There’s plenty more to keep up with if you’re interested in “Merrily We Roll Along”.

There’s a review in The Other Paper from Richard Ades, who writes, “Whatever led the Columbus company to take it on was a welcome fluke, as the result is an entertaining triumph.”

There’s one in the Alive, from Jay Weitz who writes, “No one who admires Sondheim or Available Light (or both) should miss the rare opportunity to see and hear this show.”

There’s even one from art-blogger Richard Sanford, who writes…

Anyone who’s ever had that feeling like the world’s at your feet, you and your friends are just about to be great, whoever’s watched that feeling disappear and had to try to find it somewhere else, whoever’s had those bullshit sessions on the roof and found one of the other people turned it into a better song or a complete novel and you had to choke back that jealousy. Anyone who remembers how fraught with possibility the summer nights were when they were 20 and how rare it seems you’re in touch with that any more. Anyone who wants to be inspired or just goddamn entertained, go see this.

And last, but certainly not least, we have Artie Isaac’s 20-minute chat with 6 of the featured actors from the show, which you can watch right here…

We had a great time at the opening last night. We’d like to thank everyone who came to support the show.

And now, let’s examine some choice quotations from the reviews that appearing around the internet.

Michael Grossberg in the Columbus Dispatch: “Merrily easily ranks as one of the best central Ohio productions and most revelatory musicals of the year… Frankly, it’s a hit.”
Read the whole review here (and share it with your buddies.)

Dwayne Steward in Metromix Columbus: “The group is in for another hit… a must-see. ”
Read it all here (and pass it on.)

Here’s a quotation that popped-up on Facebook from one of our favorite supporters, Mr. Jim Coe:

Over the past three years I have seen every Available Light production, many of which were quite impressive. However, with Merrily We Roll Along that opened last night at Riffe Center Studio One, they have knocked the bar to the ground. Merrily is tremendously entertaining. And I didn’t think I even liked musicals.

Read Michael Grossberg’s excellent article, which includes interviews with Director John Dranschak, actress Heather Carvel, and Producer Matt Slaybaugh.

And when you’re done with that, continue on to Mr. Grossberg’s blog, for more, including a couple of exclusive pics.

If you prefer, you can download the audio-file here.

Monday night, Michelle Obama hosted the sixth in a series of White House evenings celebrating “the music that helped shape America.” The list of performers included Nathan Lane, Idina Menzel, Audra McDonald, Brian d’Arcy James, Chad Kimball, Tonya Pinkins, Marvin Hamlisch, Karen Olivo and Assata Alston.

“Why a musical?” is a question we’ve been getting a lot lately, and I think our President has done a truly admirable job of answering it.

At its heart, it’s the power of a story -– of love and of heartbreak; of joy and sorrow; singing witches, dancing ogres. Musicals carry us to a different time and place, but in the end, they also teach us a little bit of something about ourselves. It’s one of the few genres of music that can inspire the same passion in an eight-year-old that it can an 80-year-old –- and make them both want to get up and dance. It transcends musical tastes, from opera and classical to rock and hip-hop. And whether we want to admit it or not, we all have the lyrics to a few Broadway songs stuck in our heads. (Laughter.)

In many ways, the story of Broadway is also intertwined with the story if America. Some of the greatest singers and songwriters Broadway has ever known came to this country on a boat with nothing more than an idea in their head and a song in their heart. And they succeeded the same way that so many immigrants have succeeded -– through talent and hard work and sheer determination.

Over the years, musicals have also been at the forefront of our social consciousness, challenging stereotypes, shaping our opinions about race and religion, death and disease, power and politics.

But perhaps the most American part of this truly American art form is its optimism. Broadway music calls us to see the best in ourselves and in the world around us -– to believe that no matter how hopeless things may seem, the nice guy can still get the girl, the hero can still triumph over evil, and a brighter day can be waiting just around the bend.

As the great Mel Brooks once said, musicals “blow the dust off your soul.” So to everyone watching, both here and at home, here’s a taste of Broadway to help us do just that.

You can read President Obama’s full remarks at White House dot gov.

Three and half hours ago, I sat in a rehearsal room in the Riffe Center and listened to our incredible cast sing through Merrily We Roll Along for the first time.  Pam, our lovely and talented Musical Director, had broken it down a few times and worked through some of the solo lines.  Then she paused, turned to the cast and said, “Let’s give that section a try.”  And one by one the cast began to sing.  And I damn near could have cried.

Instead, I broke into a shit-eating grin.

A grin that is still plastered across my face hours later.

See, this show has been a long time coming.  I first came to it my freshman year of college when my newly-minted friend Josh and I were bonding over our love of Sondheim and he offered an innocuous, “You’ve never heard Merrily?  Really?”  I hadn’t.  At that point, I was only beginning my journey through the Sondheim canon.  I’d gone from Into The Woods to Assassins to Sweeney to Sunday to Company, but I knew nothing of Merrily; a sad state of affairs that Josh quickly rectified.  And if memory serves, Matt was having a very similar experience with his new friend Greg at Wooster.  Our next conversation consisted of a simultaneous: “You have got to hear this show.”

That was over (*cough*) fifteen years ago.  Since then, Matt and I have both run theatre companies, started a company together, and worked on numerous shows together, but we’ve never done a musical:  a Sondheim musical remained an elusive grail.  Until now.  Until these last two nights.

Well, really until a phone call one Sunday last December when Matt casually tossed out, “Do you have a script for Merrily?” and I promptly lost my shit.  But despite the work that has transpired in the past six months to make it happen, it didn’t truly become real until these last two nights.  Tonight, really.

When I sat in a room and listened to 17 of our cast members begin to sing, “Dreams don’t die, so keep an eye on your dreams.  And before you know where you are, there you are.”

Tend your dream.

And then you can sit there with a stupid grin on your face as a cast of amazing artists begins the process of making it come true.

We are thrilled to announce the cast for Merrily We Roll Along! Congratualtions to the cast and thanks to everyone who auditioned. We were highly impressed with all the talent on display and can’t wait to bring you the Columbus premiere of this wonderful musical.

Ian Short – Frank
Nick Lingnofski – Charley
Heather Carvel – Mary
Michelle Schroeder – Beth
Kim Garrison Hopcraft – Gussie
Scott Wilson – Joe
Ryan Kay – Tyler/Waiter
Christopher Storer – Terry, Musician
Nancy Skaggs – Scotty
Hillary Billups – Dory
John Schlabach – RU/Floor Monitor, Photographer, Pianist
Don Knoblauch – Jerome
Kate Gersing – KT
Jenna Petardi – Meg
John Brunner – Bunker, Minister, TV Newsman
Elena Perantoni – 1st Girl, Makeup Artist
Michelle Whited – Evelyn, Stage Manager
Bart Smith – Mr. Spencer
Julie Russell – Mrs. Spencer, TV Newswoman