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Four years after bringing the world the high speed comedy classic Smokey and the Bandit (and three years after their stuntman comedy Hooper and one year after Smokey and the Bandit II), director Hal Needham and star Burt Reynolds teamed up again for another high speed comedy, the goofball ensemble film The Cannonball Run. The film was a big hit, the sixth highest-grossing domestic film of 1981, and it was followed by a pair of less successful sequels, Cannonball Run II (1983) and Speed Zone (1989). Even though the follow-ups aren’t highly regarded, The Cannonball Run is still a well-known title, which is why we’ve been hearing rumblings of a remake for years. Now, industry scooper Jeff Sneider of The InSneider reports that Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan is likely to be the one to finally bring The Cannonball Run back to the screen, as his production company, Bosque Ranch, is developing...

Now you know, when Richard Linklater’s “Merrily We Roll Along” film adaptation premieres in about 15 years, it will star Broadway actress Hannah Cruz.

The “Suffs” star has joined the project as Gussie opposite Paul Mescal, Beanie Feldstein, Mallory Bechtel and Ben Platt, TheWrap has learned. Filming will take place over the next two decades, similar to the director’s process for his Oscar-winning movie, “Boyhood.”

Producers include Blumhouse Productions’ Jason Blum, Ginger Sledge, Jonathan Marc Sherman, Mike Blizzard and Linklater. Some filming had already taken place as of late 2024, years after Blumhouse first acquired the rights in 2019.

The movie is an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s 1981 musical of the same name. The 2023 Broadway revival notably starred Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe.

Cruz was most recently seen in the Tony-winning “Suffs” and is currently attached to the “Big Fish” industry reading led by Patrick Wilson.

Exclusive: Hannah Cruz (The Time Traveler’s Wife) has closed a deal to join Merrily We Roll Along, Richard Linklater’s adaptation of the 1981 musical from Stephen Sondheim and George Furth.

A Clarence Derwent Award-winning veteran of the theater world, Cruz is set to play Gussie, the wife of Paul Mescal’s Franklin Shepard, who after establishing himself as a talented composer of Broadway musicals, abandons his friends and songwriting career to become a producer of Hollywood movies. The story takes place over 20 years, and Linklater will shoot the film over the same time span, taking a page from his playbook on the Oscar-nominated Boyhood, which was shot over 12 years.

As previously announced, Ben Platt, Beanie Feldstein and Mallory Bechtel will also star. Producers of the feature are Ginger Sledge, Jason Blum for Blumhouse Productions, Jonathan Marc Sherman, Linklater and Mike Blizzard.

With a book by Furth and music and lyrics by Sondheim,...

Following the epic success of musicals at the weekend box office — hello, Moana 2 and Wicked! — Saturday Night Live decided to let the other movie playing on screens this season, Gladiator II, also deserved a sing-song-y adaptation. And what better time to do that than while the star of the film, Paul Mescal, is hosting SNL?

"So, after some rushed reshoots, Gladiator II is now...a Musical!" the narration begins. Because, as Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang sing in the introduction, there's no place like Rome, is there?

Welcome to the Rome of 'Gladiator II: The Musical'

"It's the same, violent historical epic audiences have been raving about," the voiceover jokes, "but with an extra 50 minutes of songs."

Strapping on his Roman gladiator best, Mescal quickly turns into the sort of Broadway performer we would not have necessarily pegged him for, giving the amusingly clever lyrics that much more comedic oomph.

Pauline Kael once called the gulf between E.T. and Poltergeist a testament to the confounding ability for one man, Steven Spielberg, to produce one enduring masterpiece and one miserable failure in the space of a year—and God forever damn her for not realizing that Poltergeist is, if anything, a more harrowing portrait of the nuclear family on the verge of dissipation, but I digress. Apparently, she hadn’t seen Mel Brooks’s 1974 one-two punch.

Young Frankenstein is so loving and charmingly goofy in spoofing one of Hollywood’s most successful early genres (the Universal monster movies of the 1930s) that it winds up as much a tribute as it is a parody. But Blazing Saddles, a burlesque about a western town standing in the way of the railroad expansion and the Black sheriff sent to discourage its citizens from deserting, is a limp, shapeless mess of a film...

Merrily We Roll Along closed out its Broadway run with a new high of $2.77 million, which the production says is the highest grossing week ever for any Stephen Sondheim musical on Broadway.

The revival, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, ended its run July 7, after opening at the Hudson Theatre in October 2023. The revival has continued to break box office records at the theater and has seen a particular rise in grosses in recent weeks, after the production won best revival of a musical at the June 16 Tony Awards, where both Radcliffe and Groff also took home trophies, and as it neared its closing date.

Capacity has been at 100 percent every week of run. And the average ticket price has also increased, alongside its popularity, to reach a new high of $357.94 in its final week.

