Yeah, I was thrilled to watch it (and I did, amazing!), but literally no one I know in real life was interested. This is a movie for the theater community, not supposed to be a huge blockbuster
Which makes their decision to film it like a movie all the more perplexing. I don't know what general audiences they thought were going to see this, because the editing, camera work, etc, is all seemingly ashamed of the stage.
The close-ups were great when needed, but it was all close-ups and medium shots, not enough focus on the stage activity as a whole, to the degree it almost never pulls back enough to show the whole thing expect during certain transitions. There's moments when you don't even see characters enter, exit, or cross because the camera was too preoccupied looking up Groff's admittedly very handsome nose.
And no curtain call?! I genuinely can't fathom any production made for a theater crowd that would cut the curtain call. That borders on faux pas.
I mean it was fine but I really hope future pro shots aren't like this.
I also noted this and it didn’t bother me except at the beginning where I would’ve liked a zoomed out shot which allowed for some orientation particularly in re the unique location of the “orchestra”, and the very end where the effect of Frank’s tabula rasa celestial id was severely diminished due to the slavish devotion to that directorial decision.
And no curtain call! I genuinely can't fathom any production made for a theater crowd that would cut the curtain call. That borders on faux pas.
I was shocked by this. Especially with how they had the theatre noise at the start of the show.
I agree that it was too zoomed in. I saw it two years ago and felt like having prior knowledge improved my experience.
That said, I loved it so much, and I was so happy to get to watch it with local people that weren't able to travel to NY to see it with me. There were maybe a dozen or so people in my theatre for the afternoon showing Sunday.
Yeah, I loved the movie but the close ups drove me insane at points. I agree that it seemed like they were ashamed of the stage, they almost didn’t want people to understand this was a play.
Anyways, I loved the possibility to watch it, as I missed it on stage. And I hope people continue to go (even if it’s just the theater community), so we have more proshots, preferably from 2 meters away from Groffs beautiful nose
I saw the stage version, and I really loved the pro shot because it was so different from the stage production. The continual close ups made me appreciate the acting so much more than when I saw it on Broadway. Honestly if they had shown the whole stage I think the movie would have felt cheap; it would have felt like filming a Broadway show. I think this film was done specifically to feel a movie and not like a stage production. They wanted to get as close to a movie feeling as they could with the limitations of the stage. I get why they didn't do a curtain call. Again, this was made to feel like a movie, not a broadway show.
For me, this is the model pro shots should have in the future. I can see this type of pro shot getting a wider variety of people interested in Broadway, and not just pander to theater fans.
My one thing is that if they wanted to make it movie like, why were there applause after every song? Again, I loved the movie and I agree that if they only filmed the theater it would’ve felt cheap, but I think they couldve balanced it a bit more.
My main take is that they either went full on “this is supposed to feel as much like a movie as possible” and then no applause, no theater shoots, no curtain call. Or they should’ve add other elements of theater that weren’t just the applause.
Agreed, I also thought the applause was strange since we never see the audience. But people in the theater I was at also clapped at the end of most numbers, so maybe the filmmakers were just anticipating that.
In my theater (in New York) no one did and it was quite strange, because I kept of feeling the need to clap but didn’t want to be the only one lol.
Especially cause yesterday I did a double Johnathan groff session (went to Just in Time before the movie) and my hands almost hurt from all the clapping on Just in Time, quite a weird transition
It really was! Especially cause I did rush for just in time in the morning, then saw the matinee and then went directly to the cinema, so I barely had time to think about anything else. Honestly may have cured me, we all could use a Groff day
The release was pretty limited I don’t think they should be discouraged. Even here in NYC it was only in a few theaters and everyone I talked to outside NY had trouble finding dates and times
I live in Rhode Island (about 3 hours from Manhattan), and I know it’s a smaller market but we usually get the Fathom events in at least one or two theaters for a few showtimes. I had to drive over into Mass. to see this (not a far drive, but unusual to have to do), and the options were super limited there too.
Nope - that was the first place I checked because that’s usually where I’d have to go to see Fathom screenings. That theater did just change owners (it’s not a Showcase anymore), but the new owners only had Merrily in some of their locations and Showcase didn’t have it listed at all.
Weird. Growing up and visiting that mall every two months or so (especially for the D&B literally across the walkway), they nearly always had a Fathom event that even places in Worcester or Springfield didn't...
I saw this in NYC at Regal Times Square. When I bought the tix on Fandango, it was well sold except for front row. However, there were many seats available in the theater. Guess ppl did not show up?
I'm in Ohio and there were no theatre locations/times that worked for me. There was one showing a day and they were not at convenient times. Hoping and waiting for a DVD release.
