By Rachel Epstein ’14, Contributor.
This year, the Upper School musical will be Meredith Willson’s The Music Man. This light-hearted musical romp set at the turn of the century tells the story of Harold Hill (Josh Motley ‘12), an infamous conman who weaves his way into the close-knit community of River City, Iowa by creating a fake boys’ band. However, Harold Hill doesn’t know how to play an instrument let alone run a band. His goal was to steal the money provided by the parents and run away. Matters of the heart quickly estrange his plans when he falls head over heels for the town’s stuffy librarian, Marian Paroo (Catherine Smith ‘12), who could not be more disinterested.
Nearly fifty students auditioned for the show, which proved difficult since there only about 11 title roles. To combat this, the director Mr. Mark Femia has double cast some of the main parts including the “Pick-a-Little Ladies” and Zaneeta Shinn, the mayor’s rebellious daughter. This means each person will perform as that part in two shows and in the ensemble for the other two. Mr. Femia reasons that “double-casting is one of the results of having a no-cut policy, in order to balance out some students in either lead or supporting roles, so there aren’t 30 people in the ensemble. It changes from show to show, and is a result of how they audition.” Mr. Femia continued, adding For casting I am always looking for singing ability first, followed by how they read certain roles. It is somewhat easier to correct someone’s acting in a role in 2 months than to try to fix vocal problems or increase their range in that amount of time.”
So why choose The Music Man for the 2012 upper school musical? Mr. Femia is “continuing [his] goal of bringing what [are] “classic” pieces of theater to the CCDS stage, both in plays and musicals, and The Music Man is definitely an American standard [that] I feel everyone should have an experience. “
Emily Sprinkle ’12, double cast as Ethel Tofflemier with Sarah Gamblin ‘13, was excited about the opportunity to be double cast. “I still get to perform in every show and the time commitment works out really well. I won’t be swamped with work because the part is cut down by half, so I get to enjoy the experience of musical without the grueling rehearsal schedule,” Sprinkle says.
For some, the time commitment for the musical is far too much to handle. Rehearsals after school, on weekends, and not to mention the memorization effort and the grueling tech week proves too difficult for some students. Annie Mullee ’14 chose to drop out of her part as Maud Dunlop because she was very busy outside of school, “including the Overture Awards and out of school shows, that [she] wouldn’t be able to manage it all at once.” Many others have dropped out of the show, including well-missed senior veteran Ellis Frederick ’12.
Following the lead of last year’s musical, Seussical, The Music Man will also be featuring fifth through eighth grade students from our Middle School. For Mr. Femia, this decision was based on the fact that “This show calls for two young children’s roles, as well as a supply of children to be in Professor Hill’s boy’s band. This therefore called for us to once again look to our younger students to fill these roles. This also helps to strengthen the drama program across the divisions, exposing the MS to what the US drama program has to offer.” Featured as Winthrop Paroo, Marian’s ten-year-old brother, are the double-casted dynamic duo of Henry Fossett ’19 and Zach Stacy ’17. Anna Beyette ’17 is playing Amaryllis, Marian’s piano student, and Victoria Callizo ’19 is featured as Gracie Shinn, the mayor’s youngest daughter.
Femia also commented on why the show is such a must-see, “Just about every person who has heard this title has expressed that it is either their or a family member’s favorite musical,” he says. “They all seem to have seen the movie, or even have been a part of the show in their high school years. It’s a classic show with great music and everyone will simply have a great time watching it.”
If you’re having doubts about penciling in The Music Man on your calendar, put them to rest. This year’s musical is going to be filled with extraordinary talent from the entire CCDS student body! Come see the hard work of your classmates on February 23-25.
