Merrily We Roll Along
CAST
Frank Shepard
Luke Ward
Charlie Kringas
James Frampton
Mary Flynn
Rebecca OrdÃz
Gussie Carnegie
Chloe Makiol
Joe Josephson
Will Jones
Beth Spencer
Julia Miletta
Tyler
Joshua Spencer-Pepper
KT
Marlena Thomson
Meg Kincaid
Lauren Gunson
Judy/Mrs Spencer
Georgia Barron
Scotty
Kristie Nguy
Dory
Cassie Ogle
Terry/Mr Spencer
Cameron Bajraktaveric-Hayward
Ru
Angelo Vasilakakos
Bunker/Hal/Minister
Elliot Wood
Jerome
Joey Phyland
CREATIVE AND PRODUCTION TEAM
Director
Jason Langley
Music Director
Pete Rutherford
Choreographer
Ross Hannaford
Assistant Director
Cohan Le May
Voice and Dialect Coach
Anna McCrossin-Owen
Intimacy Coordinator
Margot Fenley
Set Designer
Rachel Nankin*
Costume Designer
Isabella Edwards*
Lighting Designer
Luke Grana*
Sound Designer
Taarani Charrett-Dunlop*
Associate Costume Designer
Abbey Stanway*
Associate Set Designer
Brad Hora
Production Stage Manager
Jenny Le*
Deputy Stage Manager
Noah Chrapot*
Assistant Stage Managers
Chloe Goldsmith
Alexandra Jaensch
Head Of Staging
Olivia Molinaro-Brennan*
Workshop Assistants
Tait Adams
Sara Bayley
Joshua Morris
Ingrid Muller
Saskia Permezel
Rachel Stone
Senior Costumier
Evelyn Housham*
Costume Manager
Dakota Poole*
Costume Assistants
Filipe Filihia
Georgia Shackleton
Mieke Singh Dodd
Technical Manager / Head Electrician
Kane Wilson*
Deputy Head Electrician
Amber Swank
Lighting Programmers and Operators
Arielle Roberts
Harrison Croft
*Third year BFA (Design and Production) student
PROFESSIONAL STAFF
Production Coordinator
David Harrod
Workshop Supervisor
Alan Logan
Costume Supervisor
Georgia Johnson
Photographer
Drew Echberg
ACADEMIC STAFF
Head of Music Theatre
Tyran Parke
Head of Production
Lisa Osborn
Music Theatre Third Year Coordinator
Jayde Kirchert
Production Academic Mentors
Kat Chan, Elise Glass, Niklas Pajanti, Andy Turner, Joy Weng
VCA Production Academic Staff
Anna Cordingley, Martyn Coutts, Jo Evans, Amanda Hitten, Lisa Mibus, Matt Scott
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
Merrily We Roll Along begins in 1976 and travels backward in time to 1957, historically a period of huge social and cultural change.
George Furth and Stephen Sondheim wrote Merrily in 1980/81. Sondheim's score was composed as a response to producers and critics who criticised his lack of 'tunes you can hum'.
The show opened on Broadway in 1981 without benefit of an out-of-town tryout and was poorly received, with walkouts and disastrous reviews (though many praised the score as exceptional). It closed after 16 performances and 52 previews. Over the years Furth and Sondheim kept tinkering, making crucial structural and musical changes to subsequent smaller productions till an Off-Broadway revival in 1994 became the definitive version of the show.
Sondheim said Merrily is a cautionary tale about taking the expedient path through life, that follows three friends bound together by their idealism. In fact, the piece thematically interrogates the notion of idealism against the growing capitalism of the “Me” generation in this period of history.
We meet Franklin Shepard a successful Hollywood Producer on the evening of his film premiere 'Darkness Before Dawn'. He seems to have all the outward trappings of success and yet his private life is crumbling down around him. Sondheim poses the question 'How did he get to be here?', then sends us rolling back a few years at a time to discover all the game changing moments that lead he and his friends to this point.
Stephen Sondheim had the most profound influence on contemporary musical theatre, so it’s a great honour to have been in rehearsal with one of his works, especially only months after his death. There has also been an intriguing irony working on this show in a world where we are seeing the worst effects of capitalism, and through an election period where once more we were asked to choose between idealism and capitalism as though the two were mutually exclusive.
I would like to express my gratitude to the entire Merrily company - the creative team, the design and production teams - without all your support the travelling wouldn't have been half as fun.
- Jason Langley, Director