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| - | == Music Man ==
| + | fTy9mB Wow, great blog.Much thanks again. |
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| - | ''Music Man'' was the third MCHS musical and the school's first large scale "classic" musical; one with a large cast, orchestra instead a band, etc. This is the year where MCHS theater really hit its stride after two years of building expertise and experience in both cast and crew. This show required significantly more talent and effort to pull off than previous shows and the MCHS theater community responded. The strong leads and seasoned ensemble set the tone for a very professional cast. The build was huge, both in the number of individual pieces and the scale of the effort. The magnitude of the effort called for reliance on self directed teams. In particular, the Art Department's role was expanded enormously as a town square, railroad car, moonlit park, and a house were rendered in detail.
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| - | ===Synopsis===
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| - | Meredith Wilson knows the territory. He knows what makes people tick and the answer is The Music Man, an old-fashioned American musical, that follows the antics of the charming, fast-talking, flim-flam artist, Professor Harold Hill, who dances into River City, Iowa, mesmerizing its citizens with the need for a marching band to keep their children on the path of moral righteousness.
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| - | Hill cons the parents into buying expensive instruments, instruction books and uniforms, convincing them that the revolutionary music training program,"The Think System," will turn their youngsters into concert performers. However, he does not count on meeting Marian Paroo, the beautiful, but strong-willed local librarian and piano teacher, who catches his eye.
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| - | Hill's plans begin to unravel when his feelings become serious for Marian and his attempts to scam the town's citizens run contrary to his original purpose. Manic mayhem ensues when Hill is about to be exposed for the fraud he is and must prove himself to Marian and the citizens of River City.
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| - | Meredith Willson wrote this wonderful slice of Americana and is best known as the author and composer of The Music Man which premiered on Broadway in 1957, winning eight Tony awards induding:
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| - | Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical for Robert Preston as Harold Hill and Best Composer and Lyricist for Meredith Willson. The play triumphed over the competition: West Side Story
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| - | Willson was born in Mason City, Iowa (the model for River City) and played the flute in John Phillip Sousa's famous band from 1921-1923. Later, he joined the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from 1924 until 1929. In the late 1930s, Willson was music director onmany of the famous radio shows of the era. Be was twice nominatedfor the Academy Award and served as a major in the U.S. Armyduring World War II.
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| - | Tke Music Man keeps coming back to life and was nominated for eight Tony awards including Best Revival of a Broadway Musical in 2000. In 2003, Matthew Broderick took a turn as Professor Hill in the Emmy nominated television movie. It is clear that Willson knows his territory and what people are buying. He is a first rate salesman because we have made a classic out of The Music Man.
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| - | ===Director's Notes===
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| - | We always want the best for our children. The Music Man has been one of those "best" experiences. A letter from each cast member to their parents might go something like this:
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| - | Hey Folks! Remember me? Earlier this year when I told you I wanted to try out for the Spring Musical at school, you probably didn't realize what you were getting yourself into. I'd heard all the kids from the past shows talk about the experience and it sounded like something I would really enjoyThanks for being there for me as I journeyed through this challenge. I never knew how many different things I would learn; I don't mean just songs and stage directions - I mean things like commitment and "stick-to-it-tive-ness", fatigue, excitement, teamwork, anxiety, how to practice, how
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| - | to excel and how to set goals and work like mad to reach them. The directors stayed on us constantly. I think they knew that if they let us relax we might begin to take some things for granted and maybe we wouldn't be in a position to do our best when it mattered the most-tonight. I realize now that when they criticized us it was really for what they believed was for our own good. Sounds familiar-huh'? They tried real hard not to let us be satisfied with less than our very best. I must admit I thought I'd scream every time they said "Let's do it again!"
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| - | When this show is over and I'm around the house again, I won't be exactly like I was before The Music Man. I mean I'll still leave the bathroom as messy as usual and you'll still call my room the "disaster area", But what I mean is that I'll have grown some and matured the next time you talk
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| - | to me about Pride you can rest a little easier knowing that I have a betterunderstanding of what you mean.
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| - | Love,
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| - | The Star of the Show
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| - | ===Cast===
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| - | < Cast list goes here
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| - | === Crew ===
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| - | *Lighting Design: Erik Minton
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| - | *More needed......
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| - | ===Production Staff===
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| - | *Director: [[Mike Gilliam]]
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| - | *Technical Director: [[Matt Scialdone]]
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| - | *Pit Orchestra: [[Tammy Holder]], ........
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| - | *Set Construction: Cody Janek, ......
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| - | ===Music Man Stories===
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| - | '''Killer Sets'''
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| - | The sets for ''Music Man'' were almost all castered platforms. The drama teacher had ordered a lot of 3/8" MDF with the intention of covering the entire stage. We only covered the apron, and I felt obligated to use that up as facing instead of the customary and much lighter luan. Most of the platforms were double sided to speed up scene changes and take up less space. As a consequence, the platform walls ended up more like residential construction than stagecraft. A platform wall built out of 2x4s and double faced with 3/8" MDF is a beefy wall. The platforms were massive, heavy, and hard to move. The biggest of all was the Paroo house - it was 16 feet long, 6 feet wide with a window, functioning door, fence, lights, etc. It cleared the backstage door by inches and took the coordinated effort of a dozen stagehands to move. The weight even caused a marginal caster to disintegrate, raising concerns that the casters were going to be chronic problem. Fortunately, we didn't have any further caster issues. The Art Department did a fantastic job of painting them and they ended up looking really good. The crew took everything in stride, although feedback during the post mortem did mention "using lighter materials". I learned a lot during this experience
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| - | [[Category:MCHS Musicals]]
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