Rider presents “Merrily We Roll Along”

Rider University will present Stephen Sondheim’s musical Merrily We Roll Along in the Yvonne Theatre on the campus of Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J. April 23 through April 27. A preview performance will be Wednesday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. , and performances will be Thursday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 26, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, April 27, at 2 p.m. Rider faculty members Nathan Hurwitz is the director,  Louis F. Goldberg is the musical director and Robin Lewis is the choreographer. Performers are Rider University students.

With lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, the story revolves around Franklin Shepard, a talented composer of Broadway musicals, who has abandoned his friends and songwriting career to become a producer of Hollywood flicks. Moving backward through time, the plot centers on the most important moments and decisions of Shepard’s life. Director Nathan Hurwitz believes the musical should remind the audience to, “take charge of your life, and take responsibility for charting and steering your course in a conscious manner, at every turning of the river, every bend in the road.”

Nathan Hurwitz’s Broadway credits include Blood Brothers, Dream and Phantom of the Opera.  Tours include Phantom, West Side Story, Blood Brothers, Company, The Who’s ‘Tommy,’ Annie and many more.  Dr. Hurwitz’s most recent Rider University productions include A Chorus Line, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Nine, The Producers and A New Brain.  A member of Actor’s Equity and the American Federation of Musicians, he taught acting and coached voice for many years privately, as well as at New York University, HB Studios, Point Park College, the University of Pittsburgh, Northwestern State University of Louisiana and Syracuse University. 

At Rider University, Louis F. Goldberg directed the musical revue Cole, and he has served as musical director for The Full Monty, The Wedding Singer, The Light in the Piazza and Rent. Mr. Goldberg has conducted more than 300 musicals across the United States and Europe, including tours of Man of La Mancha starring Hal Linden, Cabaret, Chicago and 42nd Street. He is currently the resident music director for Gretna Theatre in Mt. Gretna, Pa., a position he has also held at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma and Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Auburn, N.Y. He has served on the musical theater faculties of Syracuse University, the University of Oklahoma and the University of the Arts.

Robin Lewis appeared in the Broadway productions of Fosse, Beauty and the Beast, A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden and the first National Tours of Victor/Victoria and The Producers. His other national touring credits includes A Chorus Line, Hello, Dolly!, Beauty and the Beast and special performances at The Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. Mr. Lewis' choreographic work includes the 2011 Richard Linklater film BERNIE starring Shirley MacLaine and Jack Black.  Recently he directed Broadway/MTV's reality star Bailey Hanks in Legally Blonde. His other recent directing/choreography credits include Evita, Rent, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Hairspray, Porgy and Bess, The Music Man, Carousel, Chicago, All Shook Up and The Wild Party.

Musical theatre productions presented by Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts feature students enrolled in the University’s highly regarded Musical Theatre program, as well as other talented students selected by audition. Graduates of the program are appearing on Broadway, in national touring productions and in major regional theatres.

Tickets for the performances are $20 for adults and $10 for seniors and Rider University faculty and staff and non-Rider students. They can be purchased at the door, through the box office at 609-896-7775 or online at www.rider.edu/arts. General admission preview tickets are $9 for adults and $5 for seniors and are only available at the door.  Rider University students may purchase tickets for all performances for $5 with valid Rider ID.