While Sondheim musicals did not traditionally fare well at the box office in their original runs,...

You’re a Tony winner, Daniel Radcliffe.

The actor took home the Tony Award for best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical for Merrily We Roll Along. Radcliffe portrays lyricist and playwright Charley Kringas in the revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s 1981 musical. The original production only lasted 12 days before shutting down.

“I’m gonna just talk fast and try not to cry,” Radcliffe began his acceptance speech. “This has been one of the best experiences of my life. It’s been unbelievable.”

“It is an honor to be on stage with you all every single night,” he added of his co-stars, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, and the entire cast of the musical. He then took a moment to thank his parents, who were in the audience.

“Happy Father’s Day, Dad,” he said toward the end of his speech. “Thank you...

Hit Man blends multiple genres with high ratings, setting a new standard for Glen Powell's career. Linklater's unique approach to filming Merrily We Roll Along will span 20 years in reverse chronological order. Hit Man showcases Richard Linklater's return to form with original comedies, promising more great films ahead.

Richard Linklater's latest movie Hit Man is a great addition to his classic filmography. Best known for his celebrated movies such as Dazed and Confused, Boyhood, School of Rock, and the Before trilogy, Linklater has been one of the definitive voices in independent cinema since the early 1990s. Boyhood and the Before trilogy, which consists of Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013), have used real-world time as a filmmaking tool, chronicling aging characters with equally aging cast members.

While Hit Man doesn't employ any of these Linklater temporal tricks, it does blend several film genres, such as the action thriller,...

“I wasn’t prepared for how much it really meant to me,” admits Maria Friedman on her first ever Tony Award nomination for directing the hit revival of “Merrily We Roll Along.” This recognition serves as a capstone on a decades-long relationship with the “genius musical.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.

Friedman, who also works as an actor, starred in a UK production of “Merrily” in 1992 under the guidance of creators Stephen Sondheim and George Furth. She would return to this show when she first tried her hand at directing. During a break between acting gigs, she recalls her husband saying that she would “go nutty” without a project to dig into. So, she accepted an offer to direct and took to it immediately. “It was like when something really fits you properly,” reveals Friedman, “it didn’t feel complicated.”

See ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ predicted to match Tony...

Director Richard Linklater rues that Hollywood has taken to creating sexless characters and superheroes without genitalia.

The writer/director of films including the Before trilogy and Boyhood is behind Netflix’s Hit Man, one of the standout successes at last year’s Venice Film Festival. Linklater calls the movie, starring Glen Powell and Adria Arjona, a “sexy crime thriller meets screwball comedy” and says the plot hinges on Arjanoa’s character Maddy being “the one he will risk everything for, just to sleep with her.”

Linklater told The Times of London: “Sex and violence is what cinema is great at. Sex was always the great seller; I don’t know why they backed off from that. Hollywood started feeding this new generation characters that were sexless. Superheroes don’t have sex. They don’t have genitalia, frankly.”

Hit Man follows Gary Johnson (Powell), a professor who moonlights as a fake...

Merrily We Roll Along, the hit Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, has recouped its $12 million capitalization six months after beginning performances, producers announced today.

The musical, which opened to rave reviews last October 10 after beginning previews September 19, has broken house records at the Hudson Theatre seven times during its run, according to producers Sonia Friedman Productions, David Babani, Patrick Catullo and Jeff Romley.

Extended twice during the limited engagement, Merrily, directed by Maria Friedman, must close as previously announced on Sunday, July 7, producers said. The revival will have played 20 previews and 312 regular performances.

In addition to the headlining trio, Merrily, with music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by Furth, features Krystal Joy Brown, Katie Rose Clarke and Reg Rogers among the principal cast.

The production was originally produced at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2012 followed by...

The actors from the current revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s “Merrily We Roll Along” have skyrocketed in Gold Derby’s combined odds for the 2024 Tony Awards nominations. The prediction center displays commanding leads for Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe to win their respective categories. This is an understandable result considering this revival is the hottest ticket in town and this trio of performers has been ever-present in the media. But how often does a trio of actors from the same production pull off three separate acting victories at the Tony Awards?

It’s quite common for a musical to grab two acting trophies, but three awards is much rarer. To date, only 15 musical productions have earned three acting wins. The first time this feat occurred was at the 1956 ceremony, which was ironically the first time the Tony Awards ever announced a slate of nominees (previously...

Exclusive: Mallory Bechtel (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin) has landed a role opposite Paul Mescal, Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein in Richard Linklater’s feature adaptation of Merrily We Roll Along, the classic musical from Stephen Sondheim and George Furth.

Details as to her role haven’t been disclosed.

Merrily follows Franklin Shepard, who after establishing himself as a talented composer of Broadway musicals, abandons his friends and songwriting career to become a producer of Hollywood movies. The story takes place over 20 years, and Linklater will shoot the film over the same time span, taking a page from his playbook on the Oscar-nominated Boyhood, shot over 12 years.

