Bracing the soaring ballads and the humorous character songs is a fairly cynical if not dim view of small-town dynamics. Hill’s stay in this quintessential Midwestern town is all the more pleasant with Willson’s delicious songs, including “Trouble,” “Till There Was You,” “76 Trombones” and “Pick a Little, Talk a Little.” There is not a lackluster song in the score, with its whimsical ballads, call ‘n’ response production numbers, patter and barbershop quartet songs keeping the atmosphere as festive as an ice cream social.Īs memorable as Willson’s score is, his book (sharing story credit with Franklin Lacey) powers the show through two and a half hours. Yet Hill waltzes off the train car unscathed to ply his trade in River City, Iowa. By the end of the song, they are ready to tar and feather Hill for impugning the good name of all “drummers,” who suffer by his chicanery. Hill’s character receives quite the build-up during the opening number, the clever “Rock Island,” where a chorus of salesmen traveling by train rock and patter in sync with the locomotion.
He appears invincible yet one notices a few fleeting moments of vulnerability as he genuinely falls for his librarian Marion (Ellie Fishman, a veritable nightingale). Watts has Gordon MacRae leading-man looks, Ron Holgate’s voice and charm enough to woo the vultures from the trees.
Thompson casts Goodspeed veteran Edward Watts in the key role of Harold Hill and he manages to distance the theatergoers’s memory of Preston enough to allow his own wit and grace breathing room. She and her ace choreographer Patricia Wilcox use all of the space on hand - on stage and in the aisles - to keep the pace crisp and the performance visually interesting. Goodspeed Musicals starts its 2019 season strong with a lean, fresh revival of “The Music Man” that knows better than to slavishly replicate Da Costa’s original direction.ĭirector Jenn Thompson - whose previous Goodspeed credits include “Oklahoma!” and “Bye Bye Birdie,” captures the film’s spirit while adding a few welcome nuances.
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