LOS ANGELES – Before “Merrily We Roll Along” became one of the biggest hits on Broadway, “Hotel Portofino” star Mark Umbers was part of a previous cast that reexamined the show that flopped in 1981.
Convinced there was a hit inside a jumbled story, director Maria Friedman worked with composer Stephen Sondheim to iron things out.
The result – which premiered in London in 2012 – starred Umbers as Franklin Shepard, a writer who abandons his composing career (and friends) to become a Hollywood movie producer. Told in reverse, the musical found its footing, Umbers says, when it cast older actors in the roles. In the original (which lasted 16 performances on Broadway), actors in their teens and 20s played the parts. That meant they didn’t have the experience to understand what the older years were all about.
While working on the show, Umbers got to ask Sondheim questions about his character’s motivation.
“He was incredibly gracious and very kind to me about it,” Umbers says. The role was loosely based on Sondheim’s life “and I was kind of playing him in a weird sort of way.”
At one point, Umbers played the piano as the character “and I could see him in the background. I was so nervous…and I messed up.”
Sondheim didn’t care. “It was one of the great thrills of my career to meet him and talk with him. There were lots of emails.”
The show was a hit in London, transferred to a larger theater and was eventually filmed for posterity.
