One time I was blasting Merrily We Roll Along on the bus and some guy walked over and said “Merrily We Roll Along was a sorry flop that couldn’t even last a month. You should listen to REAL musical theater like Hamilton.” So I said “Let me tell you something about history. Merrily We Roll Along might have had a disappointing original run but it’s beloved by fans today and it’s appreciated for what it is, flaws and all. Jason Robert Brown cites it as one of the inspirations for The Last Five Years. Yeah, the same musical that Lin-Manuel Miranda references at the end of “Say No To This.” You can’t cut down the tree of Merrily We Roll Along without cutting down its branches.”

The guy was speechless and he tried to act like he never said anything and started going back to his seat but I wasn’t done yet.

“Also this cast recording I’m listening to? It’s City Center Encores starring Colin Donnell, Celia Keenan-Bolger and, that’s right. Lin-Manuel Miranda.”



The whole bus burst into applause and a perfectly harmonized “Our Time.”