Credentials: I have seen or taken part in live performances of The Music Man four times: I saw the road show at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto in the early sixties, I played Harold Hill in a pretty good community theatre production in 1967, I saw a bootlegged community version in the seventies in Quebec, I saw the Stratford “dance” version at the Stratford Festival in the nineties; as well, I have seen Van Johnson’s nightclub show that featured his Harold Hill numbers, and I have seen the movie several times—I know the show.
First let me say that this is community theatre produced at a pretty good level. It has several things that are really good, in certain ways at a professional standard: the singing, the company dancing, some costumery and certain performances. I have some quibbles with some of the decisions made at a production level, and some advice.
Marie-Claude L’Écuyer sang the best Marian Paroo I have ever heard, and that includes Shirley Jones in the movie. Her voice is rich in the lower registers and solid in the high registers. She sings apparently effortlessly, with colour and conviction. She may have been a bit strident occasionally, overwhelming her duet partner, or once the quartet, but that is a real quibble.
Jordan Marchand can dance and sing amazingly and with energy. His voice is right on pitch most of the time. He seemed a bit lost in the end, when it was really important for us to see Harold Hill changing his mind and falling in love. That takes acting that may be a bit beyond his current development.
One of the issues I have with production choices is the decision to place the orchestra in front of the stage and mike most of the performers in this small hall. This left us with Marie-Claude’s microphone cutting out during crucial moments, at least one other microphone giving us a roar of clothing as the character ran offstage several times, and since not everyone was miked, we lost several clever solos under the orchestra and chorus. My advice? Perform without microphones and place the orchestra behind a scrim at the back. I have seen that work in much larger halls.
In community theatre, the technical aspects of a musical are mind-boggling, particularly because they are handled by part-time volunteers; as a result I am loathe to criticize the tech, but how else do you learn? In several ways, the electrics (lighting) were quite well set and cued: we had very few cuing booboos and the illumination was not noticeably patchy. Also, I have the impression that lighting instruments on that stage are a bit scarce. But there is one theoretical aspect of illumination that was really lacking in this production, and it is worth looking into ways to address it. That is the element of outlining the performers with light; this is particularly important to enhance movement and emotional scenes. As far as I could discern, all illumination was from overhead and in front; as a result there was no figure outlining. I have lectured professionals on this in previous reviews, and I have seen many community theatres in which back-lighting or even tip-lighting is impossible because of the theatre design. Lighting designers can help actors make more impact simply by illuminating them with very strong rear or side lighting. Do some experimenting, and you’ll see what I mean.
I was impressed by the ensemble work of this company. I believe the choreographer has a great deal to do with this. I note a lot of touches from the film in numbers like the library number, but it worked there, so why not? And using a film dance sequence for inspiration is not as easy as it may seem. The chorus delivered the emotional impact Wilson wrote into this show. Little touches, like the engaging miniature Ashley Rutowsky, were used very effectively. Ashley, who is seven, is such a trouper that when Harold Hill’s hat fell off her, she danced and sang on until she could conveniently pick it up again.
For future shows, I would hope that the company would replace the traveller hangers with larger nylon (ie silent) rollers. There were times when the scene being played in front was impossible to hear over the hiss-roar of those pulleys. The set colours worked well with each other, but they did not give the costumes much to work with. The costumes were often spectacular: consider the pickalittle ladies, whose hats really worked with the choreography. I was a bit surprised by some of the costume colours—for example, the gray of the ladies’ rehearsal costumes—which could have been more pastel or striped or polkadot. Gray is so unemotional. As well, there were a lot of blacks. Black may have been a common colour at the time, but generally, it disappears on stage. The mens’ suit jackets usually had a trim around the lapels, but the basic colour was still generally unemotional. Those crowd scenes in a musical can really generate audience reaction given the right colours.
One of the key elements in the show is the Winthrop plot. It is Winthrop’s lisp (as played in the film by Ronnie Howard) that brings pathos into the story. We have to realize how much Marion and her mother care about the little guy’s drama. We have to see Harold Hill becoming engaged in that. We have to see what a climax Winthrop’s bust-out singing is in the Act 1 Finale (Wells Fargo Wagon”). For various reasons, Winthrop’s drama was almost invisible, and the Act 1 Finale lost its emotional impact.
I spoke to Marie-Claude L’Écuyer briefly after the show, and was surprised to realize close up that she is not, as she looked onstage, significantly older than the woman playing her mother. I think the impression was created by a combination of the lighting and the makeup. I would suggest using some floor lighting, a softer makeup, and some aging of Mrs. Paroo. Julie Nesbitt, who plays Mrs. Paroo quite well vocally, moves and is dressed like a younger person. The contrast really has to be there, or Marian’s plausibility as a love interest for Harold Hill is seriously undermined.
The quartet was solid and sang wonderfully, but was underutilized; for example, in the scene in which they sang “onstage” for the ladies’ dance rehearsal, the quartet was behind what should have been a serious attempt at dance by some relatively inept ladies. The intent of the scene is that the quartet gets another chance to sing, and in the background, we see the unintentionally comic struggles of the ladies. The ladies were cute, but the scene could be more effective. Slapstick is funnier if you take it seriously, and that is true for a few other scenes as well.
Some other performances: Brian Law was a standout as Marcellus Washbrun. I can see why they wrote him into the “Sadder But Wiser Girl” number. John Wilson, as Mayor Shinn, has a remarkable voice and carriage, although his timing should be speeded up, especially when he is supposed to be confused. At the meeting when he keeps breaking into “Four score . . .”, we needed better pace from everyone to keep it moving. Kim Beaver, Gail Marchand, Nikki Haggart, Sam Bretton, Alicia Rice, all impressed.
Hudson Music Club presents The Music Man by Meredith Wilson
Direction and Staging: Randy Davis
Musical Direction: Sheila Engel Katz
Choreography: Amy Cooper
Producer: André Marchand
Set design: Jean-Claude Olivier
Lighting Design: Alan MacMillan
Costume Design: Gail Marchand
Stage Manager: Greg RyderProduction viewed: March 7, 2009, 2 pm
Running time: about three hours (including intermission)
