By Vivien Latham Special to the Ojai Valley News
The Timing of “The Music Man” — on stage at the Ojai Art Center Theater — could not be better with July 4 just around the corner.
Performance times for “The Music Man” are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., going until Sunday, July 24. General admission is $30, and $25 for students, seniors, and Art Center members. For ticket information and group sales, call 805-640-8797.
Meredith Willson’s Tony Award-winning musical about a con man named Harold Hill and the denizens of River City, Iowa, has been a popular choice with high schools, colleges, and regional theaters, with numerous revivals on Broadway and in London, Australia, and the Beijing Opera House.
Some might raise their brows and mutter, “That old chestnut again?” but the truth is, “The Music Man” is as American as apple pie and the Star-Spangled Banner. Willson’s inhabitants of a small town — the gossipy members of the ladies’ clubs, a barbershop quartet, the pompous mayor and his snooty wife, kids hanging out at the soda fountain, the local librarian who teaches piano, the traveling salesmen who crisscrosses early 20th-century America by train, and the cocky-but-charming salesman who cons people out of their money, combined with Willson’s groundbreaking “patter” songs — all serve to make “The Music Man” emblematic of the American musical.
Larry Toffler’s Harold Hill is a handsome chap with the easy patter and likable charm of a city slicker trying to cheat small-town hicks out of their money, and finding out to his astonishment that he actually likes them.
Toffler is wonderful in the comedic moments, and leads the rousing numbers “Ya Got Trouble” and “Seventy-Six Trombones” with polish and ease. He also shines in the quieter moments; when he finally admits to Winthrop that he can’t lead a band, we get a glimpse of regret. His duet with Darrienne Lissette Caldwell as Marian Paroo (“Till There Was You”) is touching and romantic. Caldwell as Marian is outstanding. An operatically trained mezzo soprano, she delivers her songs with power and vibrancy.
Tracey Williams Sutton is to be congratulated for assembling a cast with some astonishing voices. Vocal Director Emily Redman Hall (who plays Ethel Toffelmier) does an excellent job in making the voices blend so well. She and Marisa Miculian (hilarious in the role of the mayor’s wife Eulalie Shinn) contribute to the ensemble singing with their own superb voices.
Two outstanding groups within the cast are the busybody women, and the men of the school board who become a barbershop quartet. The duet “Pick-a-Little Talk-a-Little” and “Goodnight, Ladies” is one of the best numbers in the show. The Barbershop Quartet/school board also harmonizes perfectly with Marian’s “Will I Ever Tell You?”
Bill Spellman plays the pontificating, cantankerous Mayor Shinn with real gusto, and his malaprops and mangled speech (“You watch your phraseology!”) are marvelous bits of comedy. Laura Ring as the Widow Paroo adds comic zeal to her scenes. Singing with a lisp can’t be easy, but Kai Maal-King as her son Winthrop renders the songs “Gary, Indiana” and “The Wells Fargo Wagon” with verve and assurance.
Lily Giuliani is wonderful as Zaneeta, the daffy daughter of Mayor Shinn. Benny Schurmer as Tommy Djilas, Len Klaif as anvil salesman Charlie Cowell, and Andrew Eiden as Hill’s former partner Marcellus Washburn all deliver stellar performances in supporting roles.
With a cast of 28, excellent use is made of the theater, including the front of the stage and the aisles, to accommodate the action, and set pieces that can be easily moved on and off stage. The costumes by Jill Dolan and Tracey Williams Sutton are charming, colorful, and appropriate to the period.
(Where does one find knickerbockers these days?)
Celebrate the Fourth of July with the cast of “The Music Man.” This joyous, exuberant musical will have you walking out of the theater singing and humming.