Tag Archives: Maria Friedman

Opening Night for Broadway Revival of Stephen Sondheim & George Furth’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” Starring Lindsay Mendez Set for October

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Lindsay Mendez is rolling along toward 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, starring the 40-year-old half-Mexican American actress/singer and Broadway star.

Following the previously announced September 19 preview launch, the opening night for the revival will be Tuesday, October 10 at the Hudson Theatre.

The first, star-packed Broadway revival of Sondheim and 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  Mendez.

Lindsay Mendez, Merrily We Roll AlongPerformances begin Tuesday, September 19 at the Hudson Theatre. The original closing date was January 21, 2024. The extension was announced this week 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 Sondheim, a book by Furth, and is based on the original play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart. Radcliffe plays Charley Kringas, Groff is Franklin Shepard, and Lindsay Mendez is Mary Flynn.

Additionally, the production will feature Krystal Joy Brown as Gussie Carnegie, Katie Rose Clarke as Beth Shepard and Reg Rogers as Joe Josephson.

The cast will also include Max Rackenberg, Brady Wagner, Sherz Aletaha, Maya Boyd, Leana Rae Concepcion, Morgan Kirner, Ken Krugman, Corey Mach, Talia Robinson, Amanda Rose, Jamila Sabares-Klemm, Brian Sears, Evan Alexander Smith, Christian Strange, Koray Tarhan, Vishal Vaidya, Natalie Wachen and Jacob Keith Watson.

The production began a sold-out run Off Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in 2022 after engagements at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory and an Olivier Award-winning West End transfer.

Lindsay Mendez’s Revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along” to Open on Broadway in September

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Lindsay Mendez will be rolling along in September…

The upcoming Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Merrily We Roll Along starring the 40-year-old half-Mexican American actress and singer, Daniel Radcliffe and Jonathan Groff will play its first performance at the Hudson Theatre on Tuesday, September 19, producers have announced.

Lindsay Mendez, Merrily We Roll AlongDirected 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 (Radcliffe will play Charley Kringas; Groff, Franklin Shepard; and Mendez, Mary Flynn), the production will feature Krystal Joy Brown as Gussie Carnegie, Katie Rose Clarke as Beth Shepard, and Reg Rogers as Joe Josephson. The cast will also include Sherz Aletaha, Leana Rae Concepcion, Morgan Kirner, Corey Mach, Talia Robinson, Amanda Rose, Jamila Sabares-Klemm, Brian Sears, Evan Alexander Smith, Christian Strange, Koray Tarhan, Vishal Vaidya, Natalie Wachen, and Jacob Keith Watson.

Spanning three decades in the entertainment business, Merrily We Roll Along charts “the turbulent relationship between composer Franklin Shepard and his two lifelong friends — writer Mary and lyricist & playwright Charley.” The production describes the musical as an “inventive cult-classic ahead of its time” featuring such Sondheim songs as the title number, “Old Friends,” “Not a Day Goes By,” and “Our Time.”

The musical, considered one of Sondheim’s trickiest to stage due to its reverse-chronology plot, also is being developed as a film – unrelated to the Broadway production – by Richard Linklater and set to star Ben Platt, Paul Mescal and Beanie Feldstein. Like Linklater’s 2014 film Boyhood, Merrily will be filmed over the course of more than a decade.

Lin-Manuel Miranda to Take Part in Stephen Sondheim Virtual Birthday Concert

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Lin-Manuel Miranda is celebrating a living musical theater legend.

The 40-year-old Puerto Rican composer, lyricist, singer, actor, producer and playwright, widely known for creating and starring in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton, has signed on to appear on Sunday’s Stephen Sondheim virtual birthday concert.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Miranda, who starred in Mary Poppins Returns, joins a roster of new additions that includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Linda Lavin, Laura Benanti, Neil Patrick Harrisand Ben Plattfor the all-star benefit for Artists Striving To End Poverty.

Previously announced stars participating in the concert include Annaleigh Ashford, Melissa Errico, Beanie Feldstein, Josh Groban, Judy Kuhn, Randy Rainbow and Lea Solanga. 

Special appearances will be made by Victor Garber, Joanna Gleason, Nathan Lane and Steven Spielberg.

They’ll all join the previously announced Meryl Streep, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald, among many others, in the special virtual concert to celebrate Sondheim’s 90th birthday.

Take Me To The World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration, hosted by Raúl Esparza, is set for this Sunday, April 26, the 50th anniversary of the opening night of Sondheim’s groundbreaking musical Company.

The concert kicks off at 8:00 pm ET, and will be available for free at Broadway.comand the Broadway.com YouTubechannel.

Other artists performing songs from the Sondheim catalog will include Mandy Patinkin, Christine Baranski, Donna Murphy, Kristin Chenoweth, Sutton Foster, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O’Hara, Aaron Tveit, Maria Friedman, Iain Armitage, Katrina Lenk, Michael Cerveris, Brandon Uranowitz, Stephen Schwartz, Elizabeth Stanley, Chip Zien, Alexander Gemignani and, from the cast of Pacific Overtures at Classic Stage Company, Ann Harada, Austin Ku, Kelvin Moon Loh and Thom Sesma.

Esparza starred as Bobby in the 2006 Tony Award-winning revival of Companyand in the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration productions of Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along in 2002, as well as the City Center Encores! production of Anyone Can Whistle and in last year’s Road Show.

“The world is in a hard place,” Esparza said in a statement, “and we are all searching for something great. Well, Stephen Sondheim is greatness personified.”

Mary-Mitchell Campbell will be the music director, with Paul Wontorek serving as director.

The online event will act as a fundraiser for ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty), the organization conceived by Campbell and Juilliard students to transform the lives of youth through art.