Merrily We Roll Along certainly has a happy ending…but, the ending is actually the beginning.

Available Light Theatre has brought us a fabulous production of this musical, which features a story by George Furth and original music by Stephen Sondheim.

Merrily We Roll Along follows the career of Franklin Shepard backwards, from his time as a Hollywood movie producer to his more humble beginnings as young, idealistic songwriter. Frank and his friends Charley and Mary go on a journey through the past to find out just what made them the people they are in the present.

I attended the show last week and have to say that it was an amazing experience. I was enthralled by the excellent music and I enjoyed the lyrics, all sung beautifully by the Available Light cast. My girlfriend, who has far more experience in the musical theater than I do, remarked, "It’s hard to do Sondheim, let alone do Sondheim well." Available Light makes this musical great.

Need more convincing? Check out this review from The Columbus Dispatch ("frankly, it’s a hit"), or this one from Metromix Columbus ("a stellar Columbus premiere").

There are only seven showtimes left, and seats are filling fast. The cost is as reasonable as it gets - you pay what you want . Get the details and reserve seats here .

Why is it that our to-do lists, filled with places we want to visit and restaurants we want to try, always seem to grow rather than get smaller? When my fiance and I found ourselves with a free weekend recently, we decided to take full advantage and finally cross an item off our list. After much debate—yes, the list is that long—we settled on the Wilds .

Located in southeast Ohio, the Wilds is one of the largest conservation centers in the country. Rare and endangered species from around the world live in this 10,000-acre, open-range habitat. Take one of the several tours offered, and you will get an up close and personal look into this extraordinary world. Only 74 miles from Columbus, the breathtaking views—think open land and rolling hills—made it hard to believe we were still in Ohio.

Once there, we opted for the Open Air Safari, a 2-½ hour tour of the open-range animal areas. We felt like we were entering a scene from Jurassic Park, minus the dinosaurs. Buffalo, giraffe, rhinos and more roamed about freely. A curious few even ventured near enough to the bus for some great candid shots. Along the way, our tour guide shared a wealth of knowledge, fun facts and funny stories with us. At the end of the day, we walked away with more information, stunning pictures and a deeper appreciation for the Wilds’ mission to “advance conservation through science, education and personal experience.”

If the Wilds is not already on your to-do list, it should be. Complete details on tours, pricing and special events can be found here .

Greek Festival
Photo by Randall Lee Schieber

The members of the Greater Columbus Events Council are back with their third and final set of prizes – it’s giveaway time!

If you missed out on the first or second sets of giveaways, here’s your last chance. Four lucky readers will win.

This time, there will be…

THREE winners of the following:

• Greek Festival package, including admission and baklava for two
• Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival package, including two t-shirts, one parking pass and sunscreen
• Two Arnold Sports Festival keychains

ONE winner of the following:

• One fleece and two tickets to the New Albany Walking Classic
• Two tickets to the Columbus Jewish Film Festival
• Two Arnold Sports Festival keychains

How to win : Leave a comment below, and name at least one Columbus festival or special event you plan to attend in September, October, November or December . If you need a few ideas, visit this list of Greater Columbus Events Council members.

One entry per person, please. All entries must be posted by 2 p.m. on Friday, August 13 . After that, we’ll randomly select the winners.

Congrats to all past winners and good luck to everyone! Enjoy the remainder of event season in Columbus.

UPDATE (8/13): Winners have been selected! See comments for details.

Great food, signature drinks and fun games – these are a few of my favorite things! And all of them can be found at KDB, your neighborhood “Kitchen, Den and Bar” opening at Easton Town Center (in the former GameWorks location) this Thursday, August 5 at 8 p.m.

KDB provides a comfortable, high-energy environment where everyone can come hang out and have a memorable time. Let me break it down for you:

There’s the Kitchen – a 150 seat dining area that serves home-style cooking and classic American cuisine. Menu items include: house specialty BBQ, gourmet pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and salads. And these delicious menu items are served late into the night, which is always a plus, just in case you get hungry after a rowdy game of pinball. Read the rest of this entry »

I moved several months ago to Gahanna and I must say, I’ve really been enjoying my new neighborhood.

My favorite so far is Creekside, which is filled with shops, restaurants and a park along the creek.

If you’re a wine person, I highly recommend giving Mezzo Italian Kitchen and Wine a try. My boyfriend and I have been there several times now and we love it! We first went during Dine Originals Week and the atmosphere was very warm and we had the seat right by the window overlooking the outdoor patio. Definitely made for a nice romantic dinner.

And during the next couple of months, Creekside is the place to be! Check out some fun things happening: Read the rest of this entry »

Zeppernick Custom Homes (click for a peek at homes on display this year)

My mom has always had a passion for decorating and interior design. Each summer, she’d take my siblings and me to model home shows where we’d spend hours critiquing the houses, debating our favorites and staking claim over which room would be ours if we lived there.

Well, not much has changed. To this day, I can’t resist stopping at an open house or visiting a home show. While the German Village Haus and Garten Tour and the Victorian Village Tour of Homes are both favorites, this year I plan to add a tour to the rotation: BIA Parade of Homes .

