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One later entry begins, Perhaps the beginning ofThree Sistersshould not be exactly as I thought before.
Another, still later: Obviously, our production ofThree Sisterswas not clear enough.
The old plays that keep coming back make us confront the possibility frightening, vital of change.
The nastiness Rich spoke of is nowhere to be found.
And we need to see that they really love each other.
You need actors, and not just anyone.
Enter, as a gloriously playful and supportive trio, Lindsay Mendez, Jonathan Groff, and Daniel Radcliffe.
Its 1976, and were at a swanky party in Bel Air.
Franklin Shepard (Groff) has just produced a hit film.
Everyone whos anyone is at his L.A. mansion, toasting to the future.
He has taste, he has talent / Is he the best?
sings the simpering ensemble.
(The movie, apparently, is terrible.)
/ I say, Let it never stop!
he sings to his crowd of sycophants.
He smiles, he sings, his body propels itself around the room, and hes not there.
His Frankisthe worst version of himself, but he knows it, and hes terribly alone and afraid.
I never have had … Go on, take me, take me away with you.
But c’mon, dont ever let me out of your sight.
Groff makes clear that Franks is a tragedy of weakness, not simply of greed.
Mendez takes young Mary at her word, beginning the play with that core truth still true.
She keeps the characters heart exposed, and though it takes beating after beating, it never closes up.
Her rendition of the beautiful Like It Was is simple and wrenching.
You and me, she sings to Charley, we were nicer then.
As the twitching, high-integrity, high-anxiety writer, Radcliffe is a complete delight.
Its an acrobatic number, and Radcliffe full-on sticks the landing.
He is, whether consciously or not, getting sucked into something.
No it already has him.
Some shows can withstand miscasting turns out,Merrilycant.
(It sounds simple.
It even adds a faint glimmer of something resembling hope.
If Frank can reconsider, then he may yet change.
Or he may not.
Merrily We Roll Alongis at the Hudson Theatre.
