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Neuberger Museum of Art

backstory: My First “Merrily”

Several years ago, I was sitting with my next door neighbor at her kitchen table.  Over coffee she told me how long ago she had dropped out of acting school at NYU because she was cast in Merrily We Roll Along.  She was learning more from Sondheim than she was in class.

I thought, wow… but I didn’t really get it.  Then a few years ago the Neuberger honored Deborah Kass at our annual gala.  She had a work on view at our exhibition space at Bryant Park entitled Day After Day.  I still didn’t get it.  At our gala, Joanna Gleason sang Not A Day Goes By as a treat for Deb and I still didn’t get it.  Then, I watched the amazing documentary The Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened (which is really worth watching).  And… there was my neighbor, her younger self in the original footage and her now. There was the song.  It finally all came together….  How special Merrily, a flop in its day, was and remains for so many.  Two weeks ago I saw my first Merrily, the new Roundabout and Fiasco production at the Laura Pels Theater.  I know purists will cringe because of the way the production has been altered, but with no priors for comparison, I really liked it.  It’s closed now, so if you didn’t catch it and you haven’t seen your Merrily yet, be on the lookout for another reprisal.

Tracy Fitzpatrick
Director, Neuberger Museum of Art