Merrily We Roll Along - Altrincham Garrick

IT was as a fresh faced freelance that I reviewed my first Garrick production, more years ago than I care to remember.

But Merrily We Roll Along, featuring a sumptuous score by the American genius who is Stephen Sondheim, is among the very best.

Sondheim is without doubt, a guilty pleasure of mine and I admire him for the way he doesn’t coax emotion out of audiences even though his songs have their desired emotional impact.

His talent is definitely a unique one and the entire Garrick cast, under the expert direction of Joseph Meighan and musical director Mark Goggins, certainly do it justice. And then some.

Spanning three decades, Merrily is the story in reverse of composer Franklin Shepard who abandons his musical roots and his friends to become a movie producer in Hollywood.

There’s a touching camaraderie between Tom Broughton, in show stealing form as Shephard, and his musical collaborator Charley Kringas, a disarmingly decent character struggling to make sense of Shephard’s change in direction and Meg Brassington as the writer Mary Flynn.

It feels fundamentally wrong to single out individual performances, with the exception of the afore mentioned trio because there simply aren’t any bad ones and the choreography, under the direction of Louise Petit, is just as memorable and full of spectacle.

Had Sondheim himself been in the audience he is sure to have applauded and I would willingly watch this twice.

The show’s rooftop climax is also quite something, a real dose of stage magic, much needed in our miserable times.

Fabulous, flawless and a must see.

Until June 22. The box office is on 0161 928 1677 or www.altrinchamgarrick.co.uk.

Star rating - *****

Photo by Martin Ogden.