Cast List
Cast Bios
My review
Tony nominations
Internet Broadway Database entry
The 2000 revival of "The Music Man"
ran at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway
from April 27, 2000 through Dec. 30, 2001,
starring Craig Bierko as Harold Hill.
"The Music Man", directed and choreographed
by Susan Stroman, also featured the
celebrated leading-lady Rebecca Luker
as Marian "the Librarian" Paroo,
Max Casella, perhaps best known for his
funny portrayal of 'Vinnie' on the TV show
"Doogie Howser M.D.", in the role of Marcellus,
and Paul Benedict, who was Mr. Bentley
on "The Jeffersons", as Mayor Shinn.
CAST LIST
Craig Bierko (Harold Hill)
Rebecca Luker (Marian Paroo)
Paul Benedict (Mayor Shinn)
Max Casella (Marcellus Washburn)
Ruth Williamson (Eulalie McKechnie Shinn)
Kathy McGrath (Mrs. Paroo)
Ralph Byers (Charlie Cowell)
Michael Phelan (Winthrop Paroo),
Clyde Alves (Tommy Djilas)
Kate Levering (Zaneeta Shinn)
Blake Hammond (Jacey Squires)
Jack Doyle (Ewart Dunlop)
John Sloman (Oliver Hix)
Michael-Leon Wooley (Olin Britt)
Martha Hawley (Maud Dunlop)
Leslie Hendrix (Alma Hix)
Tracy Nicole Chapman (Ethel Toffelmier)
Jordan Puryear (Amaryllis)
Jim Walton (standby for Harold Hill)
Ann Brown (Mrs. Squires)
Ann Whitlow Brown (Gracie Shinn)
Kevin Bogue
Andre Garner
Michael Duran,
Dan Sharkey
Mary Illes
Ellen Harvey
Joy Lynn Matthews
Liam Burke
Michael McGurk
E. Clayton Cornelious
Chase Brock
Robbie Nicholson
Pamela Remier
Ipsita Paul
Cameron Adams
Sara Brenner
Travis Wall
Lauren Ullrich
Jeff Williams
Cynthia L. Heim
Jason Snow
Jennie Ford
Tara Young
Directed by Susan Stroman
Choreographed by Susan Stroman
Presented by Dodger Theatricals,
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,
Anita Waxman and Elizabeth Williams.
David Chase (musical direction)
Thomas Lynch (sets)
William Ivey Long (costumes)
Peter Kaczorowski (lighting)
Jonathan Deans (sound)
CAST BIOS
CRAIG BIERKO (Harold Hill) has made quite a career in Hollywood,
having completed eight films and several TV appearances. Movies include:
The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Thirteenth Floor, The Suburbans,
Sour Grapes, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Til There Was You,
Johns and Victimless Crimes. T.V. appearances include: "Mad About You",
"Murphy Brown", "The Golden Girls", "Empty Nest", "Paradise",
"Pride & Joy", "Madman of the People", "Danielle Steel",
"Star", "Red Dwarf" and "Sydney". Craig hails from Westchester, New York.
REBECCA LUKER (Marian Paroo) was last seen on Broadway as
Maria Rainer in The Sound of Music.
Other Broadway: Magnolia in Show Boat (Tony Award nom.),
Lily in The Secret Garden (Drama Desk nom.)
and Christine in The Phantom of the Opera.
She has performed in X (The Life and Times of Malcolm X)
and Brigadoon for NYC Opera.
Regional: Julia in Time and Again (Old Globe Theatre).
Concerts: No, No Nanette and The Art of the Lyricist: Ira Gershwin
(both at Carnegie Hall) and The Boys From Syracuse
with the Encores! Series at City Center.
Recordings include Anything Goes: Rebecca Luker sings Cole Porter, Aria,
Wonderful Town, Jerome Kern Treasury, Brigadoon, Unsung Sondheim
and original cast recordings of The Secret Garden and Show Boat.
TV: "Matlock," "An Evening with the Pops: B'way Originals,"
"An Oscar Hammerstein Celebration."
MAX CASELLA (Marcellus Washburn) made his Broadway debut
playing Timon in the original cast of The Lion King,
in which he recieved a Theatre World award
for Outstanding Broadway Debut, as well as a Drama Desk nomination.
Best known to audiences as Vinnie, the quirky, charming
best friend of Doogie Howser, MD.
Max has starred in films from Ed Wood, Sgt. Bilko and Analyze This.
He is currently producing his first screenplay, 1933 Was A Bad Year
(based on the novel by John Fante) with director Michael Corrente.
PAUL BENEDICT (Mayor Shinn).
Broadway/Off_Broadway:
Little Murders; The White House Murder Case (Circle in the Square);
Bad Habits (Astor Place and Booth Theatre); The Local Stigmatic;
Live Like Pigs (Actors' Playhouse); The Play's the Thing;
The Cherry Orchard (The Roundabout); Richard III (Cort);
It's Only a Play (Manhattan Theatre Club).
