Washington [US], February 11: Hannah Cruz has officially joined the cast of the upcoming American epic musical film, ‘Merrily We Roll Along’, written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film is based on the 1981 stage musical by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth, which was adapted from the 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.
Cruz is set to play Gussie, the wife of Paul Mescal’s character, Franklin Shepard. Shepard is a talented Broadway composer who abandons his musical career and friends to become a Hollywood movie producer. The story unfolds over 20 years, and like his acclaimed film Boyhood, Linklater plans to shoot the movie over a similar extended period, making it a unique storytelling experience.
The film will also star Ben Platt, Beanie Feldstein, and Mallory Bechtel. The project is being produced by Ginger Sledge, Jason Blum for Blumhouse Productions, Jonathan Marc Sherman, Richard Linklater, and Mike Blizzard.
‘Merrily We Roll Along’ had a short Broadway run in 1981, with only 44 previews and 16 performances, but it has since seen a revival with a cast including Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez.
Hannah Cruz is known for her role in the original Broadway cast of ‘Suffs’, Shaina Taub’s musical about the American women’s suffrage movement, which garnered six Tony Award nominations last year, winning Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.