Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
During a post-screening Q&A at AFI FEST 2025 presented by Canva, director Maria Friedman discusses her acclaimed filmed version of the Tony Award®-winning revival of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG.
About MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG:
This filmed version of the Tony Award®-winning 2023-2024 revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s cult 1981 stage musical stars Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez, formerly the best of friends and artistic collaborators, now in various stages of disappointment and burnout. But their story is told in reverse — each subsequent scene rolls back the years to more hopeful times, before Hollywood success corrupted their Broadway stage dreams, and fateful decisions sealed their personal and professional fates. Groff (2024 Tony winner, Best Actor in a Musical) plays Frank Shepard, a talented songwriter turned Hollywood film producer, whose marriage is in crisis due to his adultery with a young actress. Radcliffe (2024 Tony winner, Best Featured Actor in a Musical) plays Charley Kringas, Frank’s former songwriting partner and creative foil, who had a falling out with Frank over the latter’s choosing commercial pursuits over artistic ones. And Mendez (2024 Tony nominee, Best Featured Actress in a Musical) plays Mary Flynn, a best friend and confidante to Frank, whose unrequited love for him has led her to jadedness and drink. The original 1981 production of the musical was deemed a failure; subsequent revivals and re-toolings have revealed it to be an inspired and profoundly moving masterpiece, featuring some of Sondheim’s cleverest and most beloved songs, including “Now You Know,” “Not A Day Goes By,” “Old Friends,” “Good Thing Going” and “Franklin Shepard, Inc.” Maria Friedman directs this filmed version of her celebrated stage revival (a veteran actress, Friedman also played Mary earlier in her acting career), produced by RadicalMedia, famed for their “proshot” capture of the original Broadway production of “Hamilton.”
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During a post-screening Q&A at AFI FEST 2025 presented by Canva, director Maria Friedman discusses her acclaimed filmed version of the Tony Award®-winning revival of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG.
About MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG:
This filmed version of the Tony Award®-winning 2023-2024 revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s cult 1981 stage musical stars Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez, formerly the best of friends and artistic collaborators, now in various stages of disappointment and burnout. But their story is told in reverse — each subsequent scene rolls back the years to more hopeful times, before Hollywood success corrupted their Broadway stage dreams, and fateful decisions sealed their personal and professional fates. Groff (2024 Tony winner, Best Actor in a Musical) plays Frank Shepard, a talented songwriter turned Hollywood film producer, whose marriage is in crisis due to his adultery with a young actress. Radcliffe (2024 Tony winner, Best Featured Actor in a Musical) plays Charley Kringas, Frank’s former songwriting partner and creative foil, who had a falling out with Frank over the latter’s choosing commercial pursuits over artistic ones. And Mendez (2024 Tony nominee, Best Featured Actress in a Musical) plays Mary Flynn, a best friend and confidante to Frank, whose unrequited love for him has led her to jadedness and drink. The original 1981 production of the musical was deemed a failure; subsequent revivals and re-toolings have revealed it to be an inspired and profoundly moving masterpiece, featuring some of Sondheim’s cleverest and most beloved songs, including “Now You Know,” “Not A Day Goes By,” “Old Friends,” “Good Thing Going” and “Franklin Shepard, Inc.” Maria Friedman directs this filmed version of her celebrated stage revival (a veteran actress, Friedman also played Mary earlier in her acting career), produced by RadicalMedia, famed for their “proshot” capture of the original Broadway production of “Hamilton.”
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