Regional Theatre: More than 70 roles at Theatre Company of Boston,
Huntington Theatre Company, The Charles Playhouse (Boston),
American Repertory Theatre (Cambridge),
Trinity Repertory Company (Providence), Long Wharf Theatre (New Haven),
Center Stage (Baltimore), Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.),
Playhouse in the Park (Cincinnati), The Ahmanson Theatre,
The Doolittle Theatre (Los Angeles).
Film: The Freshman; The Addams Family; The Goodbye Girl;
This is Spinal Tap; Jeremiah Johnson; The Man With Two Brains;
Arthur II; Cocktail; Up the Sandbox; Sibling Rivalry;
The Front Page; Taking Off.
RUTH WILLIAMSON (Eulalie McKechnie Shinn).
Broadway: Epic Proportions, Little Me, Guys and Dolls, Smile,
The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 and Annie (the first one).
Last season: MTC's The Green Heart (Drama Desk nomination)
and WPA's Queen Amarantha with Charles Busch.
Off_Broadway: The Good Times Are Killing Me,
The Leonard Bernstein Revue (Rainbow and Stars),
DuBarry Was a Lady (Encores!).
Regional: Merrily We Roll Along, Arena Stage; Candide, Huntington Theatre;
You Should Be So Lucky (Barrymore nomination), Wilma Theatre;
and various shows at Long Wharf, O'Neill Conference, Bay Street, Goodspeed,
Paper Mill and Coconut Grove.
Film: Malcolm X, Foreign Student, Italian Movie.
Television: "Law & Order," "As the World Turns," "One Life to Live,"
"Pete and Pete" and countless commercials, including one directed
by Woody Allen.
SUSAN STROMAN (Director, Choreographer).
Broadway:
Crazy For You (Tony Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics' Circle Award),
Show Boat (Tony Award, Outer Critics' Circle Award),
Steel Pier, Big, Picnic, Contact.
London: Oklahoma! at the Royal National Theatre (Laurence Olivier Award),
Crazy For You (Laurence Olivier Award).
Off_Broadway: And the World Goes 'Round (Outer Critics' Circle Award),
Flora, The Red Menace.
New York City Opera: Don Giovanni, A Little Night Music, 110 In the Shade.
New York City Ballet: Blossom Got Kissed (Stroman created this ballet to
celebrate NYCB's 50th Anniversary).
Martha Graham Company: But Not for Me (at the Joyce Theater). }
Other Theater: Liza Stepping Out At Radio City Music Hall,
the annual spectacular A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden
(Outer Critics' Circle Award).
Television: PBS - "Sondheim, A Celebration at Carnegie Hall,"
"A Little Night Music," "Crazy For You," "An Evening With The Boston Pops."
HBO - "Liza Stepping Out" (Emmy nomination).
She is currently working
on a dance movie for Columbia Pictures.
Susan Stroman is the proud recipient of the Astaire Award.
MEREDITH WILLSON was born in 1902 in Mason City, Iowa.
He left Iowa to study at the Damrosch Institute of Musical Art
(later the Juilliard School), receiving flute instruction from Georges Barrere,
the world_renown flutist. He later joined the New York Philharmonic Orchestra
where he was 1st flutist.
He became musical director for various radio programs
throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s,
including Tallulah Bankhead's program,
"The Big Show," for which he wrote the hit song
"May The Lord Bless and Keep You."
He composed the scores for the movies The Great Dictator
and The Little Foxes, as well as symphonic, band,
and choral works, including
The Jervis Bay: Symphonic Variations on an American Theme
and Anthem of the Atomic Age.
Willson wrote three Broadway musicals: The Music Man, his first
and most successful; The Unsinkable Molly Brown (music and lyrics),
and Here's Love (book, music and lyrics).
As an author he has published two autobiographical works
(And There I Stood with My Piccolo and Eggs I Have Laid),
one novel (Who Did What to Fedalia)
and a memoir about the making of The Music Man
(But He Doesn't Know the Territory).
THOMAS LYNCH (Sets).
Select New York work on and Off_B'way includes Swing!; Contact;
Ah, Wilderness!; Having Our Say; The Young Man From Atlanta;
The Heidi Chronicles (Tony nomination); Betty's Summer Vacation;
Driving Miss Daisy; and Tintypes.
He has designed extensively for the major regional theatres,
for Convent Garden, Vienna Staatsoper, Houston Grand,
New York City Opera (Xerxes), San Francisco and Seattle Operas.
Awards include two Joseph Jeffersons, the Elliot Norton,
and the 1999 Obie for Sustained Excellence.
