Jennifer Meyer Roth ’95 and Michael Roth ’92 met during a production of Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing. (photo by Grace Oddo)
It was the day of auditions for Moravian University’s 1993 production of Much Ado About Nothing, and Michael Roth ’92 was captivated not only by the talent, but by the beauty of Jennifer Meyer ’95, who was sitting nearby.
She was a sophomore, pursuing degrees in English and Elementary Education.
“She had this little bob haircut and a little dark skirt,” said Roth, who had returned to Moravian to pursue a graduate degree. “I was smitten. I got the vibe immediately that this was a genuine, positive person.”
Be it fate or Cupid’s arrow, director Dr. Jack Ramsey (a prolific icon in the Moravian theatre community who died in 2019) cast the pair as Benedick and Beatrice, the witty ex-lovers who eventually reconcile and marry at the end of the play.
“As we started rehearsing, that interest in Jennifer kept growing,” Michael Roth said.
“Eventually, I got up the gumption to ask her, ‘Hey, we play these ex-lovers who wind up getting into a relationship. Would you like to go out sometime?'”
Jennifer Roth laughed and smiled as he told the story.
The two, now educators in the Lehigh Valley, supported each other through the ups and downs of student teaching, job hunting and settling into new careers.
He proposed to her on the back deck of his home (she had been cleaning all day and was in sweatpants.) They said “I do” in 1997 and now live in Allentown with their two sons.
Excerpted from the article “Living in the Lehigh Valley: These couples’ love stories begin right here” by Grace Oddo, which appeared in LehighValleyNews.com on February 14, 2024