With a book by Furth and music and lyrics by Sondheim, the musical is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It ran for 44 previews and 16 performances on Broadway in 1981 and recently returned to The Great White Way,...

Richard Linklater’s ongoing fascination with the passage of time has seen him use lengthy shooting schedules to make some of the most beloved independent films of the last quarter century. He famously spent a decade shooting “Boyhood” in order to accurately showcase the process of his actors aging, and the 18-year gap between “Before Sunrise” and “Before Midnight” (with “Before Sunset” coming in between) allowed him to capture a relationship from its initial spark to the domesticity of marriage. But his upcoming adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along” might be his most ambitious undertaking yet.

Sondheim’s musical — which has a book by George Furth and is based on George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s play of the same name — famously tells the story of three friends whose lives change over the course of 20 years as they pursue diverging career paths in show business.

The...

In 2022, Marianne Elliott won the Tony Award for directing a revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical “Company.” In her speech, she thanked the late composer for trusting her to put a “woman front and center” in her gender-bent production. Indeed, her victory was a major milestone for female directors. She became the first woman to win three times for directing. It was also the first time a woman took home a Tony for helming a Sondheim musical, and just the fifth instance of a woman winning for directing a tuner.

At the upcoming 2024 Tonys, Maria Friedman could accomplish those latter two feats, too. She is the visionary performer-turned-director who has achieved what would have been unfathomable to theatergoers back in 1981 — making the Sondheim and George Furth musical “Merrily We Roll Along” a hit on Broadway. But she definitely has a “good thing going” with her production of the notorious flop,...

Irony dwells in the bones of "Merrily We Roll Along," a musical that plays backward in time. The 1981 sinking of the original Broadway production of "Merrily We Roll Along" is a chaos best told by the documentary "Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened." The critics and audience were reportedly baffled by the reverse chronological storytelling and director Hal Prince's purposefully amateurish methodology, which casts high schoolers and young adults playing fortysomethings aging down to twentysomethings. It closed down after 44 previews and 16 performances. The loss demoralized the creatives so much that lyricist-composer Stephen Sondheim and Prince — mavericks who birthed successes like "Company" and "Sweeney Todd" — halted their collaboration for years. This short-lived run underscores the musical's themes: friendships breaking up and showbiz realities thwarting artistic plans.

Away from Prince's high-schoolish shell, major productions have repackaged "Merrily." This material also turned out to be a fitting endeavor for filmmaker Richard Linklater,...

What a difference 40 years makes. After opening to pans and a run of only 16 official performances in 1981, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical “Merrily We Roll Along” has been remounted on Broadway for the very first time. Maria Friedman has stepped into the director role once occupied by Sondheim’s frequent collaborator Hal Prince — “Merrily” was their first flop after an impressive string of successful shows in the 70s. The revival opened on Oct. 10 at the Hudson Theatre for a run slated to end in March.

“Merrily” boasts marquee names Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, and Daniel Radcliffe. The trio play Franklin Shepard, Mary Flynn, and Charley Kringas, respectively, the three creatives at the heart of the musical that’s told in reverse over the course of 20+ years. It begins in a moment of personal and professional disillusionment and estrangement and unspools to a simpler, earlier time when their friendships...

Troubled musicals, like troubled friendships, can often seem like defeats lying in wait, sponging up every last second of loving care, effort and good intention. So Maria Friedman’s smartly tended production of that most troubled of stage properties, the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth backwards musical Merrily We Roll Along deserves all the applause – and ticket-buying business – it’s getting at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre.

Opening tonight, the musical is drawing rapturous audience responses, no doubt in large part because of the splendid performances by three very appealing stars – Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez.

But even if we could, for the sake of argument, put the talents of this delightful trio singing some of Sondheim’s loveliest songs, aside for a moment, the undeniable charm of this production has to be credited to a sort of relief – the relief of knowing that, for the most part, Friedman...

Broadway’s starry Merrily We Roll Along revival had another strong run of previews last week, grossing a hefty $1,471,644 and setting another house record at the Hudson Theatre.

The Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez topped the venue’s previous seven-performance record of $1,431,543, held by David Byrne’s American Utopia.

Merrily was the only show on the boards officially filling all its seats for the week ending Oct. 1. Hamilton was a virtual sell out, with 99.7% of seats filled, and The Lion King was at 99.4% of capacity at the Minskoff.

Two productions opened last week: Purlie Victorious, grossing $358,336 at the Music Box, and Melissa Etheridge: My Window taking $179,113 at Circle in the Square. Press and opening night comps no doubt took a bite into receipts.

Other previewing...

