The Cal State Long Beach University Player’s will roll out the fall semester season with a play-turned-musical from the 1930s: Merrily We Roll Along – book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim – will open on campus on Thursday at 8 p.m.
Former CSULB Theater Department Chair Joanne Gordon is directing a cast of undergraduates to perform and tell a story that is set across the period between the ‘50s and mid-‘70s. The show starts at the peak of Franklin Shepard’s career as a composer; the story line works backward through time, tracing through the lives of Shepard and his two close friends from his youth.
The show is based on the original play written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. CSULB’s run of the musical will be from Thursday, Oct. 3, through Sunday, Oct. 12. Performances will be at 8 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturdays; the performance on Sunday, Oct. 6, will be at 6 p.m.
The production will play in the Studio Theater, on upper campus near the library.
The University Players will play a total of 11 performances, and tickets are $12 for students with campus ID and seniors – general public tickets will be sold at $15.
Parking will be available in the lot next to the theater for any with a valid CSULB parking permit, or for $5.
For tickets and other information, call 562-985-5526, or visit www.csulb.edu/depts/theater.