WILLIAM IVEY LONG (Costumes). Credits include Swing!, Contact,
Epic Proportions, The Civil War, Annie Get Your Gun,
The Mystery of Irma Vep,
Cabaret (1998 Drama Desk Award nomination,
Tony Award nomination, Outer Critics' Award nomination),
Chicago (Tony and Olivier Award nominations; New York, London, Melbourne, and Vienna), Steel Pier, 1776, Smokey Joe's Cafe,
Crazy for You (Tony, Dora, Outer Critics' awards),
Guys and Dolls (Drama Desk Award),
Madison Square Garden's annual A Christmas Carol,
Six Degrees of Separation, Assassins,
1991 Obie Award for Outstanding Achievement,
Lend Me a Tenor (Drama Desk, Outer Critics' Circle Award),
Nine (Tony, Drama Desk, Maharam awards),
Robert Wilson's Hamletmachine,
Leonard Berstein's A Quiet Place and Trouble in Tahiti,
The Lost Colony, Mick Jagger for the Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels Tour,
Siegfried and Roy at the Mirage hotel, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp,
Peter Martins and Susan Stroman.
PETER KACZOROWSKI (Lighting).
Broadway: Kiss Me, Kate, Honour; Jackie; Steel Pier;
She Loves Me (also West End); On the Waterfront; A Small Family Business. Lincoln Center: Contact; Ah, Wilderness!; Twelve Dreams.
Roundabout: Impossible Marriage, Company, She Loves Me,
Picnic, among others.
Encores!: Babes in Arms, St. Louis Woman, Boys From Syracuse,
One Touch of Venus.
Off-Broadway: Violet, The Monogamist, The Uneasy Chair,
Death Defying Acts, Grandchild of Kings,
Song of Singapore among others.
Extensive designs for most leading regional theatre
and opera companies in the US.
Abroad: Royal Opera Covent Garden, Scottish Opera, Bonn State Opera,
Opera/North, Canadian Opera and the Edinburgh Festival.
JONATHAN DEANS (Sound)
has designed over 120 productions of musicals, plays,
operas, concerts, Las Vegas spectaculars and many attractions.
Las Vegas venues include EFX at MGM Grand,
Rio Hotel's Masquerade Parades, Seigfried and Roy and the Mirage,
Cirque de Soliel's O Mystere and La Nouba in Orlando.
Recent theatrical credits on Broadway and in the West End include Fosse,
Parade, Ragtime, Candide, Disney's King David, Saturday Night Fever
as design consultant and Disney's Beauty and the Beast
in Toronto and the national tour.
DAVID CHASE (Dance Arrangement).
Broadway: Music Director and/or Dance Arranger for
Kiss Me, Kate; Side Show; Radio City; Damn Yankees; Little Me; Music Man;
....Forum; Pimpernel (revised); The Seussical (workshop).
Also: Evening at Pops, Hasty Pudding, Forbidden Broadway, Forever Plaid.
MY REVIEW
"The Music Man", Meredith Willson's tuneful look at small-town America,
and the effect that one colorful outsider has on it, has been a staple of theatre productions, big and small, since it first swept through Broadway and the United States in 1957-58. The success and enduring memory of the 1962 feature film further
ensured that it would stay in our collective memory in a way that few musicals ever do. However, after an attempt in 1980 to bring the show back to Broadway proved
to be somewhat of a disappointment, from critics and audiences alike, some
questions were raised when it was announced that another "Music Man" revival was headed to Broadway in 2000, directed by Susan Stroman and starring Craig Bierko.
Could a relatively unknown film actor pull off the part made so famous by Robert Preston? Could a woman who never directed a Broadway show, and known mainly for her choreography, adequately stage a revival of one of the most beloved musicals in theatrical history? Would people in the year 2000, as theatre has become more darker-toned and full of gimmickry, even want to see a relatively simple, wholesome, upbeat show that they may have already seen the movie of several times, as well as countless productions at their local high schools and community theatres?
Well, from the time the first reviews and award nominations started coming in, and with attendance increasing week by week, it has become clear that the answers to the above questions are all 'yes', and having finally seen the show myself this past week, I have to concur that this version was well worth the wait, and will hopefully introduce a new generation of people to Willson’s ‘valentine’, as he referred to the show as.
The kind of spirit "The Music Man evokes in an audience has always been a parallel to the story itself; a colorful, brassy gust of melodic air that blows through the stodgy demeanor of our day-to-day plodding, invigorating and inspiring us to sing
and dance, and giving us new reasons to smile and to hope. This production succeeds in that respect by keeping the mood light, the pace brisk, the characters endearing, and the audience a part of the show. From the overture, played by orchestra members assembled inside the opening scene’s ‘train set, we are invited into the show, not only as observers to the story, but almost as ‘River City-zians ourselves, as the grammatically challenged Mayor Shinn would say.
