The musical 'Merrily We Roll Along' is adapted from the 1934 play of the same title by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Kaufman and Hart modelled the story's trio of lifelong friends on their acquaintances Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and Charles MacArthur. Parker reportedly harboured an unrequited, lifelong love for Benchley, and his rejection exacerbated her problems with alcohol. Many had expected Benchley to become a distinguished writer of serious literature, but he instead became an alcoholic Hollywood hack who produced commercially successful yet largely forgettable comedies. Parker denounced the 1934 play as a gross breach of privacy and remained hostile to Kaufman and Hart for the rest of her life.
The success of the 2022 Off-Broadway production of Merrily We Roll Along prompted director Richard Linklater to adapt the show into a film, which features Paul Mescal, Beanie Feldstein and Ben Platt. The film, titled Merrily We Roll Along, is presently in production and is being shot over a 20-year period.
The 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart followed three friends as they navigated the social upheaval of the Jazz Age, beginning with innocence and optimism in the early 1920s and concluding with broken hopes and lives ruined by the Great Depression in the 1930s. When revising the play for the 1981 musical, writer George Furth said he shifted the time period to resonate with contemporary audiences. Stephen Sondheim, who composed the music and lyrics for the 1981 adaptation, said he favoured the original Jazz Age setting.