Stephen Sondheim has almost never been more popular than in the two years since his passing in November 2021. In that time, celebrated revivals of “Company,” “Into the Woods,” and “Sweeney Todd” have come to Broadway, and successful remounting of “Assassins” and “Merrily We Roll Along” have played Off-Broadway, which is a testament to the enduring appeal of his works.

This fall will once again spotlight Sondheim. The tremendously successful Off-Broadway run of “Merrily” starring Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, and Daniel Radcliffe opens on Broadway on October 10, which will mark the first remounting since its original, unsuccessful run in 1981. In addition, his final musical “Here We Are,” which is based on two Luis Buñuel films—“The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” and “The Exterminating Angel”—will have its highly-anticipated world premiere Off-Broadway, opening on October 22.

In honor of another “season of Sondheim,” take a look back at every single Tony...

Merrily We Roll Along, the new Broadway revival of the Sondheim classic musical starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, broke the six-performance house record at the Hudson Theatre with a $1.3 million gross in its first week of previews.

Filling every seat in the venue, the revival carried an eye-popping average ticket price of $225.07, besting the $166.11 of the usual frontrunner Hamilton by a wide margin for the week ending September 24.

Merrily, the Off Broadway transfer from New York Theatre Workshop, grossed, to be exact, $1,304,508 for its first six Broadway previews, breaking the previous six-performance week record of $1.18 million set by David Byrne’s American Utopia. Merrily opens on October 10.

Directed by Maria Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along features music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a book by George Furth, and is based on the original play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart. Spanning three decades in the entertainment business, Merrily...

Major film and TV productions are currently on hold due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, but the New York theater scene is still as active as ever. A new Broadway season is upon us, and there are five musicals set to open this fall. Will they contend at next year’s Tony Awards? Below, we give you a preview of the plot of each musical as well as the awards history of its author, cast and creative teams, plus the opening and (where applicable) closing dates.

“Merrily We Roll Along”

The first Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s 1981 musical adaptation of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart‘s 1934 play spans three decades in the entertainment industry and charts the relationship between composer Franklin Shepard and his two friends — writer Mary and lyricist and playwright Charley. The original production directed by Hal Prince only ran for 16 performances,...

Director Richard Linklater expressed his admiration for Greta Gerwig’s record-breaking “Barbie” in a recent interview with NME. He specifically praised the musical numbers in the fantasy comedy, which include “I’m Just Ken,” performed by Ryan Gosling.

“I liked the musical numbers,” Linklater said. “I liked the movie a lot. It’s worth seeing a couple times. The best thing that happened to cinema in a while is ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie.’ Sends a good message.”

While Linklater is “glad those [movies] are doing well,” the “Dazed and Confused” director isn’t concerned about making films on the scale of “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”

“It’s all about the journey, not the destination, as they say,” he explained. “Why take a trip? Because you want to have an experience. You don’t know what exactly, but you feel compelled to travel. So it’s the same thing [when] you go to make a movie.

“Something’s gotta give. No-one’s happy.”

Richard Linklater said he believes the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes in the US will be “resolved soon” as “something’s gotta give”.

The US director revealed he is hoping to resume shooting on Merrily We Roll Along, his 20-year feature project starring Paul Mescal, “pretty soon if we can.” He did not provide exact dates for the resumption of filming. The film is being produced by Blumhouse Productions.

Merrily We Roll Along is a musical comedy based on Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s 1981 musical of the same name; it began principal photography...

Update, with opening night: An official opening night date has been set for the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along: Following the previously announced Sept. 19 preview launch, the opening night will be Tuesday, October 10 at the Hudson Theatre.

Previous, July 10: The first, star-packed Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along has extended its engagement by two months, giving ticket buyers until March 24, 2024 to see the production featuring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez.

Performances begin Tuesday, September 19 at the Hudson Theatre. The original closing date was January 21, 2024. The extension was announced today by producers Sonia Friedman Productions, David Babani, Patrick Catullo, and Jeff Romley, who cited popular demand as the reason for the longer run.

Directed by Maria Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along features music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a book by George Furth,...

Exclusive: Blumhouse and Atomic Monster’s Night Swim from writer/director Bryce McGuire has added Amélie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren, Nancy Lenehan, and Jodi Long to the cast. The group have joined Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon in the pic which hits theaters on Jan. 19, 2024. Production is currently underway in LA.

Based on the short film created by McGuire and Rod Blackhurst, Night Swim is described as a supernatural thriller built around the hidden source of terror found in an unassuming backyard swimming pool. Atomic Monster and Blumhouse are producing the film. Universal Pictures will handle distribution.

Hoeferle is a German-American actress who spent her youth in between the two countries. She will be next seen in Francis Lawrence’s prequel of Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes for Lionsgate. She plays “Vipsania Sickle,” mentor to a tribute from District 7. She also played “Sam” in the award winning The Boogeywoman,...

The upcoming Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez will play its first performance at the Hudson Theatre on Tuesday, September 19, producers announced today.

