Analysis: Merrily We Roll Along

Merrily We Roll Along: A Review
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1 The musical itself: music, lyrics, book. How did the backwards structure work for you?
Merrily We Roll Along, the musical, illustrated a story of friends backwards in time from their older to younger self (Furth & Sondheim, 2012). It demonstrates the beauty of looking back to the past and cherishing every moment of passion and loss that led to the survival stages of adulthood. The backwards structure or reverse chronology, as opposed to a chronological set of events, provide more texture to the characters as each of them was able to contemplate and dream of manipulating the past that can never be changed. Also, it allowed the actors to portray various disillusions which led to the shedding of their cynicism at present.
The story was sufficient, but the acting is lacking in some parts due to the inadequate portrayal of the lead characters. Although the story is brilliant, the performance suffered due to the insufficient representations of each of the character. The director could have added more drama intertwined with intermittent humorous scenes to retain its original flavour.
Despite these, the choice of music and lyrics was exceptional. The orchestra was enjoyable, and it did not overpower the singers. The main problem is that the actors sometimes focused on acting more than singing when they need to make a balance of both.
2 The design. There is a unit set: one piece that doesn't move with pieces that go on and off for various scenes. How did this work? Did the stationary piece speak to the overall metaphor of the show? How about the projections? What about ...