The real star of this show is the music and songs, and Stroman wisely refrained from any drastic updates to what is such a strong piece in and of itself. Sure, the production found additional humor in some new little ways, particularly with Max Casella’s portrayal of Harold Hill’s sidekick Marcellus, and Stroman’s strength in choreography and splash brightens up the extended and ebullient "76 Trombones segment, but generally speaking, the show is played fairly straight to the book and score, and the characters are kept to their bright and clearly drawn archetypes. A few people have made comments that the production as a whole should have been ‘darker’, an indication of how the perception and tone of theatre has changed since 1957, but I don’t see how that would be possible with this show, with its bouncy, joyous score, its almost corny jokes and observations on Americana and its foibles, and especially the colorful personalities within.
And speaking of them, a production of "Music Man rises or falls with its lead performers, and this show did a great job with casting. The four men who comprise the makeshift barbershop quartet (Blake Hammond, Jack Doyle, John Sloman,
Michael-Leon Wooley) have a real rapport and joy in their singing that is a pleasure to watch; Max Casella, as mentioned, finds some new humor in the part of Marcellus; and Paul Benedict and Ruth Williamson are both well-suited to the foolishly
endearing characters of Mayor Shinn and his wife.
Of course, the main focus of the show is on Harold Hill, and the object of his pursuit, Marian Paroo. Craig Bierko, as an up-and-coming film and television actor with no significant Broadway credentials, had quite a lot to prove to many who questioned his ability to perform Harold Hill, but he more than ably justified his casting with a strong and subtle performance. Bierko’s version of Hill is interesting, in that early on, he sounds and acts a lot like Robert Preston’s seminal portrayal in the original production and film, and then beginning around the "Marian Librarian sequence, the similarities become blurred or forgotten, and it becomes more evident that Bierko is quite a good actor in his own right, and adds a lot of subtlety and unique inflection to the part, and actually has a stronger and smoother voice than Preston. It’s almost as if he (or the production itself, if Stroman or the producers encouraged him to do that), is giving a nod to Preston at first, or acknowledging the many pre-production comparisons and mentions of him by saying, "Ok, you want Preston? See, I can do Preston. But if you
observe, I can also be different as well. Or maybe there was no such calculation about it, and Bierko just really does sound an awful lot like Preston. Regardless, he did a fine job, particularly with the difficult acting scenes during the second act where
Hill’s swindling nature becomes conflicted by his true desire for Marian.
My only real critique with Bierko was during a few moments when he would be speaking directly to someone, but looking out front. For example, in "Marian Librarian", he is sitting next to Marian, and singing "I love you madly, madly, madam librarian, Marian", but looking out front to the audience, and not at Marian, which felt a little awkward to watch. Granted, that may have been Stroman’s directive, as choreographer, because I know that choreographers do tend to complain if someone is not strongly facing front during a big production number, but I saw Bierko doing that on two or three otheroccasions, and he has large, expressive eyes, so I think it would have been just as well for him to have faced front, but have his eyes focused sideways at Marian during moments such as that.
Rebecca Luker, as Marian, was convincingly acerbic during the early scenes, and proved to be especially adept and engaging as her character gradually warms up to her ‘White Knight Hill. Luker’s voice was never a question, with its soaring, ‘made for Broadway quality, but her acting was also quite satisfying in this role. The chemistry between her and Bierko as Hill seems even more natural than that of Preston and Shirley Jones in the film version. I found myself believing more surely that these two people could and would end up together during this production than in the film, which required a somewhat higher suspension of disbelief.
Other nice aspects of this production include the aforementioned "76 Trombones bridge sequence, which although much longer than it would seem it should be, is nonetheless built up so cleverly and feverishly that you are sad it ever ends; dance heavy sequences throughout that are jovial and accomplished (with the exception of "Marian Librarian", which seemed a little disjointed and formless, although I liked the ‘book clapping segment); and a now legendary curtain-call that so appropriately manages to ‘one-up the show itself.
My only major complaint about the show… I bought one of the souvenir T-shirts, which has the word ‘trouble prominently displayed on the front, and ‘Meredith Willson’s THE MUSIC MAN on Broadway on the back. A nice idea. The problem, though? The word ‘trouble is not capitalized. Think about it... How could they make a T-shirt for "The Music Man with the word ‘trouble and not print ‘trouble with a capital ‘T’??!!!
-Eric Endres
TONY NOMINATIONS
Best Revival of a Musical: The Music Man
Best Performance by a leading Actress in a Musical: Rebecca Luker
Best Performance by a leading Actor in a Musical: Craig Bierko
Director (Musical): Susan Stroman
Best Choreography: Susan Stroman
Scenic Design: Thomas Lynch
Costume Design: William Ivey Long
Orchestrations: Doug Besterman
Cast Bios
My review
Tony nominations
Internet Broadway Database entry
The 2000 revival of "The Music Man"
ran at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway
from April 27, 2000 through Dec. 30, 2001,
starring Craig Bierko as Harold Hill.
