Radcliffe, Groff, and Mendez star in MERRILY - Reviews & News Thread

NYTimes

The actor Daniel Radcliffe will star in an Off Broadway revival of “Merrily We Roll Along,” a Stephen Sondheim musical that famously flopped on Broadway but in the decades since has become an oft-produced and beloved show.

The new production, directed by Maria Friedman, is sure to be a tough ticket to get, given Radcliffe’s celebrity and the size of the venue: It is to be staged late this year by the nonprofit New York Theater Workshop at its 199-seat main stage in the East Village.

New York Theater Workshop, best known as the birthplace of “Rent,” said Monday that its production of “Merrily” would run in “late 2022”; it did not announce dates. Radcliffe will play Charley Kringas, a lyricist and playwright; the theater did not announce other cast members.

Updated On: 12/11/22 at 11:16 AM

NYTW? Why? This actually kind of pisses me off. The run will sell out in 3 seconds and be one of those stressful as hell situations where you desperately try to get a cancellation ticket for weeks on end. But I guess they wanted to create an “event” which they’ll definitely have here.

HOLYYYYY F*CKING SH*T I'M SO EXCITED FOR THIS ON SO MANY LEVELS

We're finally getting the Friedman production to NYC after all these years.

AND I'm a huge fan of Daniel Radcliffe - I've seen 6 of his 7 stage roles to date (only missed Equus, which was before my time in NY).

PLUS - I've been saying that Daniel Radcliffe has started to become a classic "jack of all trades, master of none." He keeps tackling new challenges, and working his ass off to exceed expectations - but I've been saying he should go back and try to continue honing his skills on something he's already done - like another musical! And here we are!!!

Oh man oh man oh man, I'm ready!


EDIT: But yes, I agree with Jordan. This is going to be a source of stress for me from now until I inevitably end up paying full price for a cancellation ticket.

Updated On: 3/7/22 at 11:31 AM

This is coming to Broadway next season. Guaranteed.

Is it worth getting a membership to NYTW 2022/2023 season to guarantee seats to this show? Thinking about it. Just to avoid all the stress and anxiety of trying to get tickets to this show that everyone knows will sell out.

The NYTW season looks pretty promising so I might just get season tickets. But yeah do we assume that Andrew Garfield is out since he wasn't announced too or could that still be happening?

ren598 said: "Is it worth getting a membership to NYTW 2022/2023 season to guarantee seats to this show? Thinking about it. Just to avoid all the stress and anxiety of trying to get tickets to this show that everyone knows will sell out."

Probably, but the cheapest membership they're offering right now is $350 for a 7-show package that includes the remainder of this season plus next season.

With Radcliffe in the lead it definitely seems like the goal would be to move this to Broadway. I assume the history of the show itself is the reason they're testing the waters with an Off-Broadway run first.

Mike Faist or Jeremy Pope for Frank!

How interesting he's in it as Charlie.

I'm sure he'll be very good!

If this really does go to Broadway wow- what a redemption for what essentially crashed Hal Prince and Sondheim's collaborations.

The Friedman production was the best I think this show can be. I'm still not 100 percent drawn in by the show. There's something still very arm's length about it besides the score being tremendous.

If this goes to Broadway it does have the vibe of a limited run.

What makes her version so good?

And are we sure this is going to be such a hot ticket? Maybe if they stack the rest of the cast with notable Broadway vets, which I'm sure they will.

This will undoubtedly be a huge sellout at NYTW, but I’m dubious at best about its transfer prospects. Radcliffe has not proven to be as much of a box office draw as you’d think, mostly because his choice of shows haven’t entirely lined up with what his main fanbase would expect of him. Merrily is not a commercially viable show unless they went with multiple A-list names.

Frankly (no pun intended), I just don’t see the need for this. Maria Friedman’s production may be the closest to “getting it right,” but it’s still pretty dramatically inert as a show, no matter how good Sondheim’s score is. We just had a revival of it a couple seasons ago. Give it a rest. For that matter, give Sondheim a rest for a bit. Give us a bit to miss him and mourn him without the barrage of revivals.

Maybe I’m just being a Debbie Downer, but I’m more excited about Pam Anderson in Chicago than I am about this news. And that’s not to short Pam, who I’m genuinely thrilled for, but the fact that I’m excited about Chicago casting and not a major revival of a Sondheim work with a big, splashy star name.