Encores! recent production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along will be recorded by PS Classics. The cast, led by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Colin Donnell and Celia Keenan-Bolger, will record a two-disc album set for release on June 19. Directed by James Lapine, Merrily ran at New York City Center from February 8 through February 19.
Merrily We Roll Along examines the lives of three pals whose friendship is tested by time, events, ambition and fate. The story is told in reverse chronological order beginning in 1976 and ending in 1957.
In addition to Miranda, Donnell and Keenan-Bolger, the production starred Elizabeth Stanley as Gussie Carnegie, Betsy Wolfe as Beth Shepard and Adam Grupper as Joe Josephson. The production also featured featured Zachary Unger, Whit Baldwin, Rachel Coloff, Ben Crawford, Joshua Dela Cruz, Bernard Dotson, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Marja Harmon, Leah Horowitz, Mylinda Hull, Michael X. Martin, Sean McKnight, Kenita R. Miller, Patricia Noonan, Andrew Samonsky, Pearl Sun, Charlie Sutton, Jessica Vosk, Karl Warden and Michael Winther.
The musical first opened on Broadway on November 16, 1981 and ran for 16 performances. Lapine directed a re-worked version in 1985 at California's La Jolla Playhouse.