I’ll readily admit that among the many dozens of Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals that I noticed throughout my years of dwelling in New York, “The Music Man” was by no means certainly one of my favorites. However, I solely ever noticed the hit 1962 film starring Robert Preston because the conniving Prof. Harold Hill and Shirley Jones as the beautiful librarian/music instructor Marian Paroo — though I used to be within the present’s (barbershop) “Quartet” in my highschool’s efficiency of the basic Tony Award-winning hit.
I believed the story of Hill, the touring salesman/con man, and his duping of a city filled with bizarre and sometimes silly characters, created by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey, was simply too dated and never as a lot enjoyable as some others.
However truthfully, to me, the New Tampa Gamers’ (NTP) manufacturing of “The Music Man” on the New Tampa Performing Arts Middle was higher than the film. And apparently, I wasn’t alone. The entire individuals sitting round Jannah and me raved concerning the gifted solid and their lovely singing voices, the units, the costumes and the 15-piece orchestra — the most important ever for an NTP manufacturing — underneath the musical route of the good G. Frank Meekins. I hope director Angel Borths, choreographer Tatiana Eriksen, costume designers Shelley Giles, Heather Cleveland, Travy Stemm and Dave Giles and manufacturing supervisor (and NTP producing creative director) Nora Paine and the complete solid and crew are proud. This additionally was the primary NTP present I’ve seen with signal language interpreters (picture under)!
The wonderful Melanie Bierweiler was accurately sassy as Marian (and did a improbable job singing “Goodnight My Somebody” and “Until There Was You”) and David Groomes didn’t disappoint within the demanding function of Prof. Hill on “Ya Received Bother,” “76 Trombones” and with Melanie on “Until There Was You.” The “Quartet” of Chase Reeder, Michael Bonassar, Jacey Squires and James Cass hit each observe of each track, together with on “Lida Rose.”
Neil Bleiweiss supplied nice comedian aid as Mayor Shinn and Becky Groomes accurately “overacted” as his zany spouse Eulalie. Proficient kids Nora Duffy as Amaryllis (who sang like a songbird in duet with Melanie on “Goodnight My Somebody”) and Luke Adams as Marian’s lisping brother Winthrop (who sang to the again of the theater on “Gary, Indiana”) confirmed that NTP has a vivid future forward. And, Debbie Scourtes introduced a whole lot of verve to the function of Marian’s widowed mom Mrs. Paroo, who’s making an attempt to maintain her daughter from changing into an outdated spinster.
You possibly can simply hear the viewers hissing on the present’s one villain, Charlie Cowell (performed to perfection by Stephon Mikell), and Jaden Figueroa and Chloe Tort have been nice because the younger “troublemaker” Tommy Djilas and Zaneeta Shinn (“Ye Gawd!”), respectively.
The most important solid I’ve ever seen in an NTP manufacturing additionally included the super-fun and humorous Decide-A-Little Girls (Lena Wigfall, Suzann Humara, Christy Adams and Chelsea Keith), plus almost 20 “ensemble” gamers younger and outdated (together with the tremendous cute extra-young’ns Mars Wolfe Bonassar and Elliott LeFloch).
However, I wouldn’t be telling the reality if I didn’t say that Gabriel Martin White as Hill’s buddy and fellow con man Marcellus Washburn was this present’s scene stealer. He obtained laughs — calling Hill by his actual first title (“Greg”) all through — and he delivered to thoughts the younger Dick Van Dyke in “Mary Poppins” together with his expressive face and high-flying, elastic-legged dancing. My pics did him no justice!
Nice job, one & all!
Up subsequent for NTP are one other basic musical — “Oklahoma” — in October, and “The Sponge Bob Musical” (sure, actually) in January. Auditions for each reveals have already been held (though volunteers to assist with each productions are nonetheless wanted), so search for bulletins about when tickets go on sale in these pages and at NewTampaPlayers.org. — GN
