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APAC’s ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ scores with tale of friendship gone sour

By Kevin Zimmerman

About halfway through the Astoria Performing Arts Center’s solid revival of “Merrily We Roll Along,” LilyAnn Carlson utters a toss-away line as character Gussie Carnegie.

“I never change,” Gussie says. “I just change those around me.”

It is a funny statement because it is true.

And it makes Gussie — brilliantly played by Carlson with impeccable comic timing and a gorgeous singing voice — the only figure in the show who ends up pretty much the same as where she starts out.

Or is it starts out pretty much where she ends up?

“Merrily We Roll Along” tells the story of three friends trying to make it big in the entertainment business, and how their relationships change over a roughly two-decade period. But the twist here is that the story plays out in reverse order. The first scene takes place in 1976; the finale is set in 1957.

Act I opens at a swanky Bel Air, Calif., party, where the hangers-on and “Yes” men are showering Franklin Shepard, played to perfection by Jack Mosbacher, with accolades on his latest motion picture success. Franklin is talented, but there are hints that he has sold out his artistic vision for fame and fortune.

The only guest not enjoying, or at least not pretending to enjoy, the proceedings is one of Franklin’s oldest friends, Mary Flynn. Hunkered down at the patio’s bar, Mary marinates in a mixture of drunkenness, jealousy and unrequited love for Franklin.

As Mary, Ally Bonino beautifully captures the pathos and cynicism of someone who has given up on every last one of her dreams.

When a party guest swaggers up to Mary, they have a brief conversation that sums this all up.

“What do you do?” he asks.

“I drink,” Mary replies.

“No, really, what do you do?” he asks again.

“I really drink,” she says.

She also tells the truth without concern of repercussions.

In this case she mentions the third side of the friendship triangle, Charley Kringas, who after publicly humiliating Frank is persona non grata in the Hollywood bigshot’s eyes.

Scene 2 takes us to that humiliation in 1973, when Charley, played with a stunning range of emotions running from manic glee to sheer desperation by Nicholas Park, labels Franklin a sell-out during a live televised interview.

But it’s not just a verbal lashing Charley delivers.

He has a musical mental breakdown displayed in a show-stopping number, “Franklin Shepard, Inc.”

At break-neck speed, Charley melodically relates to the viewing world how Frank no longer cares about the two of them developing new and exciting musicals. Instead, Charley sings, Frank wants to churn out money-making claptrap and interrupt work sessions with calls from his stockbroker, accountant and lawyer.

It’s funny, but is it fair to Frank?

Over time, Frank’s priorities have changed. A nasty divorce and banishment of his son, taken back to Texas by his bitter ex-wife, means Frank no longer has the luxury of creating art for art’s sake, but must be aware of how all of his actions affect his bottom line.

But then, people change — well, except for Gussie — and that’s the point.

That doesn’t mean you drop friends because you disagree with the choices they make in life. Instead, as Charley says to Frank, maintaining friendships requires work.

“It’s like a garden,” Charley says. “You have to tend to it. You have to water it, or else it dies.”

Why the original version of this show died after 16 performances on Broadway is a bit of a mystery. It possesses one of Stephen Sondheim’s best scores — there is not one song you would ask Pandora to skip.

And in APAC’s production, the cast is universally good.

Besides the three leads, several of the supporting players bring a outstanding level of expertise to their roles.

As producer and ex-husband to Gussie, Joe Josephson, Greg Horton’s character begins the evening as a tapped out has-been, who over the evening returns to his glorious and successful start. It is such a jarring difference, it takes a minute to realize this is the same actor.

Rachel Rhodes-Devey as Frank’s ex-wife, Beth Spencer, also provides touching moments as we see the dissolution of their marriage, in reverse.

When she sings “Not a Day Goes By,” basically telling Frank he has destroyed her by his actions, you can see and hear her pain.

And, of course, there is Carlson’s Gussie.

Funny, sexy, smart and vindictive, Carlson turns in one of the best performances so far this year in any Queens’ production.

Reach News Editor Kevin Zimmerman by e-mail at kzimmerman@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4541.