Daniel Radcliffe to Star in Off-Broadway “Merrily We Roll Along” Revival

According to the New York Times, Daniel Radcliffe is set to star in a revival production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along” to be staged late this year by the New York Theater Workshop in the East Village.

The production will be directed by Maria Friedman.

According to the Times,

“Sondheim, in an interview days before his death last November, said he was looking forward to the production. Friedman, a British musical theater star with a long history of performing in Sondheim musicals, first directed “Merrily” at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London in 2012; that production, hailed by The Guardian with a five-star review, transferred to London’s West End in 2013, and Friedman then directed a run at the Huntington Theater in Boston in 2017.”

The show tells the story of three friends, and how their lives and friendships change over twenty years. Like the play on which it is based, the show's story moves backward in time. It begins in 1976 at the friends' lowest moment and gradually moves back until 1957, at their youthful best. Radcliffe will play the role of Charley Kringas. No other casting has been announced yet.

Since hanging up his wand in the Harry Potter films, Radcliffe has been a constant fixture on New York stages. He has been twice nominated by the Drama Desk Awards for his performances in Equus and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He last appeared on Broadway in 2018 in Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell, and Gordon Farrell’s The Lifespan of a Fact opposite Cherry Jones and Bobby Cannavale.

There is also a film adaptation of the musical currently in production. Helmed by Richard Linklater, the film stars Ben Platt, Beanie Feldstein, and Blake Jenner. Production began in 2018 and will continue over the course of the next 15 years.