"The Music Man", directed and choreographed
by Susan Stroman, also featured the
celebrated leading-lady Rebecca Luker
as Marian "the Librarian" Paroo,
Max Casella, perhaps best known for his
funny portrayal of 'Vinnie' on the TV show
"Doogie Howser M.D.", in the role of Marcellus,
and Paul Benedict, who was Mr. Bentley
on "The Jeffersons", as Mayor Shinn.
CAST LIST
Craig Bierko (Harold Hill)
Rebecca Luker (Marian Paroo)
Paul Benedict (Mayor Shinn)
Max Casella (Marcellus Washburn)
Ruth Williamson (Eulalie McKechnie Shinn)
Kathy McGrath (Mrs. Paroo)
Ralph Byers (Charlie Cowell)
Michael Phelan (Winthrop Paroo),
Clyde Alves (Tommy Djilas)
Kate Levering (Zaneeta Shinn)
Blake Hammond (Jacey Squires)
Jack Doyle (Ewart Dunlop)
John Sloman (Oliver Hix)
Michael-Leon Wooley (Olin Britt)
Martha Hawley (Maud Dunlop)
Leslie Hendrix (Alma Hix)
Tracy Nicole Chapman (Ethel Toffelmier)
Jordan Puryear (Amaryllis)
Jim Walton (standby for Harold Hill)
Ann Brown (Mrs. Squires)
Ann Whitlow Brown (Gracie Shinn)
Kevin Bogue
Andre Garner
Michael Duran,
Dan Sharkey
Mary Illes
Ellen Harvey
Joy Lynn Matthews
Liam Burke
Michael McGurk
E. Clayton Cornelious
Chase Brock
Robbie Nicholson
Pamela Remier
Ipsita Paul
Cameron Adams
Sara Brenner
Travis Wall
Lauren Ullrich
Jeff Williams
Cynthia L. Heim
Jason Snow
Jennie Ford
Tara Young
Directed by Susan Stroman
Choreographed by Susan Stroman
Presented by Dodger Theatricals,
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,
Anita Waxman and Elizabeth Williams.
David Chase (musical direction)
Thomas Lynch (sets)
William Ivey Long (costumes)
Peter Kaczorowski (lighting)
Jonathan Deans (sound)
CAST BIOS
CRAIG BIERKO (Harold Hill) has made quite a career in Hollywood,
having completed eight films and several TV appearances. Movies include:
The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Thirteenth Floor, The Suburbans,
Sour Grapes, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Til There Was You,
Johns and Victimless Crimes. T.V. appearances include: "Mad About You",
"Murphy Brown", "The Golden Girls", "Empty Nest", "Paradise",
"Pride & Joy", "Madman of the People", "Danielle Steel",
"Star", "Red Dwarf" and "Sydney". Craig hails from Westchester, New York.
REBECCA LUKER (Marian Paroo) was last seen on Broadway as
Maria Rainer in The Sound of Music.
Other Broadway: Magnolia in Show Boat (Tony Award nom.),
Lily in The Secret Garden (Drama Desk nom.)
and Christine in The Phantom of the Opera.
She has performed in X (The Life and Times of Malcolm X)
and Brigadoon for NYC Opera.
Regional: Julia in Time and Again (Old Globe Theatre).
Concerts: No, No Nanette and The Art of the Lyricist: Ira Gershwin
(both at Carnegie Hall) and The Boys From Syracuse
with the Encores! Series at City Center.
Recordings include Anything Goes: Rebecca Luker sings Cole Porter, Aria,
Wonderful Town, Jerome Kern Treasury, Brigadoon, Unsung Sondheim
and original cast recordings of The Secret Garden and Show Boat.
TV: "Matlock," "An Evening with the Pops: B'way Originals,"
"An Oscar Hammerstein Celebration."
MAX CASELLA (Marcellus Washburn) made his Broadway debut
playing Timon in the original cast of The Lion King,
in which he recieved a Theatre World award
for Outstanding Broadway Debut, as well as a Drama Desk nomination.
Best known to audiences as Vinnie, the quirky, charming
best friend of Doogie Howser, MD.
Max has starred in films from Ed Wood, Sgt. Bilko and Analyze This.
He is currently producing his first screenplay, 1933 Was A Bad Year
(based on the novel by John Fante) with director Michael Corrente.
PAUL BENEDICT (Mayor Shinn).
Broadway/Off_Broadway:
Little Murders; The White House Murder Case (Circle in the Square);
Bad Habits (Astor Place and Booth Theatre); The Local Stigmatic;
Live Like Pigs (Actors' Playhouse); The Play's the Thing;
The Cherry Orchard (The Roundabout); Richard III (Cort);
It's Only a Play (Manhattan Theatre Club).
