Merrily We Roll Along – London College of Music

Merrily We Roll Along was performed by the London College of Music BA Musical Theatre students at Watermans Arts Centre, Brentford.

From way down the Sondheim pecking order, well behind Follies, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music and Company in the eyes of most, Merrily We Roll Along has emerged over the past two years as a late-blooming masterpiece with a score that stands comparison with any.

That elevation after a 12-year absence from the West End is, of course, entirely down to Maria Friedman and her multi-award-winning revival, first at the Menier and then on transfer at the Harold Pinter, of the 1981 flop that lasted only 16 performances on Broadway (and has never been invited back).

Merrily’s new-found fame encouraged the musical-theatre wing of the University of West London to add it to their growing list of Sondheim productions which has seen Company and Into the Woods tackled with gusto at the Watermans in recent years.

And what a good choice it is. People say Sondheim is tricky but once you get used to the back-to-front story, going from 1976 to 1957, of three best friends growing apart with the passing of the years as the lure of Hollywood fame and the mighty dollar steal the heart and soul of one of them, Merrily is one of his easiest to enjoy.

With a cast of 20 and a professional band of 12, it does need firm hands on the tiller and in director Simon Greiff and musical director George Carter it certainly gets them.

Greiff, who is very much involved with emerging talent through his work with Mercury Musical Developments and his company SimG Productions, stages the show beautifully and drew some terrific performances from the students, while Carter, a London College of Music regular, puts together a wonderfully disciplined team in which Holger Skepeneit’s keyboards work is particularly sympathetic.

Of the young cast, Claire Hutchinson stands out. She plays critic and failed author Mary whose career goes into drunken freefall when the man she loves, composer Franklin Shepard, fails to notice her as anything more than a friend.

Showing the timing and comic flair of a veteran and pointing her word perfectly, Hutchinson inhabits Mary from finish to start and while her singing voice is good rather than exceptional, her phrasing and understanding of the part is right out of the top drawer. I would love to see her again.

The same comment applies to Brett Jay-Davies. A winning personality, he captures all the humour and pathos in Charlie Kringas, who loses his best mate forever when, on live TV, he tells him what a heel he has become. The way he handles the incredibly difficult ‘Franklin Shepard Inc.’ is a revelation.

Anthony Terence Hughes, in the largely unsympathetic role of Frank, is not as yet quite at the same standard, but Hutchinson and Jay-Davies are hard acts to follow.

Emma Aspinall, as Frank’s first wife, has a strong, attractive voice – her Act II reprise of ‘Not a Day Goes By’ with Hutchinson is truly moving even if her accent is not always consistent, and as the two TV presenters, Hannah Selby-Hughes and Tessa Leake are a good laugh.

Jack Bishop, as Beth’s monosyllabic father, is also amusing, Jack Harley-Cassidy is decent as Gussie’s cuckolded ex-husband, Amy Fleur is a bubbly Scotty, and David Rymer, who plays Tyler and Stage Manager, looks an actor of distinct promise. It would be worth seeing him in a role that demands more of his undoubted talent.

The two hours and 40 minutes simply raced by, everyone left feeling a whole lot better than when they arrived, and this was an evening with many more pluses than minuses.

Jeremy Chapman