5-Star’s classical musical is ‘Thumpthing Thpecial’

PLAY REVIEW /// ‘The Music Man’



LIDA ROSE—Members of the River City school board—from left, Michael Wells, Jonathan Matthews, Chris Hunter and James Thomas Miller—sing their hearts out in “The Music Man” at the Kavli Theatre. Courtesy of Ed Kriegert

LIDA ROSE—Members of the River City school board—from left, Michael Wells, Jonathan Matthews, Chris Hunter and James Thomas Miller—sing their hearts out in “The Music Man” at the Kavli Theatre. Courtesy of Ed Kriegert

Shows from Broadway’s so-called “Golden Age” are staged with distressingly less frequency these days, which makes 5-Star Theatricals’ current production of Meredith Willson’s (and Franklin Lacey’s) venerable musical comedy, “The Music Man,” all the more refreshing to revisit. The 1957 musical, which takes place in the fictional hamlet of River City, Iowa in 1912, is noted for its rich characterizations and quaint language.

On Oct. 18 at the Kavli Theatre, its opening-night audience welcomed the lyrical production like a favorite relative’s warm embrace.

Directed by Larry Raben, “The Music Man” starts off with a bang with the brilliantly staged “Rock Island” train patter number, which had the audience cheering at its conclusion. The show’s visuals gleam with a whitewashed nostalgia for early 20th century Middle America, in a town where racism and poverty are never seen. (The only sign of class distinction in River City is teen ruffian Tommy Djilas, who comes from “the wrong side of town” and whose father is said to be “a day laborer.”)

5-Star was fortunate to secure the services of Broadway veteran Adam Pascal (“Rent,” “Aida”), who inserts himself neatly into the role of traveling salesman named Professor Harold Hill. Countless song-and-dance men have played Hill over the years, most notably the immortal Robert Preston, but Pascal is superb in the role, adding nuances and movements of his own. He invigorates a character that is slick but not oily, as he mesmerizes the town into organizing a boys’ marching band.

The town’s skeptical librarian, Marian Paroo, is Hill’s main obstacle in achieving his goal. As Paroo, Katharine McDonough switches from repressed schoolmarm to idealistic romantic just by removing her eyeglasses. McDonough possesses a gloriously versatile soprano, belting out the ballad “My White Knight” with operatic force while making hearts melt with the lyrical “Will I Ever Tell You” and the show’s immortal hit, “Till There Was You.”

Pascal’s highlights are his two patter numbers: “Trouble” and the show’s schizophrenic anthem, “76 Trombones,” with a melody that doubles as Paroo’s wistful “Goodnight My Someone,” one of several of Willson’s brilliant uses of musical counterpoint.

Mayor George Shinn is the show’s key role and chief source of humor, and veteran showman Joe Hart fills the bill perfectly with a wizened, frazzled appearance—a combination of actors Christopher Lloyd and Art Carney. Hart brilliantly amplifies Shinn’s mangled syntax and malaprop-prone speech, at one point stretching the word “Pompeii” into five syllables. Christie Lynn Lawrence is equally effective as his haughty, similarly language-challenged wife Eulalie, whose bull moose-like voice punctuates the chattering of the gossipy “Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little” ladies.

Trent Mills, who plays Hill’s former associate Marcellus Washburn, is one of our finest young comedic actors, nearly upstaging Pascal on “The Sadder But Wiser Girl” and exhibiting facile dancing skills on “Shipoopi,” one of several wonderful ensemble dance numbers designed by choreographer Peggy Hickey.

Petite Antonia Vivino, playing Shinn’s perky, peaches-and-cream daughter Zaneeta, and Adam Winer, as Tommy Djilas, make a charming couple. In one astonishing moment during “Marian the Librarian,” the five-foot-tall Vivino effortlessly swings a leg over the six-foot-one-inch Winer’s head.

Making his theater debut is 8-year-old Joshua Blond, in an endearing turn as Marian’s lisping younger brother Winthrop, who delights with a pitch-perfect rendition of “Gary, Indiana.” Meanwhile, fireplug-like character actor Rich Grosso is solid as dyspeptic anvil salesman Charlie Cowell.

The bickering school board members that are molded into a barbershop quartet are played by James Thomas Miller, Jonathan Matthews, Chris Hunter and L. Michael Wells, who flawlessly croon their a cappella numbers with ease. With Brad Ellis (sporting a conductor’s hat) leading the outstanding 18-piece orchestra, “The Music Man” is a double boiler’s worth of percolating fun and a flag-waving triumph.

“ The Music Man” plays through Oct. 27 at the Kavli Theatre. For tickets, call (800) 745- 3000 or visit 5startheatricals.com.