Since its Broadway premiere in 1981, Stephen Sondheim‘s Merrily We Roll Alongside has been struggling to, properly, get again to Broadway.
The musical about 20 years of friendship between composer Franklin Shepard, lyricist Charley Kringas and author Mary Flynn — which unfolds onstage in reverse chronological order, beginning when that friendship has dissolved and all three are jaded shadows of their former selves — famously ran for simply 16 performances and 44 previews in its authentic manufacturing. Over time since, a number of outstanding productions have tried to unravel what many thought-about the present’s inherent issues, and in that point, it’s additionally turn out to be one in every of Sondheim’s most beloved reveals (and scores), a musical fan’s musical.
Now, Merrily has lastly made that long-awaited return to Broadway, in an acclaimed manufacturing directed by Maria Friedman that critics have unanimously deemed the one the present all the time deserved. A second extension of its restricted engagement on the Hudson Theatre was simply introduced (via July 7, 2024), and ticket gross sales have smashed its theater‘s report seven instances. And the present’s success owes a fantastic deal to the joyous chemistry between its three leads: Jonathan Groff as Shepard, Daniel Radcliffe as Kringas and Lindsay Mendez as Flynn.
The trio’s vocal skills could be heard on the brand new Merrily forged recording, streaming now and out there on bodily CD on Jan. 12 (by way of Sony Masterworks Broadway). Under, Billboard solely premieres a music video of them performing one of many musical’s central songs, “Outdated Buddies.”
