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The NS drama department will stage “The Music Man” from November 20-23. An upbeat musical about a con artist who brings music to a small town. This production features catchy songs and engaging characters that promise to entertain.
Music Man is set in 1912, and follows con artist Harold Hill, who tricks the parents of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments for a nonexistent marching band. As he falls for the skeptical librarian, Marian Paroo, he inadvertently brings joy and unity to the town. Ultimately, Harold must face the consequences of his deception, leading to a heartwarming story about redemption and the power of music. Harold Hill is being played by junior Ethan Mendicino, and Marian Paroo is being played by junior Emma Wallace.
Lots of consideration went into choosing this year’s musical. Director of the show and drama teacher, Alex Barlow, has an interesting way of choosing the musical for the year.
“I usually try and pick shows that I feel like kind of fit the group of students that I have,” Barlow said, “and for whatever reason they just really, really like classic musicals, which is interesting, because it’s never been that way.”
There were a few reasons why Barlow decided to do this musical instead of the other options.
“We had it narrowed down to about 2 or 3 classic musicals,” Barlow said, “and with the other ones it was like, ‘Oh, that would be awesome, but there’s this significant issue that would be hard to figure out about it.’ But with this one, we kinda talked about it, and there really wasn’t a reason not to do it.”
There is quite a large amount of scene changes that the cast will have to work on, but still less than last year’s production “Amélie.”
“It is a big show though,” Barlow said. “It’s got a lot of dance breaks, it has a lot of locations, it has a quartet, it is just a pretty big show, but overall I don’t have anything keeping me up at night. It’ll be hard as always, but overall I think we’ll be able to pull it off.”
The cast has confidence in the fact that everything is under control and will be able to get done as well.
“I think Barlow knows what he’s doing, especially after his win for best director last year,” Mendicino said. “But I definitely trust his opinion, I trust his choices, and I like the cast he picked. I think it’s going to be good.”
The cast is working on making this vision come alive.
“I think it’s nerve racking when you first look at it,” Wallace said. “But I know we are going to accomplish everything we need to.”
The musical seems to hold a special place in lots of people’s hearts with how upbeat and timeless it is.
“Growing up, my parents would always play songs,” Mendicino said, “and they were actually both in their own productions of the show, so this is exciting.”
Wallace resonates with some of her character’s personality traits.
“[Marian] has a really good heart and she has really high standards,” Wallace said, “and she doesn’t want anyone or anything to lower her standards. And I really admire that because I think I can relate to that because I think I like to set high standards and keep them despite what other people tell me.”
Barlow also loves the music.
“The songs are just so catchy, and I think that helps them get stuck in your head,” Barlow said. “Every song is just really well written, and my banker’s hold is that if a musical has good music, then it can be good.”
