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{{Infobox film
| name           = Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened
| image          = Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened poster.jpg
| caption        = Official release poster
| director       = [[Lonny Price]]
| producer       = [[Bruce David Klein]]
| cinematography = Matthew Howe<br>Elaine Epstein
| editing        = Rikki Portner
| distributor    = [[Abramorama]]
| released       = {{Film date|2016|10|9|New York Film Festival|2016|11|18|United States}}
| runtime        = 96 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
}}
'''''Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened''''' is a 2016 American documentary film directed by [[Lonny Price]] and produced by [[Bruce David Klein]] with Price, Kitt Lavoie and Ted Schillinger. [[Scott Rudin]] and Eli Bush serve as executive producers. The film tells the story of the making of the original Broadway production of ''[[Merrily We Roll Along (musical)|Merrily We Roll Along]]''. The film is a production of [[Atlas Media Corp.]] in association with Allright Productions.
In September 2016, the film was acquired by Abramorama for theatrical distribution.<ref>{{cite web |last=Galuppo |first=Mia |date=September 21, 2016 |title=Stephen Sondheim's 'Merrily We Roll Along' Doc Picked Up by Abramorama |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/stephen-sondheims-merrily-we-roll-931466 |access-date=June 18, 2024 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |publisher=}}</ref>
The film premiered at the [[New York Film Festival]] in October 2016 and was released theatrically on November 18, 2016.<ref name="hollywoodreporter.com">{{cite web |last=Rooney |first=David |date=October 9, 2016 |title='Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened': Film Review - NYFF 2016 |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/best-worst-thing-ever-could-happened-936597 |access-date=June 18, 2024 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |publisher=}}</ref>
== About the film ==
''[[Merrily We Roll Along (musical)|Merrily We Roll Along]]'' is a 1981 musical based on the 1934 play of the same name by [[George S. Kaufman]] and [[Moss Hart]]. The book of the musical was written by [[George Furth]] with lyrics and music by [[Stephen Sondheim]]. [[Hal Prince]] directed the original production, which opened on Broadway in 1981 and closed after 16 performances.<ref>{{cite web |title=Merrily We Roll Along @ Alvin Theatre |url=http://www.playbill.com/production/merrily-we-roll-along-alvin-theatre-vault-0000000877 |access-date=June 18, 2024 |publisher=[[Playbill]]}}</ref> ''Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened'' features interviews with the creators and original cast of the now-classic show as well as rare and never before seen footage from the rehearsal process.
== Film includes appearances by ==
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[Jason Alexander]]
* Donna Marie Asbury
* James Bonkovsky
* David Cady
* [[Liz Callaway]]
* [[Terry Finn]]
* [[Paul Gemignani]]
* [[Adam Guettel]]
* Steven Jacob
* [[Ann Morrison]]
* [[Mandy Patinkin]]
* [[Tonya Pinkins]]
* [[Abigail Pogrebin]]
* [[Lonny Price]]
* Daisy Prince
* [[Hal Prince]]
* Forest D. Ray
* [[Frank Rich]]
* Clark Sayre
* David Shine
* [[Stephen Sondheim]]
* [[Jim Walton (actor)|Jim Walton]]
* James Weissenbach
* Maryrose Wood
{{div col end}}
== Critical reception ==
Critical reception of the film was overwhelmingly positive.<ref name="newyorker.com">{{cite web |last=Schulman |first=Michael |date=October 14, 2016 |title=Revisiting a Legendary Sondheim Flop |url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/revisiting-a-legendary-sondheim-flop |access-date=June 18, 2024 |website=[[The New Yorker]] |publisher=}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/film/nyff-stephen-sondheim-merrily-faces-down-the-best-worst-thing-that-could-have-happened-9224355|title=NYFF: Stephen Sondheim Merrily Faces Down the 'Best Worst Thing That Could Have Happened'|first=Odie|last=Henderson|date=14 October 2016|publisher=}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite web |last=Dry |first=Jude |date=October 16, 2016 |title=‘Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened’ Review: Stephen Sondheim Opens Old Wounds Of Closing A Show — NYFF |url=http://www.indiewire.com/2016/10/best-worst-thing-that-ever-could-have-happened-review-stephen-sondheim-nyff-2016-1201735109/ |access-date=June 18, 2024 |website=[[IndieWire]] |publisher=}}</ref> The film's score on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] is 95% with 21 reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/best_worst_thing_that_ever_could_have_happened_2016|title= BEST WORST THING THAT EVER COULD HAVE HAPPENED|website= [[Rotten Tomatoes]]|accessdate= June 25, 2023}}</ref> David Rooney of ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' called the film a “lovingly assembled documentary” and stated that “Mickey and Judy would have loved it, bittersweet ending and all.”<ref name="hollywoodreporter.com"/> Michael Schulman of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' called it a “moving documentary” and wrote:  “It’s hard now to imagine the audience members who stormed out, exasperated, during the original run, but seeing the cast members reflect on the ordeal shows how devastating it was to realize they were on a sinking ship—and that those 'gods' Sondheim and Prince were mortal after all.”<ref name="newyorker.com"/> Odie Anderson of the [[Village Voice]] said the film "is sure to satisfy theater wonks, Sondheim fans, curious moviegoers and lovers of Broadway."<ref name="auto"/> Jude Dry of [[IndieWire]] gave the film an A rating, saying, "’Best Worst Thing’ is more than a story about a Broadway show; its most poignant moments examine the thrill of dreams coming true, and the inevitable comedown afterwards."<ref name="auto1"/>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{IMDb title|3282712}}
[[Category:2016 documentary films]]
[[Category:2010s English-language films]]