Who knew that you don’t need music lessons? You can learn to play a musical instrument by the think method. That’s one of the things huckster traveling salesman Harold Hill is selling — in addition to band instruments and uniforms — in Meredith Willson’s six-time Tony Award winning musical, “The Music Man,” presented April 10-June 2 at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.
Performances are 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sundays, plus select 1 p.m. Thursday shows.
“He’s kind of like a lost boy looking for his way,” said KJ Hippensteel, who plays Harold Hill. “He finds his way with Marian, which is a total shock for him.”
That single woman is the librarian in the town of River City, Iowa, the latest stop where Hill is pitching his musical theory and instruments.
Hippensteel noted that director and choreographer Katie Spelman compares Hill to an orphan. The actor concurs.
“He doesn’t have a family. He doesn’t have a home. So he travels because that’s what he knows,” Hippensteel said. “I don’t see him as a villain.”
He said that Harold and Marian connect because, in a way, “They’re both outcasts. They’re both unaccepted by their peers so they find solidarity in that. I think they’re both taken by surprise by that.”
The performer is enjoying “the challenge of the language itself,” he said, of the fast-talking Hill.
He also enjoys the music. “We’re having a lot of fun with ‘Marian the Librarian,’” he said. Hippensteel also praised the singing of the quartet on their numbers, including “Lida Rose.” And he enjoys singing “Trouble,” which he was asked to perform for his audition.
“There’s so much to unpack in that song about his character and who he is and how he manipulates,” Hippensteel said.
“I think Marian Paroo is a very modern woman who sort of exists in the wrong time,” said Alexandra Silber, who plays the librarian. “Deeply feeling, profoundly romantic, very rigid ideals about what true love is and should be and is not willing to settle for anything that doesn’t fully satisfy her and would prefer to be alone than with the wrong person.” In other words, Marian is unusual for a woman in 1912.
Silber said that she relates to Marian because she was married for the first time at 37. The actor was also “not willing to compromise on a partnership until it was the right thing,” Silber said.
Marian and Harold Hill seem to be worlds apart yet they become drawn to each other. “He introduces color into her life,” Silber said.
Silber is drawn to her character because, “I think there is incredible power in playing a woman who is fighting against a world that is truly against her,” Silber said. She also appreciates “seeing that relaxed and expand in the presence of Harold Hill. It’s a really beautