Is Merrily We Roll Along, the Daniel Radcliffe's come back?

Daniel Radcliffe won Tony Award 2024

Merrily We Roll Along, Tony award winner of Best Revival of a Musical, was one of the favorite stories of the season, delighting audiences and critics with the revival of Stephen Sondheim's most famous production, which closed its doors after 52 runs. previews and 16 performances and 44 previews..

The Tony award marks the culmination of Merrily We Roll Along's remarkable comeback story, from an infamously short-lived original production to a revival that's the hottest ticket in town. While the original Broadway production of Merrily only ran for short time, this revival is proving that there was a "Good Thing Going" at the center of the story. 

The original Broadway production of Merrily received a single Tony award nomination for Best Original Score, losing out to Maury Yeston's Nine as best revival of a musical.

At the same time, Daniel Radcliffe won the Tony Award for best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical, for his work in the smash hit revival of “Merrily We Roll Along.” The show is Daniel  Radcliffe’s fifth on Broadway, but the first for which he was even nominated for a Tony award, despite mostly admiring reviews all along the way.

Despite Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) is one of the world’s most famous actors, he never won a major award. Until now.

Merrily We Roll Along on the big screen: a crazy project?

The temptation to adapt successful musical shows for the big screen is high among certain directors or film producers. In Sondheim's repertoire alone there were A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A Little Night Music, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd... And we've also been talking about Merrily We Roll Along for several years.

In 2019, the press announced that Richard Linklater was going to direct an adaptation of Merrily We Roll Along and that the filming would be done on the same principle as Boyhood (2014). This film, anticipating this best revival of a musical, brought him worldwide fame and a shower of awards, was shot over a period of ten years, thus making it possible to incorporate the effects of the passage of time, both physical and psychological, on the actors.

With Merrily We Roll Along, the challenge is even greater, since the libretto spans twenty years. We follow the destiny of three friends determined to break into the artistic world, who experience ups and downs... The particularity of the work is that the story is told in reverse: when the curtain rises, we discover the 'one of them, rich and famous composer and producer; then, in each scene, we go back in time... until the end of the show which depicts their meeting at the end of adolescence.

Since we will have to wait twenty years – will we still be here? – to discover Merrily We Roll Along in a dark room – will there be more? –, let’s take advantage of the time that passes by relistening to “Old Friends”, the flagship song from Merrily We Roll Along by Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez:

Well, we are full of hopes regarding this best revival of a musical