The Music Man Reviews in St Petersburg Fl
Jim Swallow
Peter Kendall Clark is Professor Harold Hill in 'The Music Man.'
Meredith Willson'due south The Music Man has been produced by every community theater in America, probably twice. That amounts to approximately 76 million trombones leading a very big parade.
OK, so everybody and their brother has seen information technology, with a piano (or perhaps a small-scale amateur philharmonic) every bit accessory. Or they know the movie version with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones. Or they heard Paul McCartney singing "Till There Was You" on Encounter the Beatles!
Maybe they're familiar with the classic Simpsons parody, written by Conan O'Brien, with Phil Hartman providing the voice of the con man who sells a rickety monorail system to the gullible folks of Springfield.
St. Pete Opera is endmost out its season with The Music Human being. The visitor'south almanac nod to standard musical theater — onstage through July 8 — is and so accomplished, and and then much fun, that the bar has been raised. It'southward a risk attempting to breathe new life into something and so well-worn, only managing director/choreographer Deanna Dys, usher Mark Sforzini and a talented company of artisans and performers has pulled information technology off and then some.
Story-wise, The Music Man is pure corn — a lying snake-oil salesman separates rural rubes from their coin by promising to create an all-boys marching ring they can be proud of — merely the 61-year-quondam show's fable was well-earned.
The music is glorious. And with this St. Pete Opera production, non but are the songs being performed by professional opera singers (even the ensemble is peppered with them), in that location's a full orchestra giving iii-dimensional life to Willson'due south melodies.
Horns! Woodwinds! Strings! Percussion! This is how these songs were meant to be heard, with this kind of accompaniment. The music absolutely comes alive. You can put that quondam upright piano away now, Grandma.
Peter Kendall Clark is cast as Professor Harold Hill, the titular grifter, with Molly Mustonen as Marian Paroo, River City's lovelorn librarian. And yes, of grade, romance does ensue.
It takes identify in 1912, in the sort of idealized American boondocks Walt Disney based his "Master Street USA" design on. In fact, the events of the story include the townspeople proudly celebrating the Quaternary of July, and putting on an ice foam social, complete with a pretentious dance featuring the mayor's wife every bit "entertainment."
While the leads are fine — and Mustonen's rendition of "Goodnight, My Someone" is breathtaking — the MVP of this show is the ensemble. In detail, the big product numbers ("Lxx-Six Trombones," "Wells Fargo Railroad vehicle," "Shipoopi," "Pick-a-Footling, Talk-a-Little") are packed with moving parts, impeccably choreographed and danced with happy abandon. The performers look like they're having a great time, and their joy is infectious.
It's that kind of show.
Special mention must go to the incredible barbershop quartet — Matthew Krob, Adam Cannedy, George Slotin and Branch Fields, all of whom are opera and/or musical theater professionals who accept presumably never sung barbershop before.
And to Warren Sodt's Disney-esque prepare design. And to the colorful costumes created by Glenn A. Breed. And to the youngest cast member, x-year-sometime Jackson Orchard of St. Petersburg, who belts out "Gary, Indiana" like he's been onstage his entire life.
At just over two-and-a-half hours, the show is a tad long (that'due south the style they wrote 'em in the quondam days), and on opening night, some of the words were difficult to empathize, particularly during the rapid-fire "patter" songs (this is apparently a recurring issue with St. Pete Opera shows at the Palladium).
Small quibbles. Musical theater fans, consider yourself advised: Don't miss this St. Pete Opera production.
That's Production with a capital letter "P"
And that rhymes with "K"
And that stands for "Great."
Source: https://www.cltampa.com/arts/st-pete-opera-scores-with-the-music-man-at-st-petersburgs-palladium-12307508
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