Rolling along merrily without the ecstasy

There is something off-balance in the Yale Dramat's fall mainstage production of Steven Sondheim's musical, Merrily We Roll Along. The work itself is a tale of a man off-balance, an artist who attempts and fails to reconcile his creative dreams and his desire for success. Sondheim starts off with a look at Franklin Shepard, (Brian Neff, TC '01) a successful film producer ashamed of his life; his oeuvre, wife, and friendships are not what he wanted nor expected. The musical travels back in time to show the audience why Shepard got what he deserved, and why his life couldn't have turned out any other way.

DAVID GEST/YH Smile! You're rolling along merrily!

Sondheim's work is a fusion of energy and subtlety. Director James B. Nicola's cast eagerly strives to keep up with Sondheim, but often lacks precision. The show's opening and ensemble numbers are meant to spin the audience's collective head with pure energy and dynamism but instead feel repressed, as if the cast is loath to let their voices soar for fear of getting off-key. "Not a Day Goes By," one of the most poignant and thematic songs in the show, fails to move past sentimentality because the performers sacrifice vitality for understatement. And then there are delicate musical numbers, such as "Like It Was," an anthem for the cruel and relentless passage of time, that are rendered too loud, too theatrical, too much. The a cappella roots of several cast members are manifest when the singing overtakes the acting.

There are moments of breathtaking force, however, moments that make the audience applaud not just the masterful singing or the acting, but the emotion the actors squeeze out of the scene. Mary Flynn (Ilysse Dobrow, SM '01) one of Franklin's oldest friends, is sheer power— her rich voice and dramatic intensity don't just show her veiled love for Franklin and her fear of success, but force the audience to feel it for themselves. Charlie Kringas (Richard Silverstein, SM '02) has the perfect mix of nuanced irony and comedic showmanship. Unfortunately, his voice is sometimes lost between Dobrow's vocal muscle and the orchestra.

Dobrow and Silverstein's vitality and charisma carry Merrily. Neff, as Everyman, has the hardest job in the play—portraying ordinariness. Being normal doesn't preclude being expressive; but Neff seems detached from his character. He leans away from the action, away from the other performers and away from his role. The chemistry between the three friends is marred by his detached attitude, but it is still palpable when compared to the tepid interaction between Franklin and his wife Beth (Jacqueline Horwitz, BK '02). Elissa Yudofsky, ES '03, as Gussie Carnegie, the woman who leads Franklin away from his intended life, is engaging but not always believable—she uses too many Christina Aguilera gestures. Her husband Joe, (Al Powers CC '04) can't decide whether his character is an Italian Mafioso or a Jewish agent.

For every flat performance in the show, there are several sharp ones—the sharpest, perhaps, is the poised and precise one delivered by Vira Slywotzky, ES '04, as K.T. Slywotzky. It gives her character a perfect coldness that makes it impossible to see the actress behind the character.

Theater

Merrily We Roll Along Directed by James B. Nicola Produced by Jacob Rothschild Fri., Nov. 10, 8 p.m. Sat., Nov. 11, 2 and 8 p.m. Yale University Theater

Meanwhile, John Pollard's set is a wonderfully slick background for Karen Molnar's overly slick choreography. The dance routines are over-contrived—almost impossibe in musical theater—but the cast cheerfully traipses through high kicks and shuffles. Some are more adept at rhythm and motion than others; Sophie Nimmannit, SM '02, is alternately wonderfully '70s, '60s and '50s as she twists and discoes across the stage.

Jacob Rothchild's, CC '01, production has sweet and bitter surprises and, while uneven, leans in the positive direction. While rough patches of singing and acting jolt the audience, the cast's joyful energyultimately brings us back to hopeful appreciation, just like Sondheim returns us to Frank's days of innocence and anticipation.

Back to A&E...