Regional Theatre: More than 70 roles at Theatre Company of Boston,
Huntington Theatre Company, The Charles Playhouse (Boston),
American Repertory Theatre (Cambridge),
Trinity Repertory Company (Providence), Long Wharf Theatre (New Haven),
Center Stage (Baltimore), Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.),
Playhouse in the Park (Cincinnati), The Ahmanson Theatre,
The Doolittle Theatre (Los Angeles).
Film: The Freshman; The Addams Family; The Goodbye Girl;
This is Spinal Tap; Jeremiah Johnson; The Man With Two Brains;
Arthur II; Cocktail; Up the Sandbox; Sibling Rivalry;
The Front Page; Taking Off.
RUTH WILLIAMSON (Eulalie McKechnie Shinn).
Broadway: Epic Proportions, Little Me, Guys and Dolls, Smile,
The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 and Annie (the first one).
Last season: MTC's The Green Heart (Drama Desk nomination)
and WPA's Queen Amarantha with Charles Busch.
Off_Broadway: The Good Times Are Killing Me,
The Leonard Bernstein Revue (Rainbow and Stars),
DuBarry Was a Lady (Encores!).
Regional: Merrily We Roll Along, Arena Stage; Candide, Huntington Theatre;
You Should Be So Lucky (Barrymore nomination), Wilma Theatre;
and various shows at Long Wharf, O'Neill Conference, Bay Street, Goodspeed,
Paper Mill and Coconut Grove.
Film: Malcolm X, Foreign Student, Italian Movie.
Television: "Law & Order," "As the World Turns," "One Life to Live,"
"Pete and Pete" and countless commercials, including one directed
by Woody Allen.
SUSAN STROMAN (Director, Choreographer).
Broadway:
Crazy For You (Tony Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics' Circle Award),
Show Boat (Tony Award, Outer Critics' Circle Award),
Steel Pier, Big, Picnic, Contact.
London: Oklahoma! at the Royal National Theatre (Laurence Olivier Award),
Crazy For You (Laurence Olivier Award).
Off_Broadway: And the World Goes 'Round (Outer Critics' Circle Award),
Flora, The Red Menace.
New York City Opera: Don Giovanni, A Little Night Music, 110 In the Shade.
New York City Ballet: Blossom Got Kissed (Stroman created this ballet to
celebrate NYCB's 50th Anniversary).
Martha Graham Company: But Not for Me (at the Joyce Theater). }
Other Theater: Liza Stepping Out At Radio City Music Hall,
the annual spectacular A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden
(Outer Critics' Circle Award).
Television: PBS - "Sondheim, A Celebration at Carnegie Hall,"
"A Little Night Music," "Crazy For You," "An Evening With The Boston Pops."
HBO - "Liza Stepping Out" (Emmy nomination).
She is currently working
on a dance movie for Columbia Pictures.
Susan Stroman is the proud recipient of the Astaire Award.
MEREDITH WILLSON was born in 1902 in Mason City, Iowa.
He left Iowa to study at the Damrosch Institute of Musical Art
(later the Juilliard School), receiving flute instruction from Georges Barrere,
the world_renown flutist. He later joined the New York Philharmonic Orchestra
where he was 1st flutist.
He became musical director for various radio programs
throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s,
including Tallulah Bankhead's program,
"The Big Show," for which he wrote the hit song
"May The Lord Bless and Keep You."
He composed the scores for the movies The Great Dictator
and The Little Foxes, as well as symphonic, band,
and choral works, including
The Jervis Bay: Symphonic Variations on an American Theme
and Anthem of the Atomic Age.
Willson wrote three Broadway musicals: The Music Man, his first
and most successful; The Unsinkable Molly Brown (music and lyrics),
and Here's Love (book, music and lyrics).
As an author he has published two autobiographical works
(And There I Stood with My Piccolo and Eggs I Have Laid),
one novel (Who Did What to Fedalia)
and a memoir about the making of The Music Man
(But He Doesn't Know the Territory).
THOMAS LYNCH (Sets).
Select New York work on and Off_B'way includes Swing!; Contact;
Ah, Wilderness!; Having Our Say; The Young Man From Atlanta;
The Heidi Chronicles (Tony nomination); Betty's Summer Vacation;
Driving Miss Daisy; and Tintypes.
He has designed extensively for the major regional theatres,
for Convent Garden, Vienna Staatsoper, Houston Grand,
New York City Opera (Xerxes), San Francisco and Seattle Operas.
Awards include two Joseph Jeffersons, the Elliot Norton,
and the 1999 Obie for Sustained Excellence.
