Lamar Richardson (CC '15) is co-producing Broadway's Merrily We Roll Along. Richardson, who studied at the School of the Arts in 2022 through the Front Row Productions Fellowship, will be an essential part of this Sondheim revival. Merrily We Roll Along will play at the Hudson Theatre through March 24, 2024.
Following shows in London and the New York Theatre Workshop, Merrily We Roll Along returns to Broadway under director Maria Friedman. The musical unfolds backward in time, focusing on three friends played by Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez. The 1981 hit by George Furth with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim covers nearly two decades of these friends' experiences in the entertainment world. The musical draws from a 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.
Last year, Richardson was named a 2022 Front Row Productions Fellow. The fellowship awarded him a $10,000 stipend, a $20,000 project budget, mentorship, access to a network of NYC theatre professionals, and Columbia University School of the Arts resources, including courses in Theatre Management & Producing. Additionally, Richardson was able to join the Producer Exchange Program with Stage One in the UK.
Led by award-winning producers Alia Jones-Harvey and Stephen Byrd, founders of Front Row Productions, Inc., and in collaboration with Columbia University School of the Arts, the Front Row Productions Fellowship was established in 2021 to create a pipeline for emerging producers of color and bring significant works to Broadway featuring diverse casts and creative teams.
Lamar Richardson was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. He got his bachelor's from Columbia University in 2015. The following year, he debuted and starred as Sylvester in Phylicia Rashad's award-winning production of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. It won 'Best Ensemble', received the 'McCulloh Award for Revival' at the 2017 L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards, and was awarded 'Best Acting Ensemble of a Play' at the 2018 L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Awards. Richardson has also recently appeared on screen in Jordan Peele's Weird City, James Sweeney's Straight Up, and NBC's New Amsterdam. He will appear in Richard Lawson's feature adaptation of Richard Wright's Black Terror, which is being co-produced with Tina Knowles-Lawson, and CBS FBI. Moreover, Richardson has also co-founded Ivy Lion Productions to produce underrepresented voices and empowering stories.
