Reviews are out for the live stage filming of the Tony-winning Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along, which comes to movie theatres via Sony Pictures Classics and Fathom Entertainment December 5. Read below to see what critics are saying about the film—and if you want to compare with how it fared with Broadway critics, read those here.
Tickets for the U.S. screenings are on sale at FathomEntertainment.com.
The production—which starred Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez—was filmed towards the end of its run last year at the Hudson Theatre. Fans noticed signs outside the theatre revealing the filming, but the production was somewhat coy in confirming at the time. "The show producers are filming their production of Merrily for posterity," said a production spokesperson in a previous statement to Playbill. "That doesn’t happen very often. We’ll see what happens." The first official confirmation came in April, when the film was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics.
READ: 7 Heartwarming Details You Can See Only in the Merrily We Roll Along Live Stage Film
Read the reviews below.
Crooked Marquee (Jason Bailey)
From the Fourth Row (Nick Nitkowski)
The Movie Cricket (Sean P. Means)
The New York Times (Calum Marsh)*
Roger Ebert (Matt Zoller Seitz)
We Are Movie Geeks (Jim Batts)
*This review may require creating a free account or a paid subscription.
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
The capture is the latest in a long line of Sondheim musicals to receive official stage films. It's also the second time this version of Merrily has been filmed and commercially released. A film of the production's 2013 West End run was preserved with the London cast and released for on demand streaming by Digital Theatre. That film is currently unavailable officially (intrepid visitors to a certain pipe-related streamer might be able to find it, but you didn't hear that here).
The Broadway revival of Merrily starred Radcliffe as Charley Kringas, Groff as Franklin Shepard, and Mendez as Mary Flynn. The trio all reprised their performances from the production's sold-out 2022 Off-Broadway run at New York Theatre Workshop, along with Krystal Joy Brown as Gussie Carnegie, Katie Rose Clarke as Beth Shepard, and Reg Rogers as Joe Josephson. Max Rackenberg, Rocco Van Auken, and Brady Wagner shared the role of Frank Jr.
This film and last year's Tony win marks the culmination of the musical's remarkable comeback story, from an infamously short-lived original production to a revival that was the hottest ticket in town. While the original Broadway production of Merrily only ran for 16 performances and 44 previews, this revival was regularly among the highest-grossing shows on Broadway. This revival won four 2024 Tony Awards, also including Best Orchestrations for Jonathan Tunick, Leading Actor in a Musical for Groff, and Featured Actor in a Musical for Radcliffe.
Watch: An Oral History of Merrily We Roll Along's Journey From Flop to Tony-Nominated Hit
This revival of Merrily We Roll Along opened October 10, 2023, at the Hudson Theatre, and completed its run July 7, 2024. Directed by Olivier winner Maria Friedman, the work features music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by Furth.
The company also included Sherz Aletaha, Maya Boyd, Leana Rae Concepcion, Coby Getzug, Ken Krugman, Corey Mach, Talia Simone Robinson, Jamila Sabares-Klemm, Brian Sears, Evan Alexander Smith, Christian Strange, Brianna Stoute, Vishal Vaidya, Natalie Wachen, and Jacob Keith Watson. Casting was by Jim Carnahan and Jason Thinger.
Based on the George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart play of the same name, Merrily We Roll Along tracks the lives of three friends navigating the entertainment industry over three decades in reverse chronological order. Sondheim's score includes such songs as "Old Friends," "Now You Know," "Franklin Shepard, Inc.," "Good Thing Going," and "Not a Day Goes By." A revival cast recording was released last year.
WATCH: Jonathan Groff Hilariously Flubs a Lyric in Merrily We Roll Along On Broadway
The production features choreography by Tim Jackson and orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. Scenic and costume design are by Soutra Gilmour, with lighting design by Amith Chandrashaker, sound design by Kai Harada, hair and wig design by Cookie Jordan, music supervision by Catherine Jayes, music direction by Joel Fram, associate music supervision by Alvin Hough, Jr., and music coordination by Kristy Norter.
The film is produced by Sonia Friedman, David Babani, Patrick Catullo, F. Richard Pappas, RadicalMedia’s Jon Kamen, and Dave Sirulnick. Executive producers include Meredith Bennett, No Guarantees Productions, Scott Abrams, Jonathan Corr, Mary Maggio, Jeff Romley, Tony Yurgaitis, Andrew Cohen, Amanda Lipitz, and Henry Tisch alongside co-executive producer Stephanie P. McClelland. Karla Zambrano and Alec Sash serve as supervising producers. Friedman, Babani, Catullo, and Romley led the revival's stage producing team.