WILLIAM IVEY LONG (Costumes). Credits include Swing!, Contact,
Epic Proportions, The Civil War, Annie Get Your Gun,
The Mystery of Irma Vep,
Cabaret (1998 Drama Desk Award nomination,
Tony Award nomination, Outer Critics' Award nomination),
Chicago (Tony and Olivier Award nominations; New York, London, Melbourne, and Vienna), Steel Pier, 1776, Smokey Joe's Cafe,
Crazy for You (Tony, Dora, Outer Critics' awards),
Guys and Dolls (Drama Desk Award),
Madison Square Garden's annual A Christmas Carol,
Six Degrees of Separation, Assassins,
1991 Obie Award for Outstanding Achievement,
Lend Me a Tenor (Drama Desk, Outer Critics' Circle Award),
Nine (Tony, Drama Desk, Maharam awards),
Robert Wilson's Hamletmachine,
Leonard Berstein's A Quiet Place and Trouble in Tahiti,
The Lost Colony, Mick Jagger for the Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels Tour,
Siegfried and Roy at the Mirage hotel, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp,
Peter Martins and Susan Stroman.
PETER KACZOROWSKI (Lighting).
Broadway: Kiss Me, Kate, Honour; Jackie; Steel Pier;
She Loves Me (also West End); On the Waterfront; A Small Family Business. Lincoln Center: Contact; Ah, Wilderness!; Twelve Dreams.
Roundabout: Impossible Marriage, Company, She Loves Me,
Picnic, among others.
Encores!: Babes in Arms, St. Louis Woman, Boys From Syracuse,
One Touch of Venus.
Off-Broadway: Violet, The Monogamist, The Uneasy Chair,
Death Defying Acts, Grandchild of Kings,
Song of Singapore among others.
Extensive designs for most leading regional theatre
and opera companies in the US.
Abroad: Royal Opera Covent Garden, Scottish Opera, Bonn State Opera,
Opera/North, Canadian Opera and the Edinburgh Festival.
JONATHAN DEANS (Sound)
has designed over 120 productions of musicals, plays,
operas, concerts, Las Vegas spectaculars and many attractions.
Las Vegas venues include EFX at MGM Grand,
Rio Hotel's Masquerade Parades, Seigfried and Roy and the Mirage,
Cirque de Soliel's O Mystere and La Nouba in Orlando.
Recent theatrical credits on Broadway and in the West End include Fosse,
Parade, Ragtime, Candide, Disney's King David, Saturday Night Fever
as design consultant and Disney's Beauty and the Beast
in Toronto and the national tour.
DAVID CHASE (Dance Arrangement).
Broadway: Music Director and/or Dance Arranger for
Kiss Me, Kate; Side Show; Radio City; Damn Yankees; Little Me; Music Man;
....Forum; Pimpernel (revised); The Seussical (workshop).
Also: Evening at Pops, Hasty Pudding, Forbidden Broadway, Forever Plaid.
MY REVIEW
"The Music Man", Meredith Willson's tuneful look at small-town America,
and the effect that one colorful outsider has on it, has been a staple of theatre productions, big and small, since it first swept through Broadway and the United States in 1957-58. The success and enduring memory of the 1962 feature film further
ensured that it would stay in our collective memory in a way that few musicals ever do. However, after an attempt in 1980 to bring the show back to Broadway proved
to be somewhat of a disappointment, from critics and audiences alike, some
questions were raised when it was announced that another "Music Man" revival was headed to Broadway in 2000, directed by Susan Stroman and starring Craig Bierko.
Could a relatively unknown film actor pull off the part made so famous by Robert Preston? Could a woman who never directed a Broadway show, and known mainly for her choreography, adequately stage a revival of one of the most beloved musicals in theatrical history? Would people in the year 2000, as theatre has become more darker-toned and full of gimmickry, even want to see a relatively simple, wholesome, upbeat show that they may have already seen the movie of several times, as well as countless productions at their local high schools and community theatres?
Well, from the time the first reviews and award nominations started coming in, and with attendance increasing week by week, it has become clear that the answers to the above questions are all 'yes', and having finally seen the show myself this past week, I have to concur that this version was well worth the wait, and will hopefully introduce a new generation of people to Willson’s ‘valentine’, as he referred to the show as.
The kind of spirit "The Music Man evokes in an audience has always been a parallel to the story itself; a colorful, brassy gust of melodic air that blows through the stodgy demeanor of our day-to-day plodding, invigorating and inspiring us to sing
and dance, and giving us new reasons to smile and to hope. This production succeeds in that respect by keeping the mood light, the pace brisk, the characters endearing, and the audience a part of the show. From the overture, played by orchestra members assembled inside the opening scene’s ‘train set, we are invited into the show, not only as observers to the story, but almost as ‘River City-zians ourselves, as the grammatically challenged Mayor Shinn would say.
