Sonia Friedman Shares Details on MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG Proshot

Producer Sonia Friedman recently dished on some of the details about the upcoming Merrily We Roll Along proshot. The film, directed by Sonia's sister, Maria Friedman, was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics to be released worldwide. It features the show's original Broadway stars, Tony Award winner Daniel Radcliffe, Tony Award winner Jonathan Groff, Tony nominee Lindsay Mendez, Krystal Joy Brown, Katie Rose Clarke and Reg Rogers.

Sonia Friedman shared, in a recent podcast appearance with WhatsOnStage, that this film is not just a regular proshot, but more than that.

"It's not like anything I've ever seen before. It's not a capture, I'll tell you that much. It's like a film in its own right," she shared. "Maria has created sort of a new genre. I've seen Merrily in a completely new way through the editing and the process that Maria and her team have been through. She's taken six months to edit this, pretty much full time. It's unbelievable."

Friedman then went on to say, "I think the only huge sadness for us is that Stephen Sondheim is not here to see it, because he was so proud of what Maria was doing."

Listen to the full podcast episode here.

The Merrily We Roll Along film is produced by Sonia Friedman, David Babani, Patrick Catullo, F. Richard Pappas, RadicalMedia’s Jon Kamen, and Dave Sirulnick.  Executive Producers include Meredith Bennett, No Guarantees Productions, Scott Abrams, Jonathan Corr, Mary Maggio, Jeff Romley, Tony Yurgaitis, Andrew Cohen, Amanda Lipitz, Henry Tisch alongside Co-executive producer Stephanie P. McClelland.  Karla Zambrano and Alec Sash serve as Supervising Producers.

Spanning three decades, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along charts the turbulent relationship between composer Franklin Shepard and his two lifelong friends — writer Mary and lyricist & playwright Charley. Originally produced on Broadway in 1981, then becoming an inventive cult-classic ahead of its time, Merrily We Roll Along features some of Stephen Sondheim’s most celebrated and personal songs.

The 2023-2024 Broadway revival, directed by Maria Friedman, redefined the show for a new era, bringing Sondheim’s intricate score and George Furth’s book to vivid life with extraordinary depth and clarity. The production was widely praised for its emotional rawness, humor, and deeply felt performances, with Groff, Radcliffe, and Mendez delivering what critics and audiences alike hailed as career-best work. The show became an undeniable sensation.

This critically acclaimed musical production won the 2024 Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical, as well as Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical and Best Orchestrations.  Additionally, it garnered the most five-star reviews in West-End history and shattered the Hudson Theatre’s house record during previews on Broadway, solidifying its place as a landmark event in Broadway history.