The new Broadway cast recording of Merrily We Roll Along debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Cast Albums chart (dated Nov. 25). The show stars Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez – all of whom have been a part of at least one top 10-charting Cast Album previously. (Groff, notably, performs on both the Nos. 1 and 2 titles on the latest Cast Albums chart – as Merrily We Roll Along bumps Hamilton: An American Musical from the top slot down to No. 2.)
Billboard’s Top Cast Albums chart ranks the top-selling musical cast recordings of the week in the U.S., based on traditional album sales, as tracked by Luminate. The new Cast Albums chart dated Nov. 25 reflects the sales week ending Nov. 16.
Merrily We Roll Along has music and lyrics written by Stephen Sondheim, with a book by George Furth, based on the play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1981 for a brief run, and the 2023 production is its first revival on Broadway. It’s slated to run through March 24, 2024.
The new iteration began off-Broadway in 2022 at the New York Theatre Workshop, with the same leading cast, and played through Jan. 22, 2023. It then began previews on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre on Sept. 19, and officially opened on Oct. 10.
Groff has now been a part of three No. 1s on Billboard’s Cast Albums chart: Merrily We Roll Along, and the original Broadway cast recordings of Hamilton: An American Musical (2015) and Spring Awakening (released in 2006, peaked at No. 1 in 2007). He’s also been a part of the top 10-charting albums A New Brain (2015 New York cast recording; No. 3 in 2016), Little Shop of Horrors (the new cast recording; No. 7, 2021). Groff won a Grammy Award for best musical theater album for Hamilton, and garnered a second nomination for the same category for Little Shop of Horrors.
Radcliffe starred in the 2011 Broadway revival of How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, which saw its cast recording reach No. 2 that same year. He also scored a Grammy nomination for best musical theater album for the project.
As for Mendez, she’s appeared on five top 10-charting sets on Cast Albums: Grease (the new 2007 Broadway cast recording, No. 4), Everyday Rapture (original Broadway cast recording; No. 8, 2010), Dogfight (original cast recording; No. 2, 2013), Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel (2018 Broadway cast recording; No. 2, 2013), Godspell (the new 2012 Broadway cast recording; No. 1) and now Merrily We Roll Along. Mendez also scored a Grammy nom for best musical theater album, for Carousel.
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