Directed by Maria Friedman, the production played a sold-out Off Broadway run at New York Theatre Workshop last year. The preview date for the strictly limited, 18-week Broadway engagement was announced by producers Sonia Friedman Productions, David Babani, Patrick Catullo, and Jeff Romley.

Merrily We Roll Along features music and lyrics by Sondheim, a book by George Furth, and is based on the original play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart. The revival is choreographed by Tim Jackson

In addition to the previously announced stars, the production will feature Krystal Joy Brown as Gussie Carnegie, Katie Rose Clarke as Beth Shepard, and Reg Rogers as Joe Josephson.

Mj: The Musical, the four-time Tony winner that centers on the making of Michael Jackson’s 1992-93 Dangerous World Tour, will kick off Broadway in Hollywood’s 2023-24 season at the Hollywood Pantages, the Nederlander Organization announced Wednesday.

The slate includes five Los Angeles premieres, one pre-Broadway L.A. premiere and the return of an American classic.

Mj: The Musical, created by Christopher Wheeldon and Lynn Nottage, is scheduled to run Dec. 20 through Jan. 28, 2024. In her THR review of the show last year, Lovia Gyarkye wrote that “Mj, like its subject, is captivating and hard to shake.”

Next up will be the pre-Broadway Los Angeles premiere of a new production of the Tony-winning The Wiz (Feb. 13-March 3, 2024), the musical’s first major revival in 40 years. That will be followed March 5-24 by a 25th-anniversary production of Chicago, the longest-running American musical in Broadway history.

Conor McPherson’s Girl From the North Country,...

It's not a secret that Hollywood has a really sordid history with the way transgender characters have been presented on film. While bigoted pundits like to pretend that trans people and trans representation in entertainment is somehow a new concept, films like "Myra Breckinridge" were shocking and subverting audience expectations over half a century ago. Unlike the transgender media of our current era that often put cis men like Jared Leto, Eddie Redmayne, and Jeffrey Tambor in drag, "Myra Breckinridge" instead chose to cast Raquel Welch, an international sex symbol at the time, in the titular role.

The film was an adaptation of Gore Vidal's controversial book of the same name, a title that was equal parts bestseller and banned text. It's one of the earliest known novels to feature a protagonist who has undergone gender affirmation surgery and dissects themes of feminism, gender performance, America's unhealthy relationship with toxic masculinity,...

It’s a hot soap from ’65, when movies promised raging passion but delivered cheap teases and hypocritical judgments. It’s Suzanne Pleshette’s only starring role, but it doesn’t exploit her bright personality, her sense of humor. John O’Hara’s tale hasn’t much pity for a promiscuous young wife who breaks the rules. Does nymphomania make her a social menace, or is she victimized by a script determined to put the blame on Mame? Costarring Ben Gazzara, Bradford Dillman and Peter Graves.

A Rage to Live

Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 197

1965 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date December 28, 2022 / Available from [Imprint] / aud 34.98

Starring: Suzanne Pleshette, Bradford Dillman, Ben Gazzara, Peter Graves, Bethel Leslie, Carmen Mathews, Linden Chiles, James Gregory, Ruth White, Mark Goddard, Sarah Marshall, George Furth, Virginia Christine, Aneta Corsaut, Frank Maxwell, Almira Sessions.

Cinematography: Charles Lawton Jr.

Costume Designer: Howard Shoup

Art Director: James Sullivan

Film Editor: Stuart Gilmore...

Ben Platt has nothing but raves for Paul Mescal. The two actors are joining forces for Richard Linklater’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” an adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim and George Furth musical that’s being filmed over the course of two decades. Variety reported earlier in January that Mescal had replaced Blake Jenner in the lead role of Broadway composer Franklin Shepard. Platt said at the Variety Studio presented by Audible at Sundance that working with Mescal is already “wonderful.”

Platt is starring in the musical as Franklin’s creative partner and lyricist Charley, while Beanie Feldstein is taking on the role of their good friend and theater critic, Mary. The story tracks the trio’s disintegrating friendship as Franklin abandons Charley and Mary to become a successful Hollywood film producer. The story is told in reverse chronological order over 20 years, so Linklater and his actors are shooting parts...

“Normal People” star Paul Mescal, who made a splash last week when he was cast in the “Gladiator” sequel, is replacing Blake Jenner in “Merrily We Roll Along,” according to an individual with knowledge of the project.

Richard Linklater is directing the feature film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim and George Furth musical of the same name.

Mescal will play Franklin Shepard, a once-in-a-generation composing talent who morphs into a self-centered Hollywood producer barely clinging to his second marriage.

Jenner, the former “Glee” star, left the project shortly after allegations of domestic abuse were raised by his ex-wife and former co-star Melissa Benoist in 2019. Jenner would issue an apology almost a year later.

