VideoWatch: Daniel Radcliffe Tells How Broadway Helped Him Break Out of His Harry Potter Box as an Actor Radcliffe is currently Tony nominated for his performance in Broadway's Merrily We Roll Along.
ByMolly Higgins
June 13, 2024
DanielRadcliffe is currently starring—and Tony nominated for his performance—as Charley Kringas in the Broadway revival ofStephen Sondheim and George Furth'sMerrily We Roll Along.Hear the actor, who rose to fame at a young agefor playing the title role in theHarry Potter film series,discuss his journey from wizardry to Tony nominee on CBS Mornings in the video above.
Despite spending a decade working on the Harry Potter films, Radcliffe says he was able to find new footing as an actor when he reached the stage. "At a time when the rest of the world was being like, 'You are always going to be Harry Potter,' it was like Broadway kind of went, 'Let's see! Let's see what else you can do,'" Radcliffe says."[I felt] accepted, and embraced, and very lucky to be here."
Along with appearing on screen, Radcliffe has played a range of roles on Broadway—the actor made an adventurousdebut in 2008 playing Alan Strang in Equus, and later took the stage asJ. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Billy in The Cripple of Inishmaan, and Jim in The Lifespan of a Fact.
"Iget a tremendous amount of credit for doing something that most actors would like to do if they were in my position, which is that Ican pick and choose [projects], and only do the things that Iwant to do," Radcliffe says of his variety of roles. "Ido think that if you can keep people guessing that's a great thing, and Ithink there's something about having played one character for so long that I came out of those ten years with a sense of 'Oh, great, now I just want to do as many different things as possible.'That sense of excitement at that range of possibilities of stuff that Iwant to be involved in hasn't really dwindled at all as the time's gone on."
READ: First-Time Tony Nominee DanielRadcliffeHopes to Star in Another Musical
The revival of Merrily We Roll Along opened October 10, 2023, at the Hudson Theatre, where it will continue through July 7. Directed by Olivier winner Maria Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along features music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by George Furth.
The revival stars Radcliffe as Charley Kringas, Jonathan Groff as Franklin Shepard, and Lindsay Mendez as Mary Flynn. The trio are all reprising their performances from the production's 2022 Off-Broadway run at New York Theatre Workshop, along with Krystal Joy Brown as Gussie Carnegie, Katie Rose Clarke as Beth Shepard, and Reg Rogers as Joe Josephson. Max Rackenberg, Rocco Van Auken, and Brady Wagner share the role of Frank Jr.
The company also includes Sherz Aletaha, Maya Boyd, Leana Rae Concepcion, Ken Krugman, Corey Mach, Talia Simone Robinson, Jamila Sabares-Klemm, Brian Sears, Evan Alexander Smith, Christian Strange, Vishal Vaidya, Natalie Wachen, and Jacob Keith Watson. Rounding out the company as swings are Morgan Kirner, Amanda Rose, and Koray Tarhan. Casting is by Jim Carnahan and Jason Thinger.
Based on the George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart play of the same name, Merrily We Roll Along tracks the lives of three friends navigating the entertainment industry over three decades in reverse chronological order. Sondheim's score includes such songs as "Old Friends," "Now You Know," "Franklin Shepard, Inc.," "Good Thing Going," and "Not a Day Goes By." A revival cast recording was released January 12.
The production features choreography by Tim Jackson and orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. Scenic and costume design are by Soutra Gilmour, with lighting design by Amith Chandrashaker, sound design by Kai Harada, hair and wig design by Cookie Jordan, music supervision by Catherine Jayes, music direction by Joel Fram, associate music supervision by Alvin Hough, Jr., and music coordination by Kristy Norter.
Sonia Friedman Productions, David Babani, Patrick Catullo, and Jeff Romley lead the revival's producing team.
Visit MerrilyOnBroadway.com.
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Take a Look at Production Photos of Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway
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