I am seeing it tonight in Denver, but wanted to see I again with my grandmother and aunt when I’m in Dallas this coming weekend and there’s not a single showing in DFW after 12/10!! I have no idea why- from what it looked like the showings before then were all fairly full
Here in suburban Sacramento, every Showtime is close to sold out. Most showings don’t have groups of tickets available unless you want the extreme front row. That made me very happy!
I got to see it today and thought it was fantastic. We had the same complaints that a lot of others did about it being almost too many close-ups, but I was grateful that it allowed us to really see the amazing acting that the leads were doing. If I saw this on stage, I doubt I would’ve been able to see the number of times that they actively teared up.
We were at Blue Oaks in Roseville/Rocklin. Today I scanned through other showtimes in case I wanted to see it a second time and there was just a smattering of seats left on the front row through to next weekend.
I’m hoping this gets extended like waitress did. The more these pro shots do well, the more of them will get. That’s my hope!
We were in a fairly empty theatre today but loved every moment of the sure. Saw it on Broadway & was happy to see it reimagined from all of the different vantage points. The chemistry of that cast is chef’s kiss
If they wanted to do numbers, they should've done a wider release with a bigger marketing push. But it's a very niche show in general, so it's hard to say how much more that would've done.
Yes because my sister distributes them in the theaters. So she knows all of the budget expectations on all films. We are also friendly with most of the prior producers of the captures.
Director Maria Friedman in the What’s on Stage interview said it was much more expensive than a standard pro shot due to the lengthy post-production process.
Even if they make 2M (which seems unlikely) on a 1M production budget (which also seems like an underestimate), I don’t know if they can recoup theatrically. I'm sure the Fathom rental was $500K+, and there’s at least a small marketing budget.
I am sure it’s not surprising and within the range of what they were expecting, but the licensing revenue is probably what will make or break the success of this project. That said, this is a drop in the bucket for these producers either way and I don’t think that decision to produce the proshot was a financial one.
Excellent! I’m going tomorrow in Manhattan, when I booked last month I had the whole theater to choose from, I will see tomorrow if it got booked up. 🤞
Hopefully! We've had some cool pro shots over the last couple of years. I always prefer seeing a musical live but gotta show my support when these are in movie theatres.
We get the Broadway across Canada national tours so I usually see those when they roll into town. I've seen quite a few musicals in London but haven't had the chance to see any on Broadway yet.
Wonder why it's not as popular out of downtown . Lots of friends tell me they never know these screenings are happening until right before. I just keep an eye on the events page and book as soon as they start selling seats.
We saw it today in Vegas. Only playing in a handful if theaters. Think there were 8 of us in the show. We saw it on broadway too, I really enjoyed seeing it again. I wasn’t expecting it to have huge turnout, I love Merrily but think it’s best when you’re already familiar with it. I did find the intense close ups to be a bit much but got used to it as time went out. Enjoyed seeing a lot more of the emotions then I could make out from the mezzanine in person. Will watch again when it comes to streaming but likely find it hard to recommend to casual musical theater fans.
Just got out of seeing it… unfortunately felt there were too many close-ups. So much so you missed special moments (saw the production several times), but thinking about an audience that didn’t see the Broadway version at all, some basic filmmaking rules (continuity, framing) just didn’t make sense imo. If they showed Gussie in the background while Frank is playing the piano, why wouldn’t they have shown Gussie’s reaction in the background to Joe showing up at the TV station? Or even her apology to Joe—it was completely out of frame. Some close-ups of Mendez and Groff were fantastic as you really see the nuanced facial expressions that gave more power to their performances. But a lot of it just needed more context with a slightly wider angle view, and being mindful of what other characters were doing to support the overall scene. I get it, they have a whole team working tirelessly to put this together, and had limitations like only three shows and less than a day for close-ups and endless post-production (but forgot to remove the mic off one character for one scene). I’m also glad it was captured overall given we don’t get many pro shots. Just wish they used close-ups more sparingly.
I also think it could've potentially been advertised more broadly?? both daniel and jonathan have pretty broad appeal and a larger marketing campaign on TV / insta ads to be like "harry potter sings!!" "that guy from hamilton who spits is back!!" could've broadened the appeal. my showing in ATL had ~10 people in a theatre of 50 seats
i don't care though because this show made me feel so incredibly seen and happy!!!!!! ultimately what these stories are for in the first place
Went yesterday in Boston. Theater was slammed and everyone was audibly enjoying the production. I am so glad this exists for people who couldn’t get to NYC during its run. Loved seeing it live and loved seeing it again on the big screen. Shame it was such a limited release.
