What’s to Discuss, Old Friend?

If you’re like me, and you never did get around to seeing the recent Tony Award-winning revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, or you did see it and you wish you could see it again (and again), director Maria Friedman has given audiences a time machine that goes right back to the Hudson Theatre, preserving her buzzy Broadway production for future generations. 

Friedman, a British actress and director making her cinematic debut, didn’t just park a camera in the aisle during an actual performance. Rather, she’s produced a film that’s a bit of a hybrid, one that effectively captures the electricity of live theater and gives you the kind of intimacy you can’t quite get even from the best seats in the house. Yes, that means the film is stagey. But that’s exactly the point.

Merrily is in theaters now as a special-event release, and for musical-theater fans, it’s a genuine holiday gift. 

(One quick note to clarify right up front: This isn’t Richard Linklater’s decades-in-the-making film adaptation; that one’s still shooting, with Paul Mescal, Ben Platt, and Beanie Feldstein in the lead roles. Look for it to finally be released in another 10 or 15 years. Really.)

When Merrily was first produced on Broadway, in 1981, it was so poorly received that it closed less than two weeks after opening, a rare misstep for Sondheim, the composer of such hits as Company, Sweeney Todd, and many others (and probably my favorite Broadway songwriter). Since then, the show has been reworked multiple times. This latest production, which opened on Broadway in 2023, seems to have ironed out all the kinks.

Merrily has a very simple concept: It tells the story of a composer, a lyricist, and a novelist (played by Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe, and Lindsay Mendez), and how their three-way friendship implodes over the course of about 20 years. The twist is that the story unfolds in reverse chronological order, starting in 1976 and working its way back to 1957. Suffice it to say, it’s clear early on that, like in Jay Kelly and so many other works, its lead protagonist is someone who put their career ahead of their relationships.

The show itself may not always have worked, but Sondheim’s score, which includes classic songs like “Old Friends” and “Not a Day Goes By,” has always been alternately clever, biting, and, characteristically, filled with deep emotions. As performed by this ensemble, it sounds great, with special mention going to Katie Rose Clarke and Krystal Joy Brown in featured roles.

(Fans of the TV show Friends will also recognize Reg Rogers, who played Joey’s abrasive and dismissive director in season three, the one who was involved with Joey’s love interest, Kate.)

And yet, while the production itself is first-rate and the score is memorable, the real reason to see the film — indeed, the reason the revival was so beloved — is the trio at its center. Franklin Shepard may be a glossy success on the outside, but Groff’s performance reveals regret lies just underneath the surface. Mendez gives Mary Flynn a crackling mix of bite and bruised tenderness. She can toss off a line that makes you laugh, and then, two seconds later, break your heart with unrequited longing. 

Radcliffe’s Charley Kringas is the quiet engine of the show — idealistic, funny, stubborn in the best way — and his chemistry with Groff makes their slow drift apart feel painfully inevitable. Radcliffe’s performance of the patter song “Franklin Shepard, Inc.” is one of the show’s and movie’s highlights.

All three were deservedly Tony-nominated — though only Groff and Radcliffe won.

Because Merrily runs backward, the acting has to do double duty: sell us on the end of a friendship before we’ve seen how it began. Friedman’s camera and editing understand that. It gets a bit excessive, but she uses frequent close-up shots, all the better to catch tiny glances, tears, and micro-pauses that foreshadow what’s coming, so that when the timeline finally reaches the trio’s hopeful, optimistic start, it feels less like nostalgia and more like a gut punch. 

(God bless the camera operators, who probably had to get so close to Groff that they likely came away a bit wet.)

Not that we should be surprised the capture is so good. Merrily has, among its producers, the company RadicalMedia, which also did excellent work with Hamilton (originally released, and still available, on Disney+) five years ago and Come from Away (available on Apple TV) in 2021. They clearly know what they’re doing with these films, and should be in charge of documenting all of Broadway’s best productions for years to come.

If you’re a Broadway fan — particularly a Sondheim devotee — this Merrily We Roll Along is essential viewing. To quote one of the show’s songs: It’s a hit! Whenever audiences get to it, the film offers a look back at a revival (and a relationship) that’s well worth revisiting.

I’m giving the filmed version of Merrily We Roll Along a B+.