MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (PLAYBILL SIGNED BY SONDHEIM)

NY: Playbill, 1981. Soft cover. Very Good. Playbill for the original 1981 Broadway production of Merrily We Roll Along, that was distinguished when it was first produced as one of Sondheim's least successful musicals, opening on November 16,1981 and closing after just 16 performances and 44 previews. It was also the last musical that Sondheim and producer/ director Hal Prince worked on together after collaborating on a phenomenal string of critically acclaimed musicals in the 1960s and 1970s (Company, A Little Night Music, Follies). SIGNED BY SONDHEIM on the front cover. A production, directed by Maria Friedman, that began at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2013, which came to Broadwayi in 2023 changed critical reaction, bringing Merrily more stature in the Sondheim canon than before. Sondheim's signatures without inscriptions are uncommon. Given the short run of the original production, one of the more collectible Playbills, and uncommon signed by the master. Stapled spine, 130 pages, gently toned, short tear bottom rear cover closed with archival tape.