Also Read:

‘Merrily We Roll Along’ Off Broadway Review: Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe Try to Resuscitate a Sondheim Flop

“Merrily We Roll Along” also stars Ben Platt in the role of Charley Kringas and Beanie Feldtsein as Mary Flynn,...

Richard Linklater’s feature film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical “Merrily We Roll Along” is merrily rolling again, with “Aftersun” and “Normal People” star Paul Mescal stepping into the lead role of Broadway composer Franklin Shepard, replacing original star Blake Jenner.

Mescal joins Ben Platt, who plays Franklin’s creative partner and lyricist Charley, and Beanie Feldstein, playing the duo’s good friend, theater critic Mary. The story tracks the trio’s disintegrating friendship as Franklin abandons Charley and Mary to become a successful Hollywood film producer — the twist is that the story is told in reverse chronological order, starting with Mary castigating Franklin as a sell-out and ending 20 years earlier with the characters as fresh-faced hopefuls.

Variety has confirmed that Mescal has already shot a segment for the film.

Linklater originally announced the project in 2019, with Platt, Feldstein and Jenner set for the lead roles...

The Off Broadway musical revival of the Stephen Sondheim and George Furth classic Merrily We Roll Along, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff & Lindsay Mendez will move to Broadway in the fall, producers anounced today.

The announcement – from producers Sonia Friedman Productions, David Babani, Patrick Catullo and Jeff Romley – heralds the first ever Broadway revival of the show. The production is currently playing a critically acclaimed and completely sold-out run at New York Theatre Workshop through January 22 following sold-out runs at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory and the Olivier Award-winning West End transfer produced by Sonia Friedman Productions.

Directed by Olivier Award winner Maria Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along features music & lyrics by Sondheim, a book by Furth, and is based on the original play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart. Radcliffe plays writer Charley Kringas, Jonathan Groff is composer Franklin Shepard, and Lindsay Mendez is author Mary Flynn. Additionally, the...

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The 1981 musical that reunited composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim and librettist George Furth, a decade after their landmark work on Company, has the rare distinction of being arguably Broadway’s most revered flop. Merrily We Roll Along closed after just 16 performances; audiences found the reverse-chronology storyline confusing and the decision to cast young actors took the sting out of scenes with the characters in disillusioned middle-age. Reviews were dismissive, and the experience was so difficult that Sondheim and his longtime director Harold Prince didn’t work together again for more than 20 years.

That fractured collaboration between two giants of the theater no longer with us has poignant echoes in the plot of Merrily, which was adapted from the 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. But it’s not just historical significance that makes the show play much more accessibly today.

Issues with Furth...

As she had done for most of Tuesday, Kevin Spacey’s lawyer Jennifer Keller today again sought to dragoon Anthony Rapp on the stand in the Star Trek: Discovery actor’s 40 million sexual misconduct case against the former House of Cards main man.

Her cross-examination of Rapp lasted about an hour today — bringing its total length to nearly five hours — but the real fireworks came near the end of Rapp attorney Peter Saghir’s redirect of his client – when he asked whether Rapp told BuzzFeed about Spacey in order to raise his public profile.

“I came forward because I knew I was not the only one Kevin Spacey had made advances to,” Rapp testified.

That created an uproar in the courtroom as Spacey’s lawyers objected. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan sustained the objection, ordered that sentence be stricken from the record and told the jury to disregard it. An ensuing...

Full casting for the upcoming Off Broadway revival of Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along starring the previously announced Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe has been firmed up, with Krystal Joy Brown of Hamilton among those rounding out the production.

Merrily We Roll Along will begin previews at New York Theatre Workshop on November 21, opening December 12 and running through January 21, 2023.

In addition to Brown, the complete cast will include Sherz Aletaha, Katie Rose Clarke, Leana Rae Concepcion, Carter Harris, Colin Keane, Morgan Kirner, Corey Mach, Talia Robinson, Reg Rogers, Amanda Rose, Jamila Sabares-Klemm, Brian Sears, Evan Alexander Smith, Christian Strange, Koray Tarhan, Vishal Vaidya, Natalie Wachen and Jacob Keith Watson.

Featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by George Furth, and based on the original play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart, Merrily We Roll Along is directed by Maria Friedman and choreographed by Tim Jackson, and...

The starry Off Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along featuring Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez doesn’t begin previews for another two months, and already it’s gotten a two-week extension due to ticket demand.

The Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical will now run from November 21, 2022, to January 21, 2023, at New York Theatre Workshop. Official opening night is December 12.

Nytw announced the additional two weeks of performances today, along with participation in a digital lottery for reduced-price tickets in partnership with TodayTix service.

The production of Merrily We Roll Along is directed by Olivier Award winner Maria Friedman and choreographed by Tim Jackson, and is presented by special arrangement with Sonia Friedman Productions, the Menier Chocolate Factory (Artistic Director David Babani) and Patrick Catullo.

