I’ve always loved Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along for its heartfelt music and lyrics and what it says about friendship, art, and commerce—namely, that financial success at the expense of one’s integrity and formative relationships can be very costly.

In this production—Signature Theatre’s season opener—a 12-piece orchestra hovers above a stage that’s bare except for a piano, a door, and a winding staircase. Under the able direction of Jon Kalbfleisch, the musicians do justice to such great songs as “Old Friends,” “Not a Day Goes By,” and “Good Thing Going.”

The musical itself, directed by Eric Schaeffer, has much to commend it, most notably Will Gartshore as Franklin Shepard, the gifted composer who lets himself get swayed by fame, fortune, and the hard-driving woman who makes these possible. He sells out, he knows it, and at the start of the play—which moves backward in time—he’s filled with regret. Gartshore doesn’t miss. He never misses.

Equally strong is Tracy Lynn Olivera as Mary Flynn, who dreams of writing, becomes a best-selling author, but because she’s unable to sustain that success, takes on a job made for cynics: theater critic. Her part has many good one-liners, which Olivera delivers with drop-dead timing.

As lyricist Charley Kringas, the third member of the trio of old friends, Erik Liberman nails the nebbishy aspects of his role, but his performance and singing voice are weak—so much so that it’s hard to imagine his character would have the guts and idealism to challenge Franklin and ultimately walk away from their partnership and friendship. Maybe the slightly off-kilter acoustics of Signature’s new main stage are to blame for the loss of Liberman’s words, or maybe the orchestra played a little too loud.

The ensemble is in good voice, however, and their words are not lost. Karma Camp’s choreography incorporates such dances as the pony to give a timely sense of pop culture from the late 1950s to the mid-’70s but more often than not it’s irritatingly mannered—even, well, camp.

Never mind. The score is luscious, the lyrics clever. All in all, Signature has a good thing going.