Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein to Star in a New Musical Filmed Over a 20-Year Period
Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein are working on a new project together.
The two actors are set to star in Richard Linklater’s adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Linklater, who directed Boyhood over a period of 12 years, is directing and plans to film the musical over a span of 20 years.
The musical is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The story follows a talented composer, Franklin Shepard, who abandons his Broadway career to make Hollywood films.
“Verified This project has already been one of the most special blessings of my life. Me, my favorite person @BeanieFeldstein & sweet @Blake_Jenner get to portray dream roles in this brilliant marriage of piece & concept courtesy of Rick Linklater & @mrramshaw2,” Platt confirmed on Instagram.
Blake Jenner also stars in the film as Shepard, and Feldstein will portray his friend, Mary Flynn.
“I first saw and fell in love with Merrily in the ‘80s, and I can’t think of a better place to spend the next 20 years than in the world of a Sondheim musical,” Linklater said in a statement obtained by THR.
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“I don’t enter this multiyear experience lightly, but it seems the best, perhaps the only way, to do this story justice on film,” Linklater added.
Platt and Feldstein’s friendship goes back a long way, beginning when they met at a mutual friend’s Bat Mitzvah and taking off when they were both high school freshman, according to Vanity Fair.
Linklater received three Oscar nominations for Boyhood for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
