"Play that melody, your sweet melody, calling my heart to you..." Dan and Melissa met while doing the show, "Ragtime" at Bergen County Players. Melissa hadn't done a musical for over 15 years! When she heard that BCP was doing her favorite show of all time, she had to audition for her dream role, Evelyn Nesbit, or the girl on the swing. Thankfully, the director, Larry Landsman, cast her in the role, and it was there that she and Dan became friends after an improv class with the cast. They would talk and joke during the show, and Dan would stand next to her every night during the song "New Music" and share his libretto book with her while they sang offstage. (She kinda knew Dan had a crush on her!) The show ended, and Dan and Melissa kept in touch, talking every once and a while through social media. On Thanksgiving of 2022, Melissa went over to celebrate with Larry, his wife Alyson, and her Ragtime castmate, Janica. At that table, all three of Melissa's friends made the case for Dan. Clearly, they wanted to get Dan and Melissa together, because they knew they were perfect for each other. Alyson literally stood up out of her seat at Thanksgiving dinner and exclaimed, "Melissa, he is a good man. You should go on a date with him." The rest of the night, the three of them told sweet stories about how wonderful Dan was, and all the amazing things he had done for them, for others, and for the multiple theaters he was involved in. Melissa didn't need much convincing to begin with, but now that she knew more about him, she wondered if he'd be interested in dating her....because they were just friends! Melissa posted on Facebook that the next show she was doing was looking for the character of the "Monster" in the musical, "Young Frankenstein". Dan said he "loved the Mel Brooks movie and always wanted to do the show". He auditioned for the role, which just so happened to be the romantic lead opposite Melissa. The rest is history. <3