Ruben Uribe
Gadsden County News Service
Merrily We Roll Along premiered at the Quincy Music Theatre this past weekend as the second of the four musicals of the 2025-2026 Season.
This classic theatre show is a 1981 musical version of an earlier 1934 original by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, reenvisioned lyrically by Stephen Sondheim and with a new book by George Furth. This play is notable for a reverse chronological plot structure, unveiling the disruption of a once close group of three old friends. As time regresses, the audience witnesses – backwards – how the trio of Franklin “Frank” Shepard (Ty Stone), Charles “Charley” Kringas (Logan Hagedorn-Espinola), and Mary Flynn (Emmie Bryson) came to dislike and ultimately distrust one another. Their own personal failures which led to that inevitable point are also brought into the light for critical examination and so are the origins and bright-eyed beginnings of their evolving friendships. The time frame of Merrily We Roll Along is across three decades, from the 1950s to the 1970s, and takes place in the five boroughs of New York City. Described therein are the various social and cultural changes which rock the Big Apple.
Merrily We Roll Along is produced by the following: direction and music are by Andrew Busenlener and Gerry Nielsen; choreography is produced by Darci Brown; costumes are by Sarah Matlow; set design is by Jack Jammer with carpentry by Craig Grafmiller; and light and sound design are by Saul Benitez / Hailey Killan and Shelby Chase, respectively. All marketing materials were created by media liaison Chelsea Ealum. This performance is approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission in between the two acts.
Emmie Bryson plays critic and columnist Mary Flynn, one of the three protagonists of the musical. Unerringly loyal to her friends, Flynn suffers a great deal as the trio’s group dynamics deteriorate. Bryson describes her character as”…pure love and hope. Her main goal is to keep her friends together, which she does instinctually, unthinkingly past their supposed ‘success,’ and constantly asks for things to return to the way they were in the past.” Unlike the other two protagonists, Flynn is not callously focused on her career goals. In Mary Flynn, there is no need for any ultimate sacrifice, but instead one finds passion, which Bryson critically considered was, “truly her only pursuit… she is the glue that keeps the trio all together.”
She further described Flynn’s regression into a less fractured, fallible individual who excuses the ungamely behavior of her two friends as they attempt to make it big in Hollywood at any cost.
“Hollywood…the trio sees from their establishment in New York, as a success-land of dreams to break into,” she said.
Bryson is a student at Florida State University whose performances are inspired in part by her International Study Abroad Program in London. While there, she attended performances in London’s West End and frequently marveled at the talent on display. She hopes to get an MA in Costume Studies after developing a padded résumé in the local community theatre scene, which she says personally enriches her life deeply.
“To sum it up, this is a play that is very heavy in nature, and the message of it is to reach out and reforge with the people who have fallen out of your life. Come and see the show!”
Ty Stone is a counter-tenor who plays Franklin “Frank” Shepard, an ambitious composer. The issue central to Shepard’s character is that he lives in the past and future, yet never within the living present.
“He always says yes before he knows the cards,” said Stone of Shepard’s work ethic. “It brings him a great deal of misfortune; for instance, he loses his ability to see success because he does not assign value to anything that isn’t success. And he does see plenty of success, but the cost of ambition is the loss of the friends who supported him.”
On a personal level, Stone finds many parallels between himself and Franklin Shepard, as they both strive to write and compose music. Actor Stone is originally from Blountstown, which he describes as a quiet town of humility, and set himself upon an instrument learning journey as a hobby through one of the major calamities of our time. “During the COVID-19 Pandemic, I became a much better musician and learned guitar, bass, kalimba, harmonica, etc.” Stone recollected. “I see a lot of myself in Franklin since I, too, hope to make my own material and become a writer of stories. But he is willing to do practically anything for a distant ideal.”
Logan Hagedorn-Espinola is the actor behind the role of the up-and-coming playwright Charles “Charley” Kringas, who he describes as “uptight but genuine” about his creations. He had much to elaborate on the subject of his conflicted character.
“Kringas is trying to make a statement with his work, but his ideas are on the outs,” he said. “He keeps getting put down and brushed aside – and, for him, it’s basically an indecent form of artistic censorship.” Such alterings, said Hagedorn-Espinola, affect his personhood and therefore his affections for close friends in a generally profound way. “He begins to lose his spark. You can see his pessimism return to the optimism that he once held as the play goes on. It hits close to home because all artists sometimes have some anxiety about finding their own style, and what compromises that one has to make to make it big. It’s tragic. It’s to the point Frank – who Charley is closest with – and he begins having these huge fights. You will have to remember, though, as with all characters in this play, that he was not always this way.” Studying under the College of Theatre and Dedman College of Hospitality at FSU, Hagedorn-Espinola hails from Orlando, Florida and is currently in his Sophomore Year. He has been performing in theatre for 12 excellent years. His most recent performance was as the villainous Jonas Fogg in FSU’s adaptation of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and he hopes one day to put his merits as an actor to the test as a cast member aboard a Royal Caribbean Cruise liner.
Like all of Quincy Music Theatre’s shows, Merrily We Roll Along features a live pit orchestra composed of veteran musicians. The cast is composed of 17 actors and the crew consists of 15 experienced technicians – coming out to a total of around 32 people coming together to bring this new and merry production to you, Floridians!
Merrily We Roll Along is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. This play is licensed by Music Theatre International (MTI).
Further dates for Merrily We Roll Along are as follows:
Performances:
● Friday, December 12, 2025 – 07:30 p.m. (EST)
● Saturday, December 13, 2025 – 07:30 p.m. (EST)
● Sunday, December 14, 2025 – 02:30 p.m. (EST)Individual tickets for Merrily We Roll Along can be purchased on the theatre website (www.quincymusictheatre.com), by calling or visiting the Box Office (850-875-9444), or by emailing qmtofficial@quincymusictheatre.com. Ticket Prices are $22 for Adults, $19 for Seniors (62+); and $17 for Students of any age. Each ticket includes a $2 processing fee. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Please call ahead for wheelchair seating and/or service animals.
Parking will be available at street level on East Washington Street (in front of the theatre), in the grassy lot behind the theatre (on the corner of Franklin and Duval Streets), at Bell & Bates Hardware Store after 5 p.m. and all-day Sunday, and in the unpaved lot behind the Quincy Garden Club.
Please allow a few extra minutes for parking before the “curtain.”