The real star of this show is the music and songs, and Stroman wisely refrained from any drastic updates to what is such a strong piece in and of itself. Sure, the production found additional humor in some new little ways, particularly with Max Casella’s portrayal of Harold Hill’s sidekick Marcellus, and Stroman’s strength in choreography and splash brightens up the extended and ebullient "76 Trombones segment, but generally speaking, the show is played fairly straight to the book and score, and the characters are kept to their bright and clearly drawn archetypes. A few people have made comments that the production as a whole should have been ‘darker’, an indication of how the perception and tone of theatre has changed since 1957, but I don’t see how that would be possible with this show, with its bouncy, joyous score, its almost corny jokes and observations on Americana and its foibles, and especially the colorful personalities within.
And speaking of them, a production of "Music Man rises or falls with its lead performers, and this show did a great job with casting. The four men who comprise the makeshift barbershop quartet (Blake Hammond, Jack Doyle, John Sloman,
Michael-Leon Wooley) have a real rapport and joy in their singing that is a pleasure to watch; Max Casella, as mentioned, finds some new humor in the part of Marcellus; and Paul Benedict and Ruth Williamson are both well-suited to the foolishly
endearing characters of Mayor Shinn and his wife.
Of course, the main focus of the show is on Harold Hill, and the object of his pursuit, Marian Paroo. Craig Bierko, as an up-and-coming film and television actor with no significant Broadway credentials, had quite a lot to prove to many who questioned his ability to perform Harold Hill, but he more than ably justified his casting with a strong and subtle performance. Bierko’s version of Hill is interesting, in that early on, he sounds and acts a lot like Robert Preston’s seminal portrayal in the original production and film, and then beginning around the "Marian Librarian sequence, the similarities become blurred or forgotten, and it becomes more evident that Bierko is quite a good actor in his own right, and adds a lot of subtlety and unique inflection to the part, and actually has a stronger and smoother voice than Preston. It’s almost as if he (or the production itself, if Stroman or the producers encouraged him to do that), is giving a nod to Preston at first, or acknowledging the many pre-production comparisons and mentions of him by saying, "Ok, you want Preston? See, I can do Preston. But if you
observe, I can also be different as well. Or maybe there was no such calculation about it, and Bierko just really does sound an awful lot like Preston. Regardless, he did a fine job, particularly with the difficult acting scenes during the second act where
Hill’s swindling nature becomes conflicted by his true desire for Marian.
My only real critique with Bierko was during a few moments when he would be speaking directly to someone, but looking out front. For example, in "Marian Librarian", he is sitting next to Marian, and singing "I love you madly, madly, madam librarian, Marian", but looking out front to the audience, and not at Marian, which felt a little awkward to watch. Granted, that may have been Stroman’s directive, as choreographer, because I know that choreographers do tend to complain if someone is not strongly facing front during a big production number, but I saw Bierko doing that on two or three otheroccasions, and he has large, expressive eyes, so I think it would have been just as well for him to have faced front, but have his eyes focused sideways at Marian during moments such as that.
Rebecca Luker, as Marian, was convincingly acerbic during the early scenes, and proved to be especially adept and engaging as her character gradually warms up to her ‘White Knight Hill. Luker’s voice was never a question, with its soaring, ‘made for Broadway quality, but her acting was also quite satisfying in this role. The chemistry between her and Bierko as Hill seems even more natural than that of Preston and Shirley Jones in the film version. I found myself believing more surely that these two people could and would end up together during this production than in the film, which required a somewhat higher suspension of disbelief.
Other nice aspects of this production include the aforementioned "76 Trombones bridge sequence, which although much longer than it would seem it should be, is nonetheless built up so cleverly and feverishly that you are sad it ever ends; dance heavy sequences throughout that are jovial and accomplished (with the exception of "Marian Librarian", which seemed a little disjointed and formless, although I liked the ‘book clapping segment); and a now legendary curtain-call that so appropriately manages to ‘one-up the show itself.
My only major complaint about the show… I bought one of the souvenir T-shirts, which has the word ‘trouble prominently displayed on the front, and ‘Meredith Willson’s THE MUSIC MAN on Broadway on the back. A nice idea. The problem, though? The word ‘trouble is not capitalized. Think about it... How could they make a T-shirt for "The Music Man with the word ‘trouble and not print ‘trouble with a capital ‘T’??!!!
-Eric Endres
TONY NOMINATIONS
Best Revival of a Musical: The Music Man
Best Performance by a leading Actress in a Musical: Rebecca Luker
Best Performance by a leading Actor in a Musical: Craig Bierko
Director (Musical): Susan Stroman
Best Choreography: Susan Stroman
Scenic Design: Thomas Lynch
Costume Design: William Ivey Long
Orchestrations: Doug Besterman
