Sondheim Update #33

MERRILY KEEPS ROLLING

The Tony Award-winning 2023 revival of Merrily We Roll Along that starred Jonathan Groff as Frank, Daniel Radcliffe as Charley and Lindsay Mendez as Mary, was a huge success, staged at the Hudson Theatre by British director Maria Friedman. (It was more or less the same production she staged with a different cast at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory in 2012 before transferring to the Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End, where it was filmed and distributed internationally.) The Broadway production won four of the seven Tonys it was nominated for including Groff and Radcliffe. The revival’s “pro-shot” was released by Sony Pictures Classics and Fathom Entertainment to cinemas around the U.S. and Great Britain from Dec. 4-18, and it’s eligible for the Golden Globes in the “best musical/comedy film” category, as well as several other award programs coming in 2026.

The film was shot during the final weeks of the revival’s Broadway run. It used four or five cameras but truly focused more on the actors than on “wide shots,” which Friedman told Playbill “had no energy … it’s not a choreographic show. I only had one set for the entire thing.”  She focused instead on “emotional and narrative clarity” using on-screen graphics to indicate time and place in Merrily’s reverse chronology across a 20-year span. She also employed her concept of the show being Frank’s memories, so she used many close-ups of the actors, especially Groff, to underscore their emotional reactions to one another. Friedman and Groff were guests on NPR’s Fresh Air in 2024. Here is a link to the 43-minute rebroadcast of Terry Gross’s  insightful interview.

Writing for The Guardian, London theater critic Michael Billington said of Friedman’s production that it’s “a constant joy and one that shows exactly why a famous flop is now a palpable hit.” It’s likely that the filmed production will be available on a streaming platform sometime in 2026. That’s long before director Richard Linklater’s version of the film of Merrily that will be shot across two decades so that the actors — Paul Mescal as Frank, Ben Platt as Charley and Beanie Feldstein as Mary) — will be the approximate age of the characters they are playing. That one should be on screens around 2040. Until then, the film of the Broadway revival will be around to entertain us.

INTO THE WOODS IS DAZZLING IN LONDON

By far the most frequently produced Sondheim show is Into the Woods. That is probably due to its family-friendly subject matter (at least in the first act), to the “School Edition” (which pretty much sticks to the first act) and certainly to the Rob Marshall’s starry 2014 cinematic version. But its broad familiarity might also suffer a tad from overexposure. So it’s great news when a new major production comes along that grabs everyone’s attention. That’s happening right now (through springtime) in London with a staging at the Bridge Theatre. According to the New York Times, it “makes the most of the musical’s whimsical premise, leaning into the visuals for fairy tale lore with a spirit of winking pastiche.” Reviewer Houman Barekat wrote, “The verdant backdrop is rendered with elegant, lifelike simplicity, and there is no edgily anachronistic streetwear in sight. The characters look as if they’ve stepped straight off the pages of a classic illustrated edition of ‘Grimms’ Fairy Tales.’” In The Guardian, Arifa Akbar suggested that the “production shimmers and shines with all the humour and pathos these errant fairytale characters who misadventure into the woods, winding their rearranged stories around each other.” The Independent said, “ Stephen Sondheim revival is a thing of lush and arresting beauty,” and Time Out exclaimed, “Jordan Fein’s revival of the fairytale-filled Sondheim classic is pure magic.” Sounds like it might be time for a trip to London!

ELSEWHERE

If you’re willing to travel for an unusual Sondheim production, how about a Spanish-language staging of Sweeney Todd, directed by and starring Antonio Banderas sometime late in 2026? It will happen at Teatro del Soho in Malaga, the resort city on Spain’s southern coast. Banderas, a Hollywood movie star — but also a musical theater fan — previously staged Company (2021) and Gypsy (2024) that this 667-seat venue. When more details are available, they’ll be included in a future update.

AWARD-WINNING OPERA IN THE PARK … WITH GEORGE

The Glimmerglass Festival in picturesque Cooperstown, New York, was named a winner at the 2025 International Opera Awards, held on Nov. 13, 2025, at the Greek National Opera in Athens and livestreamed globally. Glimmerglass received the inaugural Musical Theatre Award for its July-August 2025 staging of Sondheim and Lapine’s Sunday in the Park with George. Directed by Ethan Heard, and conducted by Michael Ellis Ingram, the production featured Broadway performers John Riddle and Marina Pires as George and Dot/Marie. Presented annually since 2013, the awards celebrate excellence in opera worldwide. This year’s ceremony recognized artists and companies from 25 countries, selected from more than 14,000 nominations.

REMEMBERING SONDHEIM

If you’re in the mood for a lovely remembrance and tribute to Sondheim, follow this link to a post by Adam Guettel, the son of Mary Rodgers and grandson of Richard Rodgers. It also appeared in the fall issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, which focused on the arrival of Sondheim’s archives at the Library. Guettel was the composer and lyricist of The Light in the Piazza, Floyd Collins and — most recently — The Days of Wine and Roses.

A LOYAL ASSISTANT

Almost anyone who tried to reach Sondheim during his busy life probably did so through Steve Clar, the composer’s longtime assistant. As a trusted associate since 1987, Clar worked behind the scenes for decades in the second-floor office of Sondheim’s New York City townhouse. He was involved hands-on with several projects including the play with George Furth, Getting Away With Murder (1996), and the documentary Six by Sondheim (2013). Clar also handled many aspects of Sondheim’s personal life and organized Sondheim’s archives. He was named as one of the personal beneficiaries of Sondheim’s $75 million estate. Following complications from a stroke, Clar passed away on Sept. 24, 2025, at age 67.

SWEENEY BOOK SALES SO FAR …

I’m pleased to share the news that 750 people have purchased Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: Behind the Bloody Musical Masterpiece! My book was published in early October by Bloomsbury. If you need an affordable ($30.60) last-minute holiday gift for a musical theater fan, you can order it via this link.