Seeing The Music Man at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre was a trip down memory lane in more ways than one. As a child I’m guessing between the ages of 8 and 10 it seemed like the film version of The Music Man starring Shirley Jones and Robert Preston was on cable 24/7. Whenever I came across it I tuned in, I had that film memorized. I haven’t seen it in years. The other thing I hadn’t done in years, 31 to be exact, was visit the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. I was last there in 1989 with either my High School Choir or the High School Show Choir, we saw Kiss Me Kate. I don’t know why I haven’t gone. Maybe it feels like Chanhassen is a long way to go, but I’ve lived in Hopkins for the last 8 years and it took approximately 17 minutes to get there. So if the thought that it is too far out is keeping you away, realize that the world shrunk and it’s closer than you think. And I must say, their production of The Music Man is worth the trip, even if you don’t live as close as Hopkins.
For those who don’t know, the music man of the title is Professor Harold Hill, Gary Conservatory of Music, Gold-Medal class of Aught-Five. Or at least that’s what he wants the citizens of River City Iowa to believe. In reality, he’s a flim-flam artist who works his way across the country town by town, selling the idea of a boys band. The idea is the key word there, because he sells them the instruments and the uniforms, and then skips town with the money without teaching the boys to play a note. In fact, he doesn’t know one note from another. What he can do is keep everyone off balance long enough that they don’t realize there is never going to be a band. His first step is to create a need for a boys band. When he learns that the town has just gotten its first pool table, uses that to rile up the citizens by pointing out the slippery slope to corruption that pool tables represent to the youth of River City. For as he points out in the song “Ya Got Trouble” Trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool. Well, it’s hard to argue with logic like that. His second step is to introduce at a town gathering the idea of keeping the young boys out of the pool hall by exposing them to a more morally enriching activity like , oh I don’t know, a boys band?
Step three, keep the Music Teacher off balance so that she doesn’t expose him as a fake before he collects and gets out of town. Of course the Music Teacher isn’t like the others he’s come across in his travels, this is “Marian The Librarian” and he will find himself as off balance as she is by the end.
Michael Gruber as Harold Hill has the silver tongue and charisma to do the character right. He plausibly, within the fantasy world of this classic musical, gets the 4 members of the school board, who can’t stand each other, to become an inseparable barber shop quartet. They are played by Aleks Knezevich, Evan Tyler Wilson, John-Michael Zuerleinm and Shad Olsen and they make beautiful harmonies together. Ann Michaels Plays Marion, she has a fabulous voice and an easy chemistry with Gruber and with Peggy O’connell, who plays Mrs. Paroo, her mother. The cast is quite good in every role. A couple of the cast, Michelle Barber as Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn and the aforementioned Peggy O’Connell as Mrs. Paroo seem to have stepped out of the film version of my youth. They look and sound exactly like I remember the performers in the film version did in those roles. That might seem like a slight, I don’t mean it to be, I really liked that. I’m glad every role wasn’t as spot on to my memory as those two were, but in a way that was really comforting to have those touchstones, besides it’s hard to imagine a better take on those two roles.
The Music Man is one of a few musicals where the book, music and lyrics were created by one person Meredith Willson. It is brimming with memorable songs “Iowa Stubborn”, “Goodnight My Someone”, “Wells Fargo Wagon”, “Till There Was You” and all time rouser “Seventy-Six Trombones” as well as many others. Michael Brindisi directs the show with a natural fluidity. Many shows, when they feel they need to have performers go out into the audience, do so in a way that feels forced. CDT’s production of The Music Man employed this technique throughout the show but in a way that never felt anything but organic and engaging. The Choreography by Tamara Kangas Erickson was top notch. The teen boys and girls of the of the town are balletic in their moves. Gruber and Tony Vierling playing Hill’s old partner Marcellus, whom he is surprised to find settled down and going straight in River City, share a tap dance that is impressive. As are their respective dancing during the song “Shipoopi”. I was very pleased with the entire production from the Scenic Design by Nayna Ramey and costumes by Rich Hamson. The Musicians under the direction of Andy Kust filled the auditorium perfectly without overpowering the vocals.
In short this is The Music Man, it’s not radical or revolutionary. It’s a classic of musical theatre and just plain fun. It may be old, but it is still a crowd pleaser and I had a great time with it. There is a reason it’s now tied with Fiddler On The Roof as the most frequently produced and most popular of the shows at Chanhassen. In fact as a testament to its continued ability to entertain and draw audiences, it will be staging a revival this October on Broadway starring none other than Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. What’s also nice about this show, it’s fun for the whole family. I was only 8 when I fell under its spell. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://chanhassendt.com/. it’s a little more expensive than your average local show but that’s because it includes a dinner, and the quality of the show absolutely justifies the price.
The Stages of MN 
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