Broadway shows rarely play in cinemas. 'Merrily We Roll Along' could change that

When the latest revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along” premiered connected Broadway successful 2023, starring Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez, the amusement broke the Hudson Theatre’s location record, grossing $1.3 cardinal successful 1 week of previews. The actors became net darlings, taking portion successful publicity gimmicks usually reserved for movie rollouts, similar Vanity Fair’s lie-detector test. “Merrily” went connected to triumph 4 Tony Awards and closed successful July 2024. For those who weren’t determination to spot it successful person, that should person been the (sad) extremity of the story. But not truthful fast. A period earlier the show’s closing, RadicalMedia announced it was filming the accumulation for a theatrical release, which has yet arrived: “Merrily We Roll Along,” distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, hits 1,500 theaters connected Dec. 5.

While stage-to-screen adaptations are communal — “Wicked: For Good” crossed $150 cardinal connected its opening play conscionable past period — Broadway amusement recordings, besides known arsenic pro-shots, are little common, particularly astatine specified scale. BroadwayHD viewers get entree to a assortment of shows for $19.99 a month, but they’ve often aired connected nationalist tv astatine immoderate point, and National Theatre Live, which routinely screens successful movie theaters, is constricted to West End productions. George Clooney’s show successful “Good Night, and Good Luck” aired connected CNN this twelvemonth but didn’t grow beyond the transmission into cinemas.

SPC, which likewise released “Vanya connected 42nd Street” successful theaters successful 1994, grossing astir $2 cardinal domestically, isn’t presenting “Merrily” arsenic an art-house diagnostic but arsenic an accidental to person the champion spot successful the location for a Broadway performance. “It’s not a theatre presentation. It is simply a movie,” said Michael Barker, co-president and co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics. “And what makes it a movie is, it has the intimacy. It’s much intimate than the unrecorded performance.”

To wit, arsenic Barker noted, its people assemblage goes beyond halfway Broadway fans to see women and members of the LGBTQ+ assemblage who person felt near retired of cinematic offerings this year. It’s an perfect strategy for a theatrical scenery successful which viewers are unfastened to seeing overmuch much than conscionable caller releases. “This has been a twelvemonth wherever there’s been truthful overmuch [of] what we traditionally telephone alternate contented connected large screens,” said Paul Dergarabedian, caput of marketplace trends astatine Comscore.

So wherefore isn’t a merchandise similar “Merrily’s” a regular occurrence? One of the biggest hurdles is, unsurprisingly, money.

“That’s the happening that keeps a batch of this from yet being recorded, fto unsocial fixed a large theatrical release,” said Jeremy Wein, 1 of the producers down “Gutenberg! The Musical!” “It’s prohibitively costly to grounds a Broadway show, whether it beryllium [for] tv broadcast oregon movie broadcast, owed to the magnitude of unions, designers and the performers. Because you’re fundamentally saying, ‘We’re paying you for 16 weeks of work’ and past saying, ‘Actually, we privation to instrumentality your enactment and marque wealth disconnected of it forever.’”

For productions that outgo connected mean $25 cardinal to $30 cardinal to mount, according to Forbes, and lone seldom crook a nett successful the archetypal place, the fiscal hurdles are peculiarly daunting.

“To unopen the theatre down, instrumentality an assemblage retired and enactment cameras connected a stage, financially, it’s conscionable not viable,” said “Merrily” manager Maria Friedman. “We lone had 9 hours peculiar wherever we were capable to physique retired a signifier and get the Steadicam successful and get absorption shots.” (The fund for the movie mentation of “Merrily” hasn’t been disclosed, but the 2023 revival recouped its $12-million capitalization costs.)

Working successful the film’s favour was the concern with RadicalMedia, whose established way grounds includes filmed versions of “Hamilton” and “Come From Away.” Also to “Merrily’s” vantage is consumers’ tendency to caput their pocketbooks successful a challenging economical environment.

“It brings this creation to much radical who mightiness not different beryllium capable to spend it,” said Dergarabedian. “Or take not to walk that portion of their discretionary income oregon disposable income for a brace of Broadway tickets.” Indeed, with the mean terms for a Broadway summons astatine astir $130, the accidental to bring the amusement to much audiences was a cardinal crushed Friedman wanted to enactment with SPC connected releasing “Merrily.”

“My beloved person Stephen Sondheim wrote this line, which is, ‘Musicals are popular. They’re a large mode of stating important ideas, ideas that tin marque a difference’ … and I privation to archer stories to radical who can’t get to Broadway,” she said.

It’s unclear whether filmed Broadway shows similar “Merrily” tin go the caller performance film, but arsenic ever successful showbiz, occurrence begets success.

“If these instances of signifier plays being presented successful movie theaters fills seats and moves popcorn, they’ll marque more,” said Dergarabedian. Even so, helium adds, likelihood are that shows with an established assemblage volition instrumentality priority. A cardinal crushed “Hamilton” was recorded was its popularity and humanities import: “They knew however historical the amusement was. They knew the alchemy of that cast, and they had the financials successful spot to beryllium capable to bash it.”

In the meantime, those progressive successful “Merrily” are conscionable blessed for the accidental to bring the powerfulness of Broadway to audiences everywhere. “It’s a celebration,” says Friedman. “I cognize that Steve wanted everything that helium did to beryllium seen by arsenic galore radical arsenic possible.”