Ann Morrison
Merrily from Center Stage
54 Below, NYC, August 20, 2022
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
Looking fabulous with her bright red hair and in her glamorous outfit of lounging pajamas and silk robe, Ann Morrison took the 54 Below stage to recall her vivid memories of the creation of the legendary Stephen Sondheim/George Furth/Hal Prince musical flop, Merrily We Roll Along. Working on an almost-bare stage (just one chair) and with the support of only one musician (terrific music director/pianist John Shirley, who also contributed an occasional voiceover), the actress populated the platform with a host of characters connected to the production: casting directors, choreographers, conductors, fellow actors, and so on. Under her magic spell, they all came to life within the glamorous setting of the club.
The program, definitely more of a special one-person show than a traditional cabaret act, chronicled her involvement in the musical from her unexpected audition on the highly tilted stage of the Evita set (her nervousness during her audition had far more to do with her high heels and her precarious balance than with auditioning for the illustrious producer/director Hal Prince out front). Her subsequent meeting with Sondheim was pleasant (she was in flats) and ended abruptly with an oblique job offer. Her Broadway debut was in front of her after a summer of bonding with her castmates and an easy rehearsal period followed by a few weeks of previews. Well, that was the plan; the reality was far more traumatic. And comic. And tragic. And exhausting. And confusing. And exhilarating.
Throughout the show, Morrison performed much of the score as it threaded through the story, including a many cleverly revised lyrics that reflected the story she was conveying. Her voice remained strong and fluid as she delivered the various voices required. As for the lyrics, they were delivered with both clarity and deeply felt emotions. When she came to the times to encore her own solos from the score, such as “Not a Day Goes By” and “Now You Know,” the Ann of 40 years ago was glowingly present, still lyrical and warm. She proved also adept with multi-character numbers, such as “Old Friends” and “It’s a Hit,” distinguishing each personality while blending their voices,
The most harrowing moments in the evening came when, after weeks of previews where no two shows were the same thanks to endless rewrites, improvisations, cast and choreographer replacements leading to even more changes, the intricate number “Opening Doors” went off the rails, which led to Morrison terrifyingly recreating nervous breakdown. The star deserves great credit for daring to become this real and then being able to draw the stunned audience back into the story. These are the skills of an assured dramatic actress. In other places, she delivered up her wry observations with the dry delivery of Eve Arden: “Broadway is community theater with a lot of money.” The constantly shifting emotions she recalled made for a most satisfying of cabaret evenings.
