This is just what Northwest Savoyards does best: classic musical theater.
So if you haven’t seen the Savoyards in action or maybe it’s been awhile, you really ought to give “The Music Man” a try.
Not only does this show hit a high point for musicals, it’s community theater at its best. The actors fit their roles like hands in gloves. The leading lady has a dazzling voice. The kids are as darling as the words to “Shipoopi.”
Let’s just say we got “Entertainment,” with a capital “E” and that rhymes with “G” and that stands for “Great.”
“The Music Man” continues weekend performances through June 15 at Snohomish County PUD Auditorium.
The plot of “Music Man” is well-known Americana that continues to beguile with its nostalgic charm. It’s bad boy meets willful good girl with love winning out in the end.
The bad boy is salesman Harold Hill who visits River City, Iowa, in 1912. “Professor” Hill sells the town on his revolutionary music program to save the youth from the pool hall. He tricks the parents into buying expensive instruments and uniforms but plans on pocketing the dough and leaving town before the kids learn note one. Instead, Hill falls for librarian Marian Paroo, then decides to follow his heart and come clean.
The score for “Music Man,” brilliantly conceived by Meredith Willson, contains timeless tunes such as “Till There Was You,” “Seventy-Six Trombones,” “Ya Got Trouble” and “Goodnight, My Someone.” The fine musicians from the Everett Symphony and a stunning soprano make the music as tasty as fresh-picked Iowa corn.
The voice of Shoshauna Mohlman, who plays Marian, is reminiscent of singer Shirley Jones, back before she became mother of the Patridge Family. Her versions of “My White Knight,” and “Till There Was You,” brought tears, both for the message of the words and the sweet beauty of Mohlman’s delivery. Let’s hope the Savoyards bring Mohlman back in the future.
Dan Niven wasn’t an overt snake and wasn’t cloyingly gushy, either, which made him a perfect Harold Hill. Niven kept his balance as Hill, did a solid job of singing, and in the end won us over when he said he couldn’t leave River City because “It’s the first time in my life I got my foot caught in the door.”
Another heart-melter was second-grader Raphael Zimmerman, who acted and sang like a stage veteran during his debut performance as Winthrop.
The role of the mayor’s wife, Eulalie Shinn, needed an actress with a big voice and big personality: Lisa Thiroux delivered with both barrels. And Don Speirs, who played Marcellus Washburn, was delightfully light on his feet during the rousing crowd-pleaser “Shipoopi.”
Kudos also to the men of the Barbershop Quartet and the “Ladies,” who probably caused lots of us to sing “Pick a Little, Talk a Little,” all weekend long.
A final note of thanks goes to the member of the ensemble who almost fell on her head while trying to do a cartwheel during one of the numbers. The actress could have created a momentary show-stopper by bursting into tears but she amazingly never broke down. That kind of professionalism sends home the point that the Savoyards will give us the best they’ve got to give.
Reporter Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com
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