Stephen Sondheim
What failed
A 1981 musical opened on Broadway after weeks of frantic rewrites, was savaged by critics, and closed after sixteen performances. An earlier show had closed after nine.
What happened next
He came close to leaving the profession, then made one of his most admired works instead. He and his collaborator, George Furth, kept rewriting the failed show for more than a decade, through productions in 1985, 1990 and 1994. The revised version returned to Broadway in 2023, its first revival there since 1981, and won Best Revival of a Musical at the 2024 Tony Awards.
The point
He treated a public humiliation as an unfinished draft and kept revising it for more than a decade.
The sequence
3 documented failures, shown with the successes in between. Every entry carries its own source — the wins are part of the record, and leaving them out is how these stories get distorted.
- 1964
Anyone Can Whistle closes on Broadway after nine performances.
- 1981
Merrily We Roll Along's tryouts are met with audiences walking out.
- 1981
It runs sixteen performances against forty-four previews.
- 1981
The score is praised; the book is held to be the problem.
- 1985
He keeps rewriting it, adding new songs to successive productions.
- 2024
In 2024, Merrily We Roll Along wins the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.
Sources
- Merrily We Roll Along, Alvin Theatre (Playbill Vault)
Closing Date Nov 28 1981 … Performances 16
- How Sunday in the Park Got Put Together (American Theatre)
I thought, I don't want to be in this profession; it's just too hostile and mean-spirited.
- Merrily We Roll Along (Wikipedia)
This is a synopsis of the current, revised version of the show since the 1994 York Theatre production, not the original one performed on Broadway in 1981.
- Merrily We Roll Along (Wikipedia)
Previews began September 19, opening on October 10, 2023, marking the musical's first Broadway revival since the original 1981 production.
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