The annual BIA Parade of Homes prides itself on “showcasing Central Ohio’s best and brightest in the area of homebuilding, home design and landscaping.” It runs July 24-August 8 at New Albany’s Ackerly Park. Spanning 16 days, this event allows even the busiest of us to make a trip out and uncover some new ideas and fresh inspiration for our own places. Read the rest of this entry »

TORK sculptures:
15-foot-tall North American Pitcher Plants
Photo: Franklin Park Conservatory

I’ll admit, never before have I spent time thinking about meat-eating plants. As a kid, I remember seeing Venus flytraps and thinking they were cool, but it stopped there.

That is, until I saw the new exhibit at the Franklin Park Conservatory: Savage Gardens: The Real and Imaginary World of Carnivorous Plants . It runs through Nov. 14.

It’s a fascinating exhibit that is a combination of hundreds of live plants that lure, catch, kill and digest insects for energy; four larger-than-life sculptures based on these bizarre plants; a juried art show and two commissioned art works.

The group I was with had fun seeing the sculptures, then searching for the real plant. I think our favorite was the Venus flytrap. We learned that an insect has to stroke the inside of the leaf twice before the trap closes (at which point we "oohed" and "aahed" and said, "Do it again!") To make the most of your experience, I highly recommend attending the horticulturist presentation in the showroom each day at 1 p.m. Also, Family Fun Saturdays are held at 11 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month with activities and crafts.

Not being much of a gardener myself, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the exhibit. Another great surprise was the enormous sculptures, designed and fabricated by TORK, Inc. , a Columbus-based company. The sculptures, such as the brilliant seven Pitcher Plants in the courtyard, are both really beautiful art and an effective tool to better understand these little-known plants and how they function.

Savage Gardens was created by the Franklin Park Conservatory and will be made available to tour at other botanical gardens around the country.

To plan your visit to Franklin Park Conservatory and review the many programs offered there, visit fpconservatory.org .

Photo: Wexner Center for the Arts

For many people, outdoor movies carry a sense of nostalgia: childhood memories of visiting the local park—popcorn and blanket in tow—to watch a movie with friends, family and neighbors. Well, outdoor movies are back, and in a big way.

Sure, you may be familiar with the free movie screenings in NYC’s Central Park or the Screen on the Green series at the National Mall in D.C., but did you know that Columbus has plenty of its own outdoor movie options? With unique venues such as Creekside Plaza and Easton Town Center, and movie options ranging from black and white classics to animated flicks, it’s an experience that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

To get you started, I’ve put together a list of outdoor movie series throughout Columbus. All are completely free, family-friendly events that are certain to get you out of a summer rut. Pick you favorite flick, pop some popcorn and do something different this summer! Read the rest of this entry »

Ohio State Fair

Festival season continues in Columbus, and so do the giveaways.

Like we mentioned last month , members of the Greater Columbus Events Council are helping us celebrate lots of events by sharing lots of prizes.

This time, we’re featuring July and August happenings, and the ante is definitely upped: FIVE LUCKY READERS will win the following:

• A North Market Food & Ohio Wine Festival package, which includes a $20 North Market gift certificate and 2 entries to the preview party
• A VIP parking pass to Jazz & Rib Fest
• 2 tickets to the Ohio State Fair
• 2 tickets to the Dublin Irish Festival
  

To win is easy:

Simply leave a comment below, and name at least one July or August Columbus festival or special event you plan to attend this year. If you need a few ideas, visit this list of Greater Columbus Events Council members.

One entry per person, please. All entries must be posted by noon on Tuesday, July 6 . After that, we’ll randomly select five winners who are going to have a lot of fun this summer. Good luck!

P.S. Don’t forget the third and final giveaway:

Stay tuned for the last prize package, which we’ll give away in August. Check back or subscribe to this blog via your RSS reader or email to receive updates.

UPDATE (7/6): The winners have been selected and are posted in the comments. Congrats!

It’s a guilty pleasure, but I never tire of walking the streets and alleys of German Village to peek into the windows of its fabulously restored homes. That’s why I love the Haus und Garten Tour . It’s a once-a-year opportunity to get an up close look inside without worrying about whether the owner is home. This year, the tour takes place on Sunday, June 27.

Some of the homes and gardens on tour are elegant showplaces, some are urban sanctuaries, while others are funky and creative. All are great for decorating ideas or inspiration. At the least, I’m always inspired to go home and clean. This is a special time to explore the Village, check out its unique shops and enjoy its fabulous restaurants and bakeries .

German Village has been holding the Haus und Garten Tour for 51 years now. When it started, tickets were only $1, and some of the residents thought there was no way people would pay that much to go inside some old houses. Of course, they were wrong – today the tour attracts thousands of visitors, and German Village has become renowned worldwide as a leader in historic preservation.

Save $5 with a pre-sale ticket (click here to buy) and get an eyeful in some of the most beautiful homes you’ll see anywhere.