{"id":197124,"date":"2026-03-19T00:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T00:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197124\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T00:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T00:03:08","slug":"zoetic-stages-merrily-we-roll-along-shines-in-miami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197124\/","title":{"rendered":"Zoetic Stage\u2019s Merrily We Roll Along shines in Miami"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen Sondheim. The composer and lyricist is legendary in musical theater, and sparks something special whenever a company includes one of his works in its season. When it\u2019s a lesser known, rarely produced Sondheim show, it\u2019s more than notable.<\/p>\n

Zoetic Stage\u2019s \u201cMerrily We Roll Along,\u201d running through Sunday, April 5 at the Carnival Studio Theatre inside the Adrienne Arsht Center, is that show, and director Stuart Meltzer and his talented cast and designers do Sondheim justice. This is the seventh Sondheim show Zoetic has produced, and Meltzer credits the composer as being not only instrumental to Zoetic\u2019s evolution, but also as the musical theater artist he most connects with personally and creatively.<\/p>\n

\"John John Reed, Joline Mujica, and Alex Jorth play three best friends in Stephen Sondheim\u2019s \u201cMerrily We Roll Along\u201d at Zoetic Stage through April 5. RA-HAUS (Photo by Justin Namon, courtesy of Arsht Center) <\/p>\n

Meltzer\u2019s passion for Sondheim shows through and, under his direction, \u201cMerrily We Roll Along\u201d is an entertaining homage to the master and his sly look at the cost of the American Dream.<\/p>\n

The show, with a book by George Furth, is experiencing a bit of a renaissance. It was first produced on Broadway in 1981. It had a painfully short run \u2013 just 16 regular performances \u2013 and then followed by a series of productions and rewrites over the years. A successful Broadway revival in 2023 starred Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsey Mendez, earning four Tony Awards.<\/p>\n

\u201cMerrily We Roll Along\u201d focuses on three friends: Franklin, a composer; Charley, a playwright and lyricist; and Mary, a published author. The story of their friendship is told backwards, beginning in 1977 at the lowest point of their relationship, and ending in 1957, at their happy first meeting.<\/p>\n

The structure allows constant surprises as everything revealed about each character is challenged, scene by scene, as the layers are peeled back and each new revelation brings new understanding of how Franklin, Charley, and Mary became the people introduced in the beginning of the show. The result is poignant, funny, and bittersweet.<\/p>\n

The plot centers on Franklin, who, at the start of the musical, has abandoned his music for a successful career as a movie producer. As the scenes reverse through pivotal moments in his life, it becomes clear what his fame, money, and power have cost him and his two best friends.<\/p>\n

Alex Jorth, always a bright spot in regional musicals, possesses a youthful verve and energy that he pours into his portrayal of Franklin, a sort of Teflon golden boy who can\u2019t see how his life choices have screwed up his own life as well as his friends until it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

\"Joline Joline Mujica, Alex Jorth, and John Reed singing \u201cOld Friends\u201d and pinky swearing to be friends forever in Stephen Sondheim\u2019s \u201cMerrily We Roll Along,\u201d now at Zoetic Stage through April 5. RA-HAUS (Photo by Justin Namon, courtesy of Arsht Center) <\/p>\n

John Reed plays Charley, an earnest playwright who wants his art to do more than make money. Reed has many shining moments, but he\u2019s at his best on \u201cFranklin Shepard, Inc.,\u201d in which Charley\u2019s growing resentment toward Franklin finally explodes.<\/p>\n

Joline Mujica delivers a nuanced yet powerful performance as Mary, who stays friends with both Franklin and Charley after the decisive rift in their friendship. The change Mary undergoes over the course of 20 years is the most obvious, and Mujica hauntingly plays Mary\u2019s pain of unrequited love, dreams deferred, and the weight of being torn apart by Franklin and Charley\u2019s disintegrating relationship.<\/p>\n

Leah Sessa is delightfully comic as Gussie Carnegie, an ambitious, shallow, Broadway star who ensnares Franklin. Sessa has charisma to spare, and she\u2019s always game for an underscore of goofiness, which makes her Gussie a femme fatale to remember.<\/p>\n

