A Fond Farewell: George Merritt
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Hey everyone,
This is a sadder post to pay homage to a great man. My senior year in high school I performed in a show called “Broadway at Good Theater” at Good Theater in Portland Maine. I sang “Muddy Water” from Big River with a man named George Merritt. George passed away at the age of 67 on February 15th. I found out on Friday the 19th when I went to see The Importance of Being Ernest at Good Theater. I remarked to Brian Allen (the Artistic Director) that I still had George’s name on my resumé and he quietly asked me if I was aware if George had passed away.
I was stunned to say the least. You see I only knew him for a total of about 4 days, but we had so much fun singing that song, and we talked at great lengths backstage, and afterwards George immediately emailed me to keep in touch. He was like that, he was always reaching out. His obituary can be found here and it talks about many of his charitable activities. He sent me an email or a message on facebook/linkedin every couple months or so to see what I’d been doing, and to update me on what he and his wife had been doing. What was so shocking about his death was that I had talked to him about 3 weeks before his death when I needed a song I could not find. I was complaining about it on facebook, and he sent me the song within hours.
George was a broadway actor in casts of Jekyll and Hyde, Big River, Ain’t Misbehavin’, and Porgy and Bess. He received a Drama Desk nomination for his off-broadway performance in Lost in the Stars.
I would say more but the obituary says everything that needs to be said.
He was a wonderful man, and he will be sorely missed.
Goodbye George, and all my best to your family in this hard time,
~Ned Donovan
