Cottonwood Heights Arts Council’s production of “The Music Man”

“The Music Man” is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey.  The story takes place in River City, Iowa in July 1912.  The main character is con-man Harold Hill who poses as a boy’s band organizer that sells band instruments and uniforms to unsuspecting townsfolk before skipping town with the cash.  The leading lady Marian Paroo sees through Hill’s deception, but when Hill helps her younger brother overcome his fear of social interactions due to his lisp, Marian begins to fall in love with Hill.  Hill, in turn falling for Marian, risks being caught to win her.

I had the pleasure of attending the Cottonwood Heights Arts Council’s production of “The Music Man” on Monday night.  Upon entering the auditorium I was delighted to see a live orchestra, as an orchestra director myself I realize the amount of work that goes into putting a group like this together.  I was a little disappointed to see them on the auditorium floor as this auditorium does not have an orchestra pit.  As a result Orchestra Director Barbara Colton had to face a few unique challenges of having to spread her group into a long strand of musicians over 30 feet wide.  I was impressed at how cohesive they were despite the distance some of them were away from their director.  They executed the music quite well, the only critical comment I have is that I wish they could have spent more time with the cast working out how to get into each musical number.  Some of the musical numbers had awkward starts where the cast members were not sure when to start or at what tempo. As a result, it took a few measures to shake that out and then once the song got on track everything else went off without a hitch.

I was very impressed that the introduction speech, the one that starts “Welcome…, turn off your cell phones…, many thanks too…etc.” was given by Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore, Jr. and then I was further impressed to see that he was in the show as the Train Conductor.  Yes it is a small part, but even so it is clear that this production and this Arts Council has a great deal of City support.  Something that sadly, is rare but ought not be, more cities could learn from the example Cottonwood Heights is setting.

I would like to make special mention of a few of the stand-out cast members in this production that I was quite impressed with.  Marian Paroo played by Lauren Katherine Tuft is the best pairing I have seen in a community theatre production.  Tuft clearly understands this character and has a superior vocal talent to match.  One of my favorite musical numbers of the night was the “Lida Rose – Reprise / “Will I Ever Tell You” as it featured Marian and the School Board Barbershop Quartet (Dave Affleck, Jon Fullmer, Brent Kartchner, Erik Madsen.) The Quartet members were the other stand-out vocal performers of the evening.  A good Barbershop Quartet is hard to find so this is a casting challenge in every production of this show, but these 4 gentlemen nailed every number that they were in and were very enjoyable to listen to.

Vocally everyone sounded good and the ensemble was cohesive.  Music Director Teresa Draper and Assistant Music Director Christi Jones should be proud of the hard work they have obviously done.  I was also very impressed by the costumes and choreography also done by Teresa Draper and Assistant Choreographer Heather Francis.  It was refreshing to see that they did not cut any of the longer dance breaks in this production as this often times happens in community shows for a number of reasons.  While the library scene dance break needs a little work “Shipoopi” was done quite well.  There were a few costumes that were a little large such as Hill’s white suit and Marian’s red dress but overall the costumes looked great and correct for the time period.

“The Music Man” has been adapted into two movies which have introduced us to 2 very different Harold Hills the 1962 Slick-Willie, dirty con-man type played by Robert Preston and the more reserved, close-to-the-vest, flatter 2003 version played by Matthew Broderick.  In this production Harold Hill is played by Bradley C. Johnson and he is definitely more of the Matthew Broderick version on Hill.  Vocally, Johnson did a fine job.  On the acting side, I would of liked to see a difference in the Hill of Act I, where he is only a con-man trying to con everyone including Marian by pretending to be romantically interested in her vs. the Hill of Act II where he is still trying to run the con on the town but has obviously developed real feelings for Marian.  I would of also liked to see a more reserved use of hand gestures, Johnson was leading off every-other line with a pointed finger, by the end of Act I this was starting to become a distraction for me.

There were a few other distractions such as opening and closing curtains in the middle of scenes.  The one that really stands out in my mind was a scene in the Gymnasium when all of a sudden a black traveller closes and we are instantly (and in the middle of a sentence) transported from the Gym to …well the front half of the stage with no set or scenery.  There were a great many scenes played in front of the curtain with no scenery.  I understand set changes behind the scenes, but when the curtain opened many times the set had to be moved forward or was not in place; this after over 5 minutes of action had happened with the curtain closed.  This was unfortunate as Set Designer Brad Lake obviously put a good deal of time into building a set that was functional and looked good, I would have liked to see it get more stage time.  Also when a curtain is closed and actors are passing behind it backstage they should remember the cardinal rule of not touching the curtain, this happened over a dozen times in Act II alone, the most memorable being behind Marian singing a solo in the spotlight.  The spotlights while they can greatly focus an audience’s attention on the subject, it is important to keep the spotlight on the subject.  In Act I this was done very well however in Act II the spotlight wandered off the subject several times, almost as if the operators got tired.  I was very impressed with the sound and lighting tech overall, very few glitches and as close to professional level as I have seen in a community production in quite some time. Lighting Designer David Aird, Assistant Lighting Designer and Board Operator Ryan Ashby, Sound Designer Ryan Pederson and Assistant Sound Designer Patrick Pope did an exceptional job.

I enjoyed the performances of Marcellus Washburn played by Darrin Weir his dancing and singing in “Shipoopi” was done quite well.  Amaryliss played by Ryen Hilton and Winthrop Paroo played by Josiah Johnson had roles that can sometimes be very difficult for young children; both did well in their roles and were very cute.  I also enjoyed the comedic performances of Mayor George Shinn played by Mark Fellows, Mrs. Paroo played by Elaine Randolph, Zaneeta Shinn played by Sara Warr, Charlie Cowell played by Bradley Skinner and Ethel Toffelmier played by Maradon Nettleship and all of the “Pickalittle Ladies” played by Rebecca Kitchen, Hailey Margetts, CeCe Nilsson, Tamara Sleight and Kerynne Vance but I especially enjoyed Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn played by Celeste Porter.  I always enjoy seeing this character played a little over the top and Porter did a very nice job with the rile of Mrs. Shinn.

Overall I found this production to be very enjoyable and was disappointed to see the auditorium at Brighton High School over half empty.  This group also announced that they have extended their run to run through this weekend so hopefully they will see a large turn-out for their final 4 performances.  It was well executed this cast, crew, Director Becky Henricksen and Assistant Director Rebecca Kitchen are deserving of a large audience.

The Cottonwood Heights Arts Council’s “The Music Man” performs August 1-3 at 7 PM & August 3 at 2 PM in The Brighton High School Auditorium, 2200 East Bengal Boulevard, Cottonwood Heights, 84121. $8 General Admission, $30 Group General Admission (Group of 5). Running Time: Aprrox, 2.5 hours, 15 minute intermission.