'Music Man' A Show For Families

stage

'Music Man'a show for families

Brian Hilligoss stars with a cast of 30 children (and 35 adults) in Ann Arbor Civic Theatre's production of "The Music Man," opening Friday.

BY JENN MCKEE

Fifty years ago, Broadway audiences got their first glimpse of Merfedith Willson’s “The Music Man,” and an instant American classic was born, beating out “West Side Story” for the 1958 Tony Award for best musical. (A pretty good year in theater, no?)

Ever since, audiences have repeatedly fallen under the charming sway of Professor Harold Hill, the fast-talking con man at the heart of “Music Man” - now being staged by the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre.

In the show, Hill arrives in fictional River City Iowa, and sells residents on the idea of forming a boys’ band. A skeptical, tightly wound librarian/piano teacher resists Hill’s rhetoric at first, but ultimately finds herself also drawn to the scoundrel, against her better judgment.

Robert Preston, who forever defined the role of Hill on stage and screen, reportedly had a limited singing range, yet landed the part by masterfully performing the show’s landmark fast-talk song, “Trouble.” In addition, Preston found ways of making the rest of the score play to his strengths.

“He actually developed his own style,” said Brian Hilligoss, who plays Hill in Civic's production. “He doesn’t do all the numbers exactly as written. So we’ve tried to go back and start, at least, from the numbers as they were written, as one way of stepping outside of Robert Preston’s interpretation.

“But the fact of the matter is, he’s defined the role, so you can only go so far from what he did, or people think you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Getting out from beneath Preston’s shadow isn’t the only hurdle to playing Prof. Hill.

“It’s an extremely demanding role aerobically, or physically,” said Hilligoss. “Not just in terms of physical actions, but Harold talks very fast. You have about a million words crammed into A song, and you’re running around the stage at the same time.”

“Music Man” will mark Hilligoss’ debut in a Civic show, though he has a good deal of experience, having earned an undergraduate degree in theater from the University of North Carolina. Now a doctoral candidate in U-M’s school of information, Hilligoss has always wanted to play Harold Hill.

But what earned him the role?

“His charisma,” said director Wendy Sielaff. “He has an amazing stage presence, and he is everything I envisioned Harold Hill should be. Mischievous, but lovable.”

Of course, the rest of the cast must evoke an entire Iowa town, and to achieve this, Civic’s production features 30 children and 35 adults. The production’s 300 period costumes have demanded the efforts of three costumers, and Sielaff has run separate rehearsals for the kids and the grown-ups in the show. But everything is coming together.

“What I’m excited about is that this is truly community theater at its best,” said Sielaff. “There’s young (people), there’s old (people), and we have families. ... Over half the cast has got a family member in the show. And that’s just really special to me.”

Jenn McKee can be reached at 734-994-6841 orjmckee@ annarbornews.com.

PREVIEW

'The Music Man'

Who: Ann Arbor Civic Theatre.

What: Meredith Willson's classic American musical about con man Harold Hill, who convinces the residents of River City, Iowa, to start a boys' band.

Where: Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, in the Michigan League, at 911 N. University Ave. When: Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. through Sept. 16. There will be one Thursday, 8 p.m. performance on Sept. 13.

How much: $24 ($21 for students and seniors); at the single Thursday performance, all seats are $15.

Information: To order tickets, call 734-971-2228, or visit www.a2ct.org.