Merrily We Roll Along, Starring Mark Umbers, Jenna Russell & Damian Humbley, to Transfer to the West End

The Menier is going to keep a good thing going! The acclaimed revival of Merrily We Roll Along  is transferring from the Menier Chocolate Factory to the West End’s Harold Pinter Theatre, according to The Daily Mail. Directed by Maria Friedman and starring Olivier Award winner Jenna Russell, Mark Umbers, Damian Humbley and Josefina Gabrielle, the Stephen Sondheim and George Furth musical will begin performances in April.

Merrily We Roll Along has grown in reputation since its 1981 Broadway debut production, which ran for only 16 performances. Moving backwards in time from 1980 to 1955, the show examines the lives of three writers whose friendship is tested by time, events, ambition and fate. Popular songs include “Not a Day Goes By,” “Good Thing Going” and “Old Friends.” The Menier production recently picked up the London’s Critic’s Theatre Awards for Best Musical and was named by Broadway.com’s Matt Wolf as one of the top five London productions in 2012.

The production features choreography by Tim Jackson, musical supervision and direction by Catherine Jayes, set and costume design by Soutra Gilmour, lighting design by David Hersey and sound design by Gareth Owen. Long-time Sondheim collaborator Jonathan Tunick provides the orchestrations.

Merrily first premiered in the U.K. in 1992 at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester and starred Friedman as Mary Flynn. The production only ran three weeks. In 2000, Donmar Warehouse produced a West End revival directed by Michael Grandage which ran for 71 performances and won Olivier Awards for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best New Musical.

Check out Broadway.com’s video interview with the Russell, Umbers and Humbley below!