Few Golden Age musicals stand the test of time the way Meredith Willson’s 1957 classic The Music Man has for the past 69 years, and if you don’t believe me check out the fabulously entertaining National Tour now paying a visit to the Ahmanson 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) gets things going with “Rock Island,” quite possibly the first rap song ever heard on Broadway, that’s just the start of what Willson has in store for audiences.

“Iowa Stubborn” introduces us both to the folks who call River City, Iowa home and to Willson’s mastery of the sweetly-barbed lyric, and before you know it, traveling salesman/con artist extraordinaire “Professor” Harold Hill (Elliott Andrews) has convinced the townspeople that River City’s first pool table ever means trouble with a capital T that can only be avoided if they buy pricey musical instruments and uniforms for a non-existent-and-never-will-be boys’ band.

Not only that, but he must also find a way to neutralize “spinster” librarian Marian Paroo (Elizabeth D’Aiuto) in addition to turning 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 Willson introduces us to Marian’s acerbic Irish mother Mrs. Paroo (Savannah Stevenson); the librarian’s 10-year-old brother Winthrop (Dylan Patterson), rendered virtually mute since his father’s death, a pesky lisp not helping in that regard; River City Mayor Shinn (Patrick Blashill), his thrice-named wife Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn (Emmanuelle Zeesman), and their teenage daughter Zaneeta “Ye Gads!” Shin (Madison Sheward), smitten with town bad boy Tommy Djilas (Charlie Antenen); and Harold’s local accomplice in crime, his old buddy Marcellus (Paul Urriola).

Will “Professor” Hill succeed in bilking the citizens of River City, Iowa of their hard-earned cash? Will he once again seduce the prettiest local lass and leave her behind? Will things be different this time round or will they all come crashing down when anvil salesman Charlie Cowell (an appropriately snide Mikael Mattson) comes to town seeking Harold’s downfall?

These questions and more have made The Music Man a guaranteed seat-filler for the past sixty-nine years as well as a showcase for Meredith Willson’s triple-threat gifts as book writer, lyricist, and composer.

Most recently revived on Broadway in 2022 as a star vehicle for Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, The Music Man’s current “bus-and-truck” touring version of that revival may not have name performers as its leads, but you couldn’t ask for a more charismatic, dashing, vocally gifted Harold Hill than the sensational Andrews or a more exquisite, Kristin Chenoweth-piped Marion than the incandescent D’Aiuto, the duo delivering a pair of star turns honed by original Broadway revival director Matt Lenz and associate director Roque Berlanda, whose innovative touches begin with a wordless prologue that cues us in from the get-to to the many hats Harold has worn as he bilks town after town after town.

Bashille and Zeesman make the Shinns entirely their own delightful creations minus the caricaturing of others who’ve played these roles before them, Stevenson is Irish maternal warmth personified as Mrs. Paroo, Patterson lisps to endearing effect as Winston opposite the adorable Addie Jaymes’s Amarillis, Urriorla gives Marcellus an oddball charm that’s infectious, and Antenen and Sheward are peppy teen perfection as Tommy and Zaneeta.

Choreographer Joshua Bergasse and associate choreographer Naomi Kakuk make The Music Man’s series of exciting, energetic, ever-morphing production numbers feel fresh and new, combining gymnastic and balletic moves in the teens-gone-wild “Marian The Librarian” and the bouncy party anthem “Shipoopi,” along with full-cast marching kicks in “Seventy Six Trombones.”

Craig First (Jacey Squires), Brian Doolittle González (Ewart Dunlop), Joshua Pierre Moore (Olin Britt), and Matthew Wautier-Rodriguez (Oliver Hix) harmonize to barbershop-quartet precision while their female counterparts Whitney Daniels (Alma Hix), Alexi Ishida (Ethel Toffelmier), Hannah Rose Kidwell (Mrs. Squires), and Rose Messenger (Maud Dunlop) “cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more” with bird-like head bobs and “wing” flaps that will make you feel you’re seeing and hearing “Pickalittle” for the very first time.

Add to all of the above Jacob Beaver, Kalista Curbelo, dance captain Erin Diehl, Cameron Janson, Kevin Kuska, Aidan Rawlinson, Shae Reynolds (Grace Shinn), Brayden Schilling, Aaron Torres, and Brayton Wilds and you’ve got one of the most electrifying triple-threat ensembles to crisscross the country.

Last but not least, Santo Loquesto’s original Broadway costume designs and a team of equally gifted designers will have you marveling at how a tour that’s been doing dozens of one-and-two-day stops across the country can still manage to look so all-around smashing.

Thomas Fosnocht is music director. Garen Garcia, Sophie Goron, Alyssa Jacqueline, and Marielle Utayde are swings and Kylie Noelle Patterson is child onstage swing.

Like its fellow 1950s classics Damn Yankees, The Pajama Game, and Guy And Dolls, there’s a reason The Music Man keeps getting revived decade after decade after decade. It’s a bona fide gem, and its pretty darned fabulous latest incarnation makes it abundantly clear exactly why that is.

Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N Grand Ave, Los Angeles. Through November 8. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 7:30. Fridays at 8:00. Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00. Sundays at 1:00 and 7:00.
www.CenterTheatreGroup.org

–Steven Stanley
October 28, 2026
Photos: Marshall Meadows

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

Tags: Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles Theater Review, Meredith Willson