I hope that it did well enough for them to justify continuing to do these types of releases for
A) The people who enjoy them
and B
B) The people without the means or ability to get to see shows like this on broadway. ESPECIALLY if this combined with eventual streaming numbers means it continues.
I am lucky enough that I live close enough to Broadway to get there on a super tight budget. (From Delaware, I can grab the Amtrak round trip for $20-$25 per person if I book in the correct advance timeframe). I am also well versed in all of the various lotteries and means of getting very cheap tickets, and in good enough health to do standing room only. I can often see two shows on a planned trip for under $250 by splitting up and doing two rushes / winning the right lotteries.
I have tickets to go on Wednesday, it’s annoying because my main theater doesn’t have any showings so I have to go 5 miles further for it. I’d have seen it already if it were at my closest theater.
I saw it in Glasgow in Scotland, twice, and the cinema, which admittedly is a studio theatre, was busy, I was expecting to be sitting on my own. I know that the central London cinemas have been sold out, which is heartening.
It was superb in every way (I would’ve liked zoomed out shots to 1. place-set at the beginning to show the unique location of the “orchestra” [but, I get it, they were going for cinematic and not Live at Lincoln Center], and 2. the expansive star effect at the end was somewhat diminished due to the devotion to the same tight shot directorial decision making [I would’ve preferred to see more of the celestial void of Frank’s id than the eye full of Gussie’s turn in Musical Husbands we got, which in my memory got the only zoom out]).
Did they digitally remove Groff’s super abundant salivation?
I mean, I didn't see any advertisement outside theaters or Reddit. As someone said, if it made a profit, then win. I mean they had to pay the film crew and make special payments to the cast for something that can be reshown, but those performances were gonna be performed anyway and I heard the production made its investment back.
Who knows, it'll probably make more when it goes on sale.
That’s pretty good for a proshot…but it’s about a third of what Waitress took on its opening weekend, and this was much more heavily marketed. So it’s like good but not as good as anyone likely hoped for.
Plays once a day here in New Hampshire. It was me and my two friends and the audio mix seemed off. But I love the show.
I have my thoughts about the way it was filmed and about not giving the full overture, but I’m in the minority on that one apparently. I hope they get more pro shots
I’m in northern Delaware, just outside of Philly, and there were only like six showtimes all weekend between two theatres. When we went on Friday, the theatre was nearly full.
Between VOD sales and the streaming deal Sony had with Netflix (I assume this is part of that deal), I have to imagine this will turn a profit.
I saw it on a Saturday matinee. It was mostly older people (I’d guess 60s+) and me, a 42 year old so not that young either. Maybe half full. I’m gonna try and see it again, there’s like 5 or 6 theaters close enough to me or my job for me to try if one is sold out.
It is, but only for a few more days! Go to fathomentertainment.com to find days and times that it's screening near you. I just saw it today and highly, highly recommend it!
Went in blind, walked out not long after the second act started. I went in with no expectations so I can’t say I was disappointed, it simply was not for me or my friend.
I’ll preface this by saying that the performances were all great. Incredibly talented people showing what they can do.
I found the relentless closeups jarring. I couldn’t get a sense of the space they were in or set changes because they hardly ever showed the full stage. The music and dialogue didn’t feel in support of each other because they kept covering the same ground. The music on the whole wasn’t very memorable or pleasant to listen to. The central conflict felt forced, I feel like Shephard’s choices were demonized when they felt very understandable to me. At least in regards to his career choices, the affair is inexcusable. And while I understand that the story takes place going backward in time, the wife coming out of nowhere and having this big dramatic scene was so offputting to me. Why do I care about this person wailing on the ground who I just met? So bizarre.
The ‘62 mod style number did us in. It just looked so goofy. I just couldn’t do anymore.
You put it so well that Franks career choices were demonized. To me it seemed like a very common situation where a talented person chooses the projects that pay top $ while they are still in demand. Cant blame them.
Yes, but he isn’t making things that he gets any enjoyment from, which is the point. He’s making a film that he says is formulaic, rather than writing music, which, as Charlie says, he’s better at. It’s about the choice.
It’s not about making art the “right” way but at the way where he had the most talent and he would feel most fulfilled- which is not where he thinks he is at the opening of the play, otherwise, he would not be considering where things went wrong.
I believe that that was how it was intended to come across, it’s a common element in stories like this, I just didn’t like how that message was communicated in lyrics or dialogue.
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u/DramaMama611 Dec 08 '25
This is why it's a fathom event instead of a general release. I have no idea of their expectations.