Harold Hill is back in town and aiming to bilk the citizens of River City, Iowa in Meredith Willson’s bona fide Broadway classic The Music Man, now being given an all-around splendid 67th-anniversary revival at La Crescenta’s Highlands Theater.
Refreshingly sophisticated, surprisingly deep, and at times more than a tad acidic, Meredith Willson’s self-described “valentine” to his home state of Iowa (story by Willson and Franklin Lacey) turns out to be far from the saccharine musical some have accused it of being, its innovative brilliance beginning with its very first musical number.
“Rock Island” may well have made history as the first rap song ever heard on Broadway, entirely spoken to the rhythm of a train, after which “Iowa Stubborn” introduces us to the folks who call River City, Iowa home and to Willson’s mastery of the sweetly-barbed lyric. (“Join us at the picnic. You can eat your fill of all the food you bring yourself.”)
The arrival of traveling salesman/con artist extraordinaire “Professor” Harold Hill (Christopher Showerman) seems likely to spell trouble for these friendly/inhospitable folks given his plan to sell them pricey musical instruments and uniforms for an a non-existent-and-never-will-be boys’ band.
To do so, however, he must first convince the townspeople that River City’s first pool table ever means “Ya Got Trouble,” after which he must find a way to neutralize the enemy, aka librarian Marian Paroo (Kate Ponzio), an “old maid” at twenty-six with a “reputation” for having “made brazen overtures with a gilt-edged guarantee” to town miser Madison, who “left River City the library building but he left all the books to her,” and then turn a quartet of bickering school board members (and potential alarm-sounders) into inseparable chums simply by showing them how to blend their voices in barbershop harmony.
Along the way we also meet Marian’s acerbic Irish mother Mrs. Paroo (Dynell Leigh) and the librarian’s 10-year-old brother Winthrop (Owen Laing), rendered virtually mute since his father’s death, a pesky lisp not helping in that regard; bombastic River City Mayor Shinn (John Moscitta Jr.), his thrice-named wife Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn (Belinda Howell), and their teenage daughter Zaneeta “Ye Gads!” Shin (Rebecca Allfrey), smitten with town juvenile delinquent Tommy Djilas (Jonathan Blake Flemings); and Harold’s local accomplice in crime, his old buddy Marcellus (Jordan Byers).
Will “Professor” Hill once again succeed in robbing an All-American small town of its hard-earned cash? Will he once again seduce the prettiest local lass and leave her behind? Or will things be different this time round?
These questions and more, much more, have kept The Music Man a guaranteed theater-filler for nearly seven decades now and a showcase for Meredith Willson’s triple-threat gifts as book writer (what rich characters he drew!), lyricist (what clever, funny, unexpected words he wrote!), and music (what irresistibly catchy tunes he created!).
Having played 10-year-old Winthrop himself just a dozen years ago (opposite Shirley Jones and Patrick Cassidy no less), a now grown-up Carter Thomas is perfectly qualified to direct The Music Man, and a bang-up job he does of it, eliciting one fabulous performance after another as choreographer Sylvie Gosse gets the entire cast kicking up their heels to such guaranteed showstoppers as “Seventy-Six Trombones,” “Marian The Librarian,” and “Shipoopi.”
Charismatic triple-threat Showerman not only proves himself a showman extraordinaire as Harold Hill, he makes you believe he’s still capable of change; Ponzio gives Marian not only a crystal-clear legit soprano, but real substance and depth; and SoCal musical theater treasure Leigh is a salty Irish delight as Mrs. Paroo.
Moschitta (of World’s Fastest Speaker fame) blusters to perfection as Mayor Shinn opposite Howell’s hilariously foghorn-voiced Eulalie, while Allfrey as their budding teen daughter and Flemings as sexy town bad boy Tommy show off high kicks galore to Gosse’s infectious choreography.
Byers could do more to make Marcellus the ebullient scene stealer he’s supposed to be, but he leads the entire cast in a foot-stomping “Shipoopi,” Laing wins hearts as a child transformed by Harold’s arrival, and Phil D’Amore is a foe to be reckoned with when Charlie Cowell arrives in town with frontier justice on his mind.
John Dellaporta, Ceron Jones, David Leppert, and Taylor Wesselman deliver razor-sharp barbershop harmonies while their female counterparts Grace Buzzini, Jodi Marks, Maggie Randolph, and Jenny Strattan’s pick a little and talk a little to rib-tickling effect.
Camille Gibney, Kyle Kelley, Everly Laing, Sofia Melikyan, Trenton Muraoka, and Steve Seeger provide all-around terrific support as do teen dancers Bethany Coyle, Jade Rennaé Dailey, Kit Dezolt, Jessica Fernstrom, Danny Holmberg, and Jacob Rushing and kids ensemble members Arthur Nalbandyan, Ganesh Pitcher, Lakshemi Pitcher, Scout Reese, Lucy Wightman, Olivia Wightman, Alexander Wilkinson, Chase Wilkinson, and Scarlett Wilkinson.
Kara Gibson-Slocum scores top marks as music director (orchestral tracks are prerecorded) as does Angela Manke for her colorful array of period costumes, Paul Reid for his vibrant lighting design, and Brianne Johnson for her scenic painting, though acoustics at Highlands Church don’t particularly lend themselves to live theater amplification, particularly of spoken dialog.
The Music Man is produced by Highlands Church. Allfrey is assistant director. Kelly Flynn is production coordinator. Philip Thomas is technical director. Tracey Thomas is stage manager and Camille Gibney is assistant stage manager.
I was about Winthrop Paroo’s age when I saw Forrest Tucker star as Harold Hill at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and have loved The Music Man ever since. Decades later, Highland Theater’s sparkling, crowd-pleasing community theater revival makes me love it even more.
Highlands Church, 4441 La Crescenta Ave., La Crescenta.
www.highlandsla.com
–Steven Stanley
August 16, 2024
Photos: Ryan Frost
Tags: HIghlands Theater, Los Angeles Theater Review, Meredith Willson