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