Sartaj Singh
With Peter Sullivan at the helm, ‘The Merry Gentlemen’ is a Netflix Christmas movie that revolves around a failing performing arts venue, the Rhythm Room, and a former Broadway dancer who decides to make a radical change to the performances and attract large crowds during the Christmas season. Ashley (Britt Robertson), a big-city dancer and choreographer, returns to her hometown to save her parents’ events venue, the Rhythm Room. Meeting Luke (Chad Michael Murray), a kindhearted contractor with a chiseled physique, she gets the idea to host an event like none her town has ever seen.
Putting her dance and choreography background to good use, Ashley begins to train Luke and attractive male employees for a Christmas-themed revue. The stakes are high, as their performance and allure will make or break the business. While Ashley initially finds Luke to be smug and irritating, sparks fly between them as they work together to save the Rhythm Room. The romantic comedy features vibrant backdrops that are strikingly contrasted by the winter wonderland setting of the small town, creating a holiday-themed atmosphere that pairs surprisingly well with the burlesque.
The Merry Gentlemen Filming Locations
‘The Merry Gentlemen’ was filmed in Santa Clarita and Los Angeles, California, and establishing shots of Ashley‘s hometown were lensed in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. Principal photography began in May 2024 and was wrapped up by June 8, 2024. However, rehearsals for the dance sequences began a month earlier, in April, and Murray revealed that he pushed past major obstacles to learn the dance routines and attain the required physique.
Having no professional dance training, unlike most of his dancing co-stars, Murray would arrive at the dance hall earlier than everyone else for extra practice with choreographers Christine Lakin and Anna White. “I wanted to be ahead of the curve so that I wasn’t holding anybody back,” he revealed in an interview. “As we get older, it’s not as easy as it used to be when we were in our 20s, so it was a lot of work, dedication, and focus… We were doing six-hour days in the dance hall.”
Santa Clarita, California
‘The Merry Gentlemen’ was primarily filmed at the Disney Golden Oak Ranch backlot in Santa Clarita, California. Located on 19802 Placerita Canyon Road in Newhall, the 890-acre movie ranch helped create the majority of the small-town location seen in ‘The Merry Gentlemen.’ The backlots used include Residential Street, the Ragwing Barn, and the Business District. Other films and shows shot at the movie ranch are ‘Role Models,’ ‘No Strings Attached,’ and ‘Desperate Housewives.’
Los Angeles, California
Filming for ‘The Merry Gentlemen’ was conducted in Los Angeles, California. Taking full advantage of the city’s versatile areas and established infrastructure, the production crew utilized Los Angeles and its environs to depict the captivating small-town backgrounds seen in the Netflix film. Director Sullivan shared the challenges of creating a Christmas feature in the summertime as the production team simulated the holiday season with faux snow being sprayed all over shooting sites for exterior shots, even on trees.
Ephrata, Pennsylvania
The snow-covered small town seen in establishing shots of ‘The Merry Gentlemen’ is Ephrata, a town in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The picturesque borough presents a quintessential small-town shooting location with a historic downtown district. The area seen in the presented establishing shot is the town’s Main Street, with some buildings standing out among the snow-laden structures and festive decorations. One of them is the Ephrata National Bank building on 31 East Main Street, with its entrance flanked by two sets of classical columns. It appears that the film crew for ‘The Merry Gentlemen’ did not travel to the location and instead used third-party footage for the landscape shots.
