Based on the 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, Merrily We Roll Along follows the life of a famous Broadway composer who abandons all of his friends and family once he has been offered a job in Hollywood scoring films. The first production of the musical was rewritten by George Furth and scored by Stephen Sondheim for Broadway in 1981, but opened to a primarily negative response, with critics agreeing that the score was good, but everything else was problematic. Since then, the musical has slowly gained appreciation as a classic and multiple revivals have taken place.