How Broadway sets scene for Hollywood, from Death of a Salesman to Merrily We Roll Along

Through rich characterisation and brave performances, American theatre remains a fertile ground for film producers and actors

Daniel Radcliffe won the award for best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical for Merrily We Roll Alon during the 77th Tony Awards on Sunday. AP

The show Merrily We Roll Along is a feel-good story on and off the stage.

More than 40 years after flopping in its first Broadway run, the latest version of the 1981 musical by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth is up in lights. On Sunday, it won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, in addition to long-awaited first acting wins for its stars Jonathan Groff and former Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe. Richard Linklater is set to direct a film version of the tale, which follows three friends over 20 years, that is reportedly set to star Paul Mescal.

The development illustrates how American theatre is an enduring source of inspiration for Hollywood. Here are eight other award-winning productions that began on stage before hitting the big screen.

1. Death of a Salesman (1949)

The play's central character Willy Loman has become a rite of passage for generations of future stars, with actors Dustin Hoffman, Brian Dennehy and Philip Seymour Hoffman playing the tragic figure on stage before cementing themselves on the big screen.

The work follows the life of Lowman, a travelling salesman whose mental health is impacted by the weight of his job and a life of constant disappointment. It had its premiere on Broadway in 1949 and won the Tony Best Play, before being adapted into films around the world, from the US to Iran.

2. A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)

Tennessee Williams’s play about a struggling family in the American South resulted in one of the most widely acclaimed stage adaptations.

The 1951 film version featured Marlon Brando whose raw performance as Stanley Kowalski became a blueprint for future generations of method actors. A winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Vivien Leigh (Brando was the only one of the three leads to not win an Oscar that year), the film is preserved in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

3. West Side Story (1957)

An adaptation of Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, the tale of star-crossed lovers is set in a New York City grappling with racial tensions. Starring Larry Kert and Carol Lawrence, the original Broadway production won two Tony Awards before finding success on screen. The 1957 film adaptation went on to win 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture before Steven Spielberg introduced it to a new generation of viewers with his 2021 remake.

4. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962)

The critical and commercial success of Edward Albee's published play fast-tracked its Broadway premiere. A multi-layered examination of the marriage between middle-aged couple Martha and George, played by Uta Hagen and Arthur Hill, the original production won a Tony Award for Best Play.

The 1966 film adaptation by director Mike Nichols received similar acclaim with Elizabeth Taylor winning an Oscar for Best Actress in her role as Martha.

5. Amadeus (1979)

The fine line between genius and mediocrity is explored in this fictional account of composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Written by Peter Shaffer and winner of the 1981 Tony Award for Best Play, the production has the two maestros in competition with each other for acclaim.

The 1984 film adaptation by Milos Forman, starring Tom Hulce and F Murray Abraham, went on to win eight Academy Awards.

7. Fences (1985)

Written by August Wilson, Fences is viewed as a seminal piece of American theatre for bringing a nuanced understanding and appreciation of American culture and history. Set in the 1950s, it follows the relationship of Troy Maxson and his relationship with his family as they come to terms with the class and racial barriers in their way.

It won the Tony for Best Play in 1987, while the 2016 film version starred Denzel Washington and featured an Academy Award-winning turn by Viola Davis.

6. Doubt: A Parable (2004)

Before coming to the big screen in 2008 with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep in starring roles, the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play by John Patrick Stanley was a hit.

The production is set in 1964 at a Catholic School in New York and looks at tense relationships between the staff members who all grapple with the notion of how doubt can co-exist with faith. The film was nominated for five Oscars.

8. The Humans (2016)

Winner of Best Play at the Tony Awards, the one-act production by Stephen Karam made it to Broadway a year after its 2015 debut. Set around a Thanksgiving dinner in New York, the play explores the tension between family members as they come to terms with the existential crisis of faith and mortality.

The 2021 film adaptation, written and directed by Karam, starred Jayne Houdyshell, Richard Jenkins and Amy Schumer.