The musical spans three decades (presented in reverse chronology) in the lives of three friends in the entertainment business: composer Franklin Shepard (Groff...

The Tony Award-winning revival of Company will play its final Broadway performance at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Sunday, July 31, producers said in a surprise announcement today.

Producer Chris Harper said in a statement tonight, “It remains the honor of a lifetime to bring Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s masterpiece to Broadway in Marianne Elliott’s Tony Award-winning reimagined production. It is a testament to the dedication of everyone who works on the production that we have withstood all the challenges that Broadway has faced over the last two years to share this show with our amazing audiences.

“We have six more weeks of performances to celebrate our astonishing cast, orchestra, and crew at the Jacobs Theatre and we are delighted to be planning a touring production to bring Company to audiences across North America soon.”

The North American tour of Company is planned for the 2023-2024 season.

Editors Note: Company, the beloved 1970 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, has long been thought by many theater aficionados as, if not a perfect work, at least unimprovable, a masterwork in an unparalleled catalogue.

But in 2016, British director Marianne Elliott had an idea — a series of ideas, actually — that would reimagine Company for a 21st century audience and challenge the 20th century’s towering stage musical genius to reconsider his approach. The central character of Bobby, a 35-year-old bachelor, would become Bobbie, a 35-year-old woman. Another character, Amy, an archetypal nervous bride who sings one of the musical’s most memorable songs (“Getting Married Today”), would be gender-switched to Jamie, a gay man undergoing the same panicked jitters in a world newly liberated by gay marriage.

Those and other changes in characters would reflect nearly 50 years of sea-change attitude shifts in gender conventions,...

What do the 25th and 75th Tony Awards have in common? The landmark Stephen Sondheim/George Furth musical “Company,” Angela Lansbury and the beloved tuner “The Music Man.”

The gender-bender revival of “Company” is considered the front-runner for the Tony for Best Musical Revival as well as featured actress for Broadway legend Patti LuPone who brings down the house with “Ladies Who Lunch.” Elaine Stritch originated the LuPone’s character of Joanne; her rendition of “Ladies Who Lunch” is considered one of the indelible show-stopping numbers in Broadway history. Stritch was considered a shoo-in for lead actress but lost to Helen Gallagher for the revival of -the 1920s musical “No, No Nanette.” Go figure. Gallagher was good, but she wasn’t as great as Stritch.

The original “Company” waltzed into the Tony Awards — which took place at the Palace Theatre on March 28, 1971 — with a whopping 14 nominations and won six including Best Musical,...

“It feels like a completely new production,” explains “Company” star Katrina Lenk. The Tony Award-winning actress (“The Band’s Visit”) plays Bobbie in director Marianne Elliott’s envisioned staging of Stephen Sondheim’s classic. Switching the gender of the central role helped Lenk avoid feeling pressure about playing a role many formidable male talents have taken on before her. “We were really approaching it as a brand new piece,” she says, “so all the pressure went away because it didn’t really apply.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.

SEEMatt Doyle interview: ‘Company’

Lenk is particularly interested in how changing the character from Bobby to Bobbie allows for a close examination of what it is like to exist as a woman in today’s world. She is asking herself questions like “how do women perform femininity?” and wondering why they have “a tendency to people and have an outward focus on other people’s needs.

Daniel Radcliffe will tackle Stephen Sondheim next season in a new revival of the 1981 musical Merrily We Roll Along at the Off Broadway New York Theatre Workshop.

The revival, to be directed by Maria Friedman and choreographed by Tim Jackson, is planned for a late 2022 opening, with full cast and specific production dates to be announced later.

Radcliffe, who appeared on Broadway in the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 2011, will play Merrily‘s Charley, one of three longtime show business pals whose friendship is presented in reverse chronological order, from its sad dissolution to its hopeful beginning. Among the beloved Sondheim songs given to Charley are “Old Friends” and “Good Thing Going.”

The musical, featuring music and lyrics by Sondheim, book by George Furth and based on the original play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, will complete Nytw’s 2022/23 season.

Friedman made her...

Over fifty years after its debut on Broadway in 1970, Stephen Sondheim’s genre-redefining musical “Company” has returned in a reimagined production by Tony Award-winning director Marianne Elliott. The classic musical is a series of vignettes that coalesce around its protagonist Bobby on the occasion of his thirty-fifth birthday, but in this revival the main character is now a female Bobbie. “Company” opened at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Dec. 9.

Tony winner Katrina Lenk steps into the role of Bobbie, previously played on Broadway by the likes of Dean Jones, Larry Kert, Boyd Gaines, and Raúl Esparza. Her Joanne – the character known for singing the sardonic Sondheim showstopper “The Ladies Who Lunch” – is two-time Tony winner Patti LuPone. The ensemble boasts a number of Broadway staples, including Nikki Renée Daniels, Matt Doyle, Tony nominees Christopher Fitzgerald, Christopher Sieber, and Jennifer Simard, plus others. George Furth contributed the original book.

