There’s been an almost symbiotic relationship between theatre and film, with one production often feeding the other, in either direction.

What we have here though is a rare hybrid, where in 2023, a Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s musical, that debuted on Broadway in 1981, was revived, and filmed, but with a cinema audience in mind.

It begins in 1976, at an opening night party, thrown for Frank Shepard (Jonathan Groff), now a successful composer. He may be a hit, but it comes at a price, especially with the relationships around him, with the likes of his old writing partner Charley Kringas (Daniel Radcliffe), and theatre critic friend Mary Flynn (Lindsay Mendez), that have disintegrated over time.

The story of how that happened exactly plays out, in an almighty flashback over a period of twenty years, as we are privy how to all began.

Filming of stage plays has become a quite a thing in recent years, such as the National Theatre regularly filming live productions that get beamed into cinemas.

This is a more ornate production however, that features close-ups, and lots of editing, which gives it more of a feel of a 1970’s US TV sitcom, filmed in front of a studio audience, such as Happy Days.

Maria Friedman, who directed a stage production of the same musical, directs with an almost exhausting energy, making this hybrid version truly dynamic, with the multi-camera setup doing all the hard work usually placed upon the audience, by directing the audiences’ gaze at all times.

Because of this, you often lose the feeling it’s taking place in front of an audience in a theatre, only to be occasionally reminded with them laughing and clapping. This gives it a heightened intimacy, like the best seat in the house, far better than being in the front row.

A big factor of course as to whether you will enjoy it or not, is down to the material; if you’re a fan of Sondheim’s intricate musical skills, that are narrative focused, they’re in abundance here, but perhaps lacking the instantly catchy killer hit that many musicals go for.

The performances are superb, and impressive as it’s recorded as ‘live’, but there’s no way of telling if there were pauses during recording, which is a possibility; but even if that is the case, they deserved the break.

It is quite a commitment however, with a run time of just shy of two and a half hours, which sadly doesn’t include an interval to stretch your legs, have a bathroom break, and maybe a nibble or two.

If the idea of watching a stage performance is frightening, there is an actual film adaptation in the works, being brought to the big screen by Richard Linklater, who is clearly a fan of musicals after recently telling his Blue Moon story, featuring the real life relationship between musical team Rogers and Hart.

This then is an interesting experiment, and hopefully nothing more than that, as there really is no reason to upset the current symbiotic apple cart, with theatre and film getting along in perfect harmony as it is.