‘The Music Man’ comes to town this weekend
Published 12:30 pm Friday, March 17, 2017
Harold Hill, played by Jalam Sutton, warns the parents of River City, Iowa, about the dangers of playing pool in an early scene from the GRC/RDC production of “The Music Man.” (Photos by Seth Littrell)
Students from George Rogers Clark High and Robert D. Campbell Jr. High schools will present their production of Meredith Wilson’s “The Music Man” beginning tonight.
According to producer and GRC teacher Katherine Lowther, the production includes nearly 100 teachers and students from the two schools, in addition to students from Baker Intermediate and Strode Station.
“We’ve done lots of modern, popular and sort of Disney shows before, so we wanted to take a chance on something older,” Lowther said. “And it was a musical about musicians, so we were drawn to that as well.”
“The Music Man” is the story of Harold Hill, a traveling salesman who attempts to con the people of River City, Iowa, into giving him money for instruments and uniforms for a band he’ll direct. The only problem is Hill doesn’t know anything about bands.
Auditions for the show began in November, and since then the group has been working. Lowther said the majority of the set pieces were created by students. Students from the high school’s fine arts cohort additionally helped create the programs, do PR work for the show, perform in the orchestra pit alongside teachers and members of the school band and more.
A particularly challenging part of the production that Lowther said paid off was the inclusion of a barbershop quartet, which gives a memorable performance under the guidance of GRC/RDC Chorus teacher Kristofer Olson.
Performances of “The Music Man” will take place tonight and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the GRC Cardinal Theatre. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. They can be reserved online at grcmusic.ludustickets.com or purchased at the door.