\"Sara Sara Grant, Irene Adjan, Justin Packard, and Leah Sessa in Stephen Sondheim\u2019s \u201cMerrily We Roll Along,\u201d now at Zoetic Stage through April 5. RA-HAUS (Photo by Justin Namon, courtesy of Arsht Center) <\/p>\n

Lindsey Corey is part of the ensemble for much of the first act before emerging as Franklin\u2019s first wife, Beth. Her role is particularly challenging: the audience has already heard negative impressions of Beth putting Corey in the position of winning over the audience. Corey is up to the challenge. As Beth\u2019s side of the marriage is revealed, Corey shines in Beth\u2019s journey from effervescent young bride to conflicted ex-wife.<\/p>\n

The ensemble cast plays a variety of roles throughout. Wayne LeGette is ideal as Beth\u2019s dad, who\u2019s none too happy that his daughter is marrying a jobless composer. Irene Adjan adds much texture to the plot as a television interviewer and Beth\u2019s mom. Justin Packard packs an emotional punch as Gussie\u2019s theater producer husband.<\/p>\n

Sondheim\u2019s score is bouncy and extremely hummable. The pointed staccato of the musical\u2019s centerpiece song, \u201cOld Friends,\u201d is a real earworm, in the best way. But it also includes the wistful, torchy ballad, \u201cNot a Day Goes By,\u201d mournfully performed by Corey in the first act.<\/p>\n

\"Jacob Jacob Brown\u2019s scenic design consists of a long stage and Steve Covey\u2019s projections. ) RA-HAUS (Photo by Justin Namon, courtesy of Arsht Center <\/p>\n

Jacob Brown\u2019s scenic design consists of a long stage with the audience seated on either side, with a few chairs, and platforms serving as different types of furniture. On either end of the stage there are walls for Steve Covey\u2019s projections, which include the year of each scene, and photo booth-style pictures of Franklin, Mary, and Charley. The simple staging adds intimacy to the show and feels more engaging than a traditional proscenium.<\/p>\n

The sound design, by Joel Rodriguez, is crisp and clear. Tony Galaska\u2019s lighting design complements each scene and helps establish time and place.<\/p>\n

The only weak link in an otherwise flawless production is the costume design by Dawn C. Shamburger. In the first act, the cast is dressed in a unified palette, shades of white, tan, cream, and Champagne. But that stylized, high-concept design is abandoned in the second act, when the palette expands to include a myriad of colors. The big concept switch is one thing, but the bigger issue is that many of the dresses the women wear are not period appropriate. They\u2019re too short, the silhouettes and fabrics are too modern. The costume design miss in the second act is a head-scratcher, because the late 1950s and the early and mid-1960s are so easy to research.<\/p>\n

Lauren Danielle Horgan\u2019s musical staging is a marvel, creating precise choreography with a lot of people in a very tight space. Jeff Hess heads a seven-piece band that fills the theater with electrifying music and keeps the show buoyant.<\/p>\n

Zoetic Stage\u2019s production of \u201cMerrily We Roll Along\u201d is an absolute must-see \u2014whether you\u2019re a devoted Sondheim fan or simply a lover of great musical theater.<\/p>\n

If you go:<\/p>\n

WHAT: Zoetic Stage\u2019s \u201cMerrily We Roll Along\u201d<\/p>\n

WHERE: Carnival Studio Theatre at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami<\/p>\n

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday and Saturday, April 4. Through Sunday, April 5.<\/p>\n

COST: $78.39, including fees<\/p>\n

INFORMATION: 305-949-6722 or zoeticstage.org<\/p>\n

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don\u2019t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stephen Sondheim. The composer and lyricist is legendary in musical theater, and sparks something special whenever a company…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[55722,41494,123,125,124,91494,91493],"class_list":["post-197124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-adrienne-arsht-center","tag-merrily-we-roll-along","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-stephen-sondheim","tag-zoetic-stage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}