GOING: MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG

Merrily We Rolled to the Theatre...

Last week, completely by fluke, I got a last minute invite to catch Merrily We Roll Along at the Menier Chocolate Factory before the hugely successful production transfers to the West End (congratulations to all involved in the production!)

I must admit this was a new experience for me - the theatre being positioned in an old Chocolate factory in Southwark. An intimate space, what the theatre lacks in West End grandeur it more than make up in atmosphere.

It was a great pleasure to catch one of the last performances of this all singing all dancing tale of broken friendships and regret. The production has plenty of pathos but this emotional content is played out against a raft of brilliantly executed song and dance numbers written by the king of musical theatre, Stephen Sondheim. (Winner of 1 Oscar, 8 Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement,8 Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award). The story goes back in time tracing the friendships and careers of the 3 main characters, brilliantly acted and containing some of the best costumes I've seen in quite some time, the whole production was a delight to watch from beginning to end.

The opening of the second half.

The cast taking a well deserved bow.

   

Not just a theatre - The Menier also contains a restaurant and bar, and we popped into the restaurant pre-performance for a quick bite to eat, where we ate a number of delicious snacks. I would recommend doing this if you are visiting the theatre as the food really was delicious, in fact if you are in the area I would recommend going here anyway, the atmosphere and people watching here takes some beating... 

The meat platter...

The vegetarian platter...

All in all a brilliant evening and I plan on heading back to the Menier as soon as I have a chance. If you would like to book tickets to the West end Production you can do so here.