Netflix’s The Merry Gentlemen is a Christmas romantic comedy movie directed by Peter Sullivan that was released on November 20, 2024, and ranked at the top on the streaming platform. The movie is written by Sullivan, in collaboration with Marla Sokoloff and Jeffrey Schenck. The Merry Gentlemen tells the story of a Broadway dancer named Ashley, who loses her job due to her age and decides to return to her hometown for Christmas.
Ashley soon encounters her parents’ sinking business, The Rhythm Room, and makes it her mission to pay the debts and revive it again before Christmas Day. In that process, she encounters a young man named Luke, a handyman and carpenter, who assists her in achieving her goals by forming a boy revue group. On the journey to save The Rhythm Room and keep the legacy alive, the two end up falling in love.
The setting of The Merry Gentlemen takes place in the fictional town of Sycamore Creek. However, filming of the movie actually took place across the states of California, New York, and Pennsylvania.
The Merry Gentlemen locations explored
1) New York City, New York, USA
The opening scenes of the movie begin in New York City, decked with a pre-Christmas ambience. Ashley (Britt Robertson) works as a part of The Jingle Belles dance troupe and is told to leave the team due to her age. This is the point that motivates her to go back home after years. The opening scenes on a snowy winter in New York involve some scenes, including the Bennett Memorial in Herald Square, New York.
2) Golden Oak Ranch and Los Angeles, California, USA
A majority of scenes in The Merry Gentlemen were filmed in The Golden Oak Ranch, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. Located in Santa Clarita, California, the ranch serves as a major set for filming the fictional town of Sycamore Creek. The Broadway theater where Ashley performed as The Jingle Belles was actually shot in Block G’s art deco, part of the ranch.
Luke’s (Chad Michael Murray) carpentry workshop, where Ashley visits to provide him with lunch and the two share a heartfelt moment, was filmed in The Golden Oak Ranch itself. This ranch has been used for the shooting of many successful screen works, including WandaVision, Parks and Recreation, Westworld, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The A-Team, Desperate Housewives, The Office, etc.
Luke’s carpentry workshop in The Merry Gentlemen (Image via Netflix)
Moreover, The Rhythm Room, which acted as a central landmark for the entire plot of the movie, was shot in the Elks Lodge # 2790, located in Van Nuys and Reseda, Los Angeles, California.
3) Ephrata, Pennsylvania, USA
The small town of Sycamore Creek, with its natural scenery and Christmas decorations, is set in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. The borough of Ephrata, with its 20th-century architecture, successfully provided the landscape required to set the ambience of the town.
Located as part of Lancaster County, Ephrata’s foundation goes back to its sister city in Eberbach, Germany. Some of its most popular tourist destinations include the Lee Theatre, Ephrata Cloister, The Village Farm Market, Ephrata Cloister, The Green Dragon Farmer’s Market, Serverling Museum, etc.
