Merrily We Roll Along: Redemption of an infamous flop As he says, for the first half-hour of the show, the Frank we see is "arrogant, an adulterer, a betrayer of his best friend and the cause of near suicidal alcoholism in the woman who loves him unrequitedly." When he revived the show, in Leicester in 1985, this problem was one of the things he tried to fix. This is the point the singer Maria Friedman enters the picture. She had just starred in Sunday in the Park with George, and Sondheim invited her to star in, and work on, the new version of Merrily. With its clever, beautiful songs and intractable structure, it is a show she knows inside out. So for her professional debut as a theatre director, she is staging Merrily We Roll Along in the tiny confines of London's Menier Chocolate Factory. "Not only have I chosen the most difficult musical that's probably ever been written, but I have also got the most difficult space to put it on in," she says, laughing. But she is exhilarated by the challenge and is making two changes which she hopes will lay the ghost of the show's difficulties to rest. The first is to reveal Frank's charisma and talent; the second is to cast it with actors in their forties. Previous productions tended to feature young actors "dressing up"; this one will let more mature talents look back. The question remains, however: why is it worth the bother? Friedman, one of Sondheim's great interpreters, says simply that it is because of the ideas all his musicals contain. There are rarely conclusions there, just ideas so the shows can keep moving and growing, and each age group will have an entirely different take on a piece because it encompasses so many different aspects of humanity in its mess and its effort and its courage. This is why Sondheim does inspire such devotion, and why his musicals are constantly being revived and rethought. Even the greatest of the traditional musicals such as The Sound of Music or My Fair Lady are not really capable of thoroughgoing reinterpretation. But shows such as Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma, or even - as a recent production proved - South Pacific, stand the test of time by making themselves capable of re-evaluation. This is because they are driven by thoughts not plots, by a desire to communicate something rather than an instinct to put on a good show. This is the tradition into which Sondheim most comfortably fits. It means that his best shows come up new-minted every time they are staged, and even his flops are worth revisiting. Though there is no telling whether this time Merrily will finally work. Merrily We Roll Along opens at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London SE1 (020 7378 1713), next Thurs