(METUCHEN, NJ) -- Ferrell Studios Community Theatre, a nonprofit theatre organization serving Central New Jersey, announces its upcoming production of Merrily We Roll Along, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth. The production will close the company's 2025-26 season, themed "Our Time," with five performances at St. Luke's Episcopal Church Auditorium in Metuchen, NJ from August 20-23, 2026.
Directed by Jessica Eckhoff and produced by Artistic Director Luke Ferrell, Merrily We Roll Along follows three friends, Frank, Charley, and Mary, as their youthful idealism gives way to the weight of ambition, compromise, and time. Told in reverse chronological order, the musical moves backward through the decades, inviting audiences to witness not just what was lost, but the hopeful moment before it was.
Sondheim and Furth's Merrily We Roll Along is one of musical theatre's most distinctive and emotionally complex works. Its unconventional reverse structure, beginning in disillusionment and traveling back toward the moment of shared possibility, creates a theatrical experience unlike any other. The score, widely considered one of Sondheim's most melodically rich, includes such numbers as "Old Friends," "Not a Day Goes By," and "Opening Doors."
Performances take place Thursday, August 20 at 8:00pm; Friday, August 21 at 8:00pm; Saturday, August 22 at 2:00pm & 8:00pm; and Sunday, August 23 at 3:00pm. Tickets range from $20-$30 and are available for purchase online. St. Luke's Episcopal Church Auditorium is located at 17 Oak Avenue in Metuchen, New Jersey. Runtime: Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission.
For Ferrell Studios, the choice to close "Our Time" with this production is deliberate. The season has explored what artists and communities do with the time they're given, and Merrily asks that question with radical sincerity.
"Merrily We Roll Along is the perfect final chapter for our 2025–26 season, 'Our Time.' It asks one of the most human questions: what do we do with the time we're given? By moving backward through the lives of three friends, the musical asks us to see more clearly what matters most: the connections we hold dear, the dreams that shape us, and the courage to begin again. Closing our season with this show feels like a celebration of where we've been, what we've learned, and the future we still have the power to create." — Luke Ferrell, Artistic Director, Ferrell Studios Community Theatre
Ferrell Studios Community Theatre is a nonprofit community theatre organization serving Central New Jersey. Guided by the mission pillars of Create, Educate, and Connect, Ferrell Studios produces bold, socially engaged theatre that celebrates emerging artists, uplifts underrepresented voices, and builds authentic community connection. Past productions include Cabaret, tick, tick... BOOM!, Godspell, The Last Five Years, Songs for a New World, and four Annual One Act Play Festivals, among others.
