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The Hamilton College Choir will present Stephen Sondheim's often overlooked Merrily We Roll Along, on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7 and 8, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. in Wellin Hall, Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, Merrily We Roll Along is a musical comedy in two acts, based on the Kaufman and Hart play of the same name. 

This musical is the story of Franklin Shepard, a rich, famous and influential song-writer and film producer told in reverse order from 1976 to 1957. It is the story of three successful people, Frank, Mary and Charley, as they look back on their lost friendship.

Merrily We Roll Along won London's 2001 Olivier Award for best new musical, this heartfelt show poses the question, "How did we get here from there?" and strives to answer it for three friends reflecting on years of aspiration and reality, relationships both sweet and sour, and dreams fulfilled and unfulfilled.

Lead roles for the production include: Mike O'Leary '04 as Franklin Shepard, an idealistic student who becomes a successful composer and then an even more successful Hollywood executive — so successful that he no longer has time to write music, even for his own films; Dave Steadman '04 as Charley Kringas, Frank's best friend and his lyricist, when Frank isn't tied up acquiring rights and wiring the Coast; Ann Horwitz '06 as Mary Flynn, a writer and drama critic, and Frank's good pal, although Mary wishes it was a little more than that.

Luke Vaughn '04 is cast as Joe Josephson, the producer of Frank and Charley's Broadway shows, even though he only likes tunes that go burn-burn-burn-didum.  Sarah Ziegler '05 is cast as Beth Spencer, a singer in Frank and Charley's nightclub act, subsequently Frank's first wife.  Julia Berger '04 is cast as Gussie Carnegie, Joe's wife, a Broadway star, Frank's interior decorator and mistress, subsequently Frank's second wife. Sondra Conti '05 plays Meg  Kincaid, an actress in Frank's latest movies and his new mistress, and Elizabeth Padin '04 is K. T. Lewis, a TV journalist, who asks Frank and Charley the old question "how do you two work together?" and gets a livelier answer than she ever expected.

This production of Merrily We Roll Along, performed by the Hamilton College Choir, is directed by G. Roberts Kolb, and choreographed by Leslie Norton. The performance runs Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7 and 7 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $7 adult, $5 senior and students, and $3 Hamilton College students. To reserve tickets or for more information, call the performing arts ticket office at 859-4331.

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