History Theatre / MerrilyWeRollAlong

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: In the original play, the anti-hero's DeadpanSnarker writer friend Julia was based on Creator/DorothyParker. This is downplayed with Mary, her counterpart in the musical.

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* FramingDevice: The original Broadway production began with an older Frank (played by the only person in the cast over the age of thirty) coming back to his old high school to deliver a speech where he tells the graduating students to give up on their dreams and face life as it is. Rejecting his advice, the students sing the title song and proceed to act out his life in reverse to show how he went wrong. The show ends with a HopeSpot where adult Frank returns to stand next to his young, hopeful self, and the two of them smile at each other. When the creators rewrote the show after it closed on Broadway, they dropped the framing device and only a few productions since then have restored it.

* FramingDevice: The original Broadway production began with an older Frank (played by the only person in the cast over the age of thirty) coming back to his old high school to deliver a speech where he tells the graduating students to give up on their dreams and face life as it is. Rejecting his advice, the students sing the title song and proceed to act out his life in reverse to show how he went wrong. The show ends with a HopeSpot where adult Frank returns to stand wordlessly next to his young, hopeful self at his own graduation. When the creators rewrote the show after it closed on Broadway, they dropped the framing device and only a few productions since then have restored it.

* SanitySlippageSong: Downplayed - "Franklin Shepard Inc." doesn't represent a psychotic break, but it ''is'' a meltdown (on national TV, live, no less). Charley is aware enough that he can joke about it -- "Mommy! Mommy! There's a crazy man on my TV!" Played straight in that it's a great place for the singer to show off.

* LeftItIn: Frank shows off a new song he's working on, and after the line "They're always popping their cork", he mutters, "I'll fix that line". He never gets a chance to, because they get a booking and the show with the song in it goes up too quickly.

In 2019, Creator/RichardLinklater announced that he's making a film version, reviving the same method he'd used to make ''Film/{{Boyhood}}'': the 20 years covered in the story will be filmed in real time, with production finishing in 2039. Creator/BlakeJenner plays Franklin, Creator/BenPlatt plays Charley, and Beanie Feldstein plays Mary.

In 2019, Creator/RichardLinklater announced that he's making a film version, reviving the same method he'd used to make ''Film/{{Boyhood}}'': the 20 years covered in the story will be filmed in real time, with production finishing in 2039. Blake Jenner plays Franklin, Ben Platt plays Charley, and Beanie Feldstein plays Mary.

* FramingDevice: The original Broadway production began with an older Frank (played by the only person in the cast over the age of thirty) coming back to his old high school to deliver a speech where he tells the graduating students to give up on their dreams and face life as it is. Rejecting his advice, the students sing the title song and proceed to act out his life in reverse to show how he went wrong. The show ends with adult Frank returning to stand wordlessly next to his young, hopeful self at his own graduation. When the creators rewrote the show after it closed on Broadway, they dropped the framing device and only a few productions since then have restored it.

-->'''Julia''': To Richard Niles! Our most fashionable playwright! The man who has everything! And I'd rather be what I am — a drunken whore!

* FramingDevice: The original Broadway production began with an older Frank (played by the only person in the cast over the age of thirty) coming back to his old high school to deliver a speech where he tells the graduating students to give up on their dreams and face life as it is. Rejecting his advice, the students sing the title song and proceed to act out his life in reverse to show how he went wrong. The show ends with adult Frank returning to stand wordlessly next to his young, hopeful self at his own graduation. When the creators rewrote the show after it closed on Broadway, they dropped the framing device and ended the show with "Our Time."

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: In the original play, the anti-hero's DeadpanSnarker writer friend Julia was based on Creator/Dorothy Parker. This is downplayed with Mary, her counterpart in the musical.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: In the original play, the anti-hero's DeadpanSnarker writer friend Julia was based on Dorothy Parker. This is downplayed with Mary, her counterpart in the musical.

* InformedWrongness: "Franklin Shepard, Inc." is Charley's TheVillainSucksSong about Frank, but the things he portrays Frank as doing - talking to his lawyer and secretary, working out contracts and rights issues - are pretty normal for a successful Broadway musical creator, and, as Charley admits, have resulted in both of them making a lot of money from their collaborations. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Charley also admits near the end of the number that what he's really upset about is that his friendship with Frank is over and they're now just business partners.

In 2019, Creator/RichardLinklater announced that he's making a film version, reviving the same method he'd used to make ''Film/{{Boyhood}}'': the 20 years covered in the story will be filmed in real time, with production finishing in 2039. Ben Platt plays Franklin, and Beanie Feldstein plays Mary.

''Merrily We Roll Along'' is [[TheMusical a musical]] with a book by George Furth and lyrics and music by Music/StephenSondheim. It is [[AllMusicalsAreAdaptations based on]] the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Furth and Sondheim retained the basic structure and overall tone of the play but updated it to encompass the period from 1957 to 1976. The plot focuses on Franklin Shepard, who, in 1976, is a one-time composer of Broadway musicals who has become a highly successful but cynical and jaded film producer who has lost his friends, Charley Kringas (also long-time collaborator) and Mary Flynn. Like the play, the musical moves backwards in time showing how Frank has become the man he is today. The musical closed on Broadway after only 16 performances in 1981 and marked the end of the Harold Prince-Sondheim collaborations until ''Theatre/{{Bounce}}'' in 2003.

* YouOweMe: The hostess of the television show in the second (presented) scene is calling in a big favor that Frank, currently famous, owes her. In the last scene before Intermission, we see what that favor was, and it's a heartbreaker. [[spoiler: Years ago, when the hostess was a gossip reporter and Frank's first divorce was in progress, the reporter snapped a great photo of Frank and his son reaching for each other. Frank's son was taken away; bereft, Frank begged the reporter to not use that photo. She agreed, but said, "You owe me a favor."]]

* BackToFront

* SanitySlippageSong: "Franklin Shepard Inc."

* TradeYourPassionForGlory

''Merrily We Roll Along'' is [[TheMusical a musical]] with a book by George Furth and lyrics and music by StephenSondheim. It is [[AllMusicalsAreAdaptations based on]] the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Furth and Sondheim retained the basic structure and overall tone of the play but updated it to encompass the period from 1957 to 1976. The plot focuses on Franklin Shepard, who, in 1976, is a one-time composer of Broadway musicals who has become a highly successful but cynical and jaded film producer who has lost his friends, Charley Kringas (also long-time collaborator) and Mary Flynn. Like the play, the musical moves backwards in time showing how Frank has become the man he is today. The musical closed on Broadway after only 16 performances in 1981 and marked the end of the Harold Prince-Sondheim collaborations until ''Theatre/{{Bounce}}'' in 2003.