"The Music Man"
**** Highly Recommended
The Music Man is back! You don’t want to miss Marriott’s fresh new production of this musical classic, it’s a gem! Kudos to Director/Choreographer Katie Spelman, the cast is terrific and the choreography is not to be missed. The turn-of-the-century story might seem a bit dated but the music is timeless. 4 Big Spotlights
I think the opening number, Rock Island, with its catchy tune. complicated lyrics and syncopated motion sets the tone for the show. Charlie Cowell (Ron E. Rains) and the Traveling Salesmen, Brandon Dahlquist, Matt Edmonds, Max Antonio Gonzalez, Kevin Kulp, Michael Mahler, Michael Potsic and Quinn Rigg bounce with the train while singing a musical rant about credit and the con man who gives a bad name to salesmen everywhere. When the Conductor (Michael Lunder) announces the next stop, River City, the subject of their rant, Harold Hill (KJ Hippensteel), decides this is the perfect place for his talents and exits the train.
In River City, Harold Hill runs into an old acquaintance and former con man/ traveling salesman, Marcellus Washburn (Michael Earvin Martin). Marcellus is out of the game. He’s married and he owns the livery stable. Harold shares his plan to sell musical instruments – and uniforms – to the citizens of River City, but he needs a hook. When he notices a pool table being delivered to the Billiards Parlor, he’s got his hook. This leads into one of the most rousing songs in the show – Ya got Trouble.
Unfortunately for Hill, he makes an enemy of Mayor Shinn, played with over-the-top hysteria by Alex Goodrich, who owns the Billiards Parlor. By the way, whenever Goodrich rants, raves and waves his arms about, his younger daughter, Gracie (Naya Rosalie James) stands next to him echoing every movement. It’s hilarious!
Meanwhile, town librarian, Marian Paroo (Alexandra Silber), is giving a music lesson to a darling little girl – and terrific actress – Amaryllis (Elin Joy Seiler). Marian is suspicious of Hill despite the enthusiasm of her mother, Mrs. Paroo (Janet Ulrich Brooks) and her little brother, Winthrop (Kai Edgar).
The Music Man is full of memorable music - rousing marches like Ya Got Trouble, Seventy-Six Trombones, and The Wells Fargo Wagon; catchy little tunes like Rock Island, Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little, Gary, Indiana, Marian the Librarian and ballads like Goodnight My Someone and Till There Was You.
KJ Hippensteel played Harold Hill as sweet, cocky, but kind of vulnerable too. My friend Al Bresloff thought his Harold Hill was very Dick Van Dyke-ish, and I have to agree. His interest in Marian seemed real, not hokey as I’ve observed in other productions. Finally, he avoided my pet peeve – he didn’t play Robert Preston playing Harold Hill, he played Harold Hill.
I’ve seen many productions of The Music Man, and I think this might very well be the best ever. Things I liked about this production:
· the clever staging
· the complicated choreography which was perfectly executed
· the barbershop quartet – Oliver Hix (Matt Edmonds), Ewart Dunlop (Michael Mahler}, Jacey Squires (Michael Potsic) and Olin Britt (Quinn Rigg)
· the ladies dancing as a Grecian urn – Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn (Melanie Loren), Maud Dunlop (Caron Buinis), Alma Hix (Lillian Castillo), Ethel Toffelmier (Kelly Felthous) and Mrs. Squires (Christine Mayland Perkins)
· the budding romance between Mayor Shinn’s elder daughter Zaneeta (Emily Ann Brooks) and the town bad boy and neer-do-well Tommy Djilas (Sam Linda)
· the gorgeous period costumes and bright band uniforms
· the band, which rode onstage in a kind of trolley (aka the Wells Fargo Wagon), included girls, making it a KIDS’ band (instead of a boys band)