See 2022 Tony Awards eligibility rulings,...

If there’s a better, more vital way to honor the late, incomparable Stephen Sondheim than Marianne Elliott’s superb production of Company, Broadway hasn’t invented it. This gorgeous revival of the Sondheim-George Furth masterwork at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, is, from across-the-board excellent performances and thoughtful revisions to the visual delight of a lovely and ingeniously clever set design, a gift both to and from the genius we lost last month.

With its attention-getting gender-switching premise bringing a freshness and nuance that’s nothing short of near-miraculous for a much-revived 51-year-old musical, Elliott’s Company challenges Broadway’s current production of 1955’s Trouble in Mind as the most dizzying time-warp experience on stage this season. Like that Alice Childress play, this Company feels both absolutely of the moment and timeless.

Starring Katrina Lenk as the defiantly single Bobbie – in the original, of course, the bachelor Bobby,...

Patti LuPone will miss this weekend’s performances of Broadway’s Company due to a non-Covid-related illness.

Press had been invited to both of Saturday’s performances – matinee and evening – but the production rescheduled the press nights for early next week after LuPone’s return. The actress also missed last night’s and tonight’s performances.

Opening night remains set for Thursday, December 9.

LuPone stars in the revival of the classic Stephen Sondheim/George Furth musical, directed by Marianne Elliott, along with Katrina Lenk, Matt Doyle, Christopher Fitzgerald, Christopher Sieber, Jennifer Simard, Terence Archie, Etai Benson, Bobby Conte, Nikki Renée Daniels, Claybourne Elder, Greg Hildreth, Manu Narayan, and Rashidra Scott.

During last night’s performance, the show was briefly halted when a section of the moving set malfunctioned, prompting the evacuation from the stage of the performers. Tonight’s performance was to proceed as scheduled.

The show must go on.

That’s what Broadway’s latest production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” did Friday night at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, but not before director Marianne Elliott paid tribute to the late composer, who passed away just hours before at the age of 91. “He was truly the greatest artist that we in our lifetime possibly will ever know in this art form,” she said to applause, before the curtain was raised to show the cast standing together on stage. “Obviously, everybody is very shocked because everybody on this production knew him very well.”

Elliott called musicals “the hardest of all theater because it involves even more people… The structure of it is so important and the way that it’s crafted is so important and he truly was a genius of all of that.”

“He was the most artistic and collaborative person ever,” Elliott continued.

Producers of Broadway’s Company have completed casting with the hiring of Manu Narayan, who takes over the role of Theo previously filled by Kyle Dean Massey.

Narayan’s Broadway credits include Gettin’ the Band Back Together, Bombay Dreams and Lincoln Center Theater’s My Fair Lady revival. He appeared in Roundabout Theatre Company’s 2019 Off Broadway production of Merrily We Roll Along, like Company a classic Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical.

Narayan joins a production headed by Katrina Lenk and Patti LuPone. Other principal cast members include Matt Doyle, Christopher Fitzgerald, Christopher Sieber, Jennifer Simard, Terence Archie, Etai Benson, Bobby Conte, Nikki Renée Daniels, Claybourne Elder, Greg Hildreth and Rashidra Scott.

Company, which was in previews when the Covid pandemic shutdown hit in March 2020, resumes performances Monday, Nov. 15 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, with an official opening on Thursday, Dec. 9.

Massey said in June that he would not return to the show,...

George Seaton’s literal feel-good comedy is the flipside of pandemic films like Contagion: a powerful virus ‘cures’ grumpiness and bad vibes, encouraging a kind of Urban Utopia. The picture has nothing more to say than ‘have a nice day,’ yet it’s difficult to argue with any positive sentiment, especially these days. George Peppard and Mary Tyler Moore battle nobly with the material, which varies from good parody (Dom DeLuise) to awful vaudeville schtick to wafer-thin satire to terrible musical interludes. A Toucan bird from South America steals the show — his trainer Ray Berwick should have won an Oscar.

What’s So Bad About Feeling Good?

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date August 24, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: George Peppard, Mary Tyler Moore, Susan Saint James, Don Stroud, Dom DeLuise, John McMartin, Charles Lane, Nathaniel Frey, George Furth, Morty Gunty, Frank Campanella, Thelma Ritter,...

The highly-anticipated new production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's landmark American musical, Company, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Marianne Elliott starring Tony and Grammy Award winner Katrina Lenk as Bobbie and two-time Tony Award and two- time Grammy Award winner Patti LuPone as Joanne will return to Broadway sooner than expected. BroadwayWorld has just confirmed that the show will begin previewsat the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre 242 West 45th Street on November 15, with opening night set for December 9.