From left, Sean Shoop as Eugene and David Grande as Ben during rehearsal of “Broadway Bound,” a production of the Mid-Ohio Valley Players that opens 8 p.m. Friday. (Photo Provided)

MARIETTA — After months of renovations, the Mid-Ohio Valley Players Theatre is back with Neil Simon’s “Broadway Bound” opening at 8 p.m. Friday.

“Broadway Bound” runs 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday, March 31 and April 1 and 3 p.m. Sunday and April 2. Tickets are $13 each and are available at midohiovalleyplayers.com or at the box office 90 minutes prior to show time.

“Broadway Bound” is about Eugene and his brother Stanley trying to make it in show business as comedy writers while in the meantime their family is falling apart. When they finally get their break, their family realizes the dysfunctional family from their radio act may just be about them.

Sean Shoop, who plays Eugene, wants to tell the story with respect.

“This is a play about Neil Simon’s family and life. These are real people, not just characters. I’m excited to play Eugene and feel a great responsibility to Neil Simon, since he wrote Eugene as himself,” Shoop said. “My main goal is to make people laugh while his humanity and truth shine through the comedy.”

David Grande as Ben in a scene from “Broadway Bound.” Renovations have been completed at the Mid-Ohio Valley Players Theatre where Neil Simon’s “Broadway Bound” opens 8 p.m. Friday. (Photo Provided)

Dyrk Conrad, who portrays the older brother Stanley, was able to easily slip into the role alongside Shoop and the rest of the cast.

“I have had the opportunity to share the stage with Sean as friendly strangers, childhood friends and lifelong friends, and those have led to us having very natural brotherly interactions as we took on these roles,” Conrad said. “This, along with the rest of the hilarious cast, and the crew that I have also had the pleasure to share the stage with previously, has led to this production flowing and meshing very well and very easily.”

With the recent renovations, the schedule had to work around the repairs, Conrad said.

“We have a new, extended stage and the walls and ceiling are repaired, re-plastered, and repainted,” he said. “Now, with the renovations completed and the cast settling into the production’s costumes, props, and set overall, the buzz of anticipation at our rehearsals is nearly audible just from our cast alone.”

Director Amber Smrek believes she found a compelling story to tell with “Broadway Bound.”

Dyrk Conrad as Stanley rehearses in “Broadway Bound,” which opens 8 p.m. Friday at the Mid-Ohio Valley Players Theatre. (Photo Provided)

“My favorite aspect of directing has always been the storytelling. As the story unfolds, we get to see all the moments that can only come from a person’s family. The hilarious moments, the tragic ones, the annoying ones, the upsetting ones, the angry ones. They’re all there,” Smrek said.

“I find, and I hope the viewers find as well, that this story is a beautiful reminder that at the end of the day, your family is all that matters.”

This show is sponsored by Gary and Nancy Dailey and presented with permission of Concord Theatricals, New York.

Cast List:

* Sean Shoop, Eugene

Jack, portrayed by Ike Eastwood, in Neil Simon’s “Broadway Bound” that opens 8 p.m. Friday at the Mid-Ohio Valley Players in Marietta. (Photo Provided)

* Dyrk Conrad, Stanley

* Leslie McGoron, Kate

* Ike Eastwood, Jack

* David Grande, Ben

* Sabrina Dye, Blanche

From left, Sabrina Dye as Blanche and Leslie McGoron as Kate practice a scene in “Broadway Bound,” the latest production of the Mid-Ohio Valley Players that opens 8 p.m. Friday. (Photo Provided)

With the voices of: Chase Mayer, announcer; Jedd Butler, Chubby Waters; Beth Lane, Mrs. Pitkin.

Smrek is assisted by George Gaston and Nicholas Rake.

Leslie McGoron as Kate in a scene in “Broadway Bound,” a production of the Mid-Ohio Valley Players that opens 8 p.m. Friday. (Photo Provided)

From left, Sean Shoop as Eugene and Dyrk Conrad as Stanley in “Broadway Bound” opening 8 p.m. Friday at the Mid-Ohio Valley Players Theatre on Putnam Street in Marietta. (Photo Provided)

From left, Sean Shoop as Eugene and Dyrk Conrad as Stanley in “Broadway Bound” opening 8 p.m. Friday at the Mid-Ohio Valley Players Theatre on Putnam Street in Marietta. (Photo Provided)

Eugene, played by Sean Shoop, tunes the radio in a scene from Neil Simon’s “Broadway Bound.” The show by the Mid-Ohio Valley Players opens 8 p.m. Friday at Players Theatre in Marietta. (Photo Provided)

From left, Sean Shoop as Eugene and Leslie McGoron as Kate rehearse a scene in Neil Simon’s “Broadway Bound.” The show opens 8 p.m. Friday at the Mid-Ohio Valley Players Theatre on Putnam Street in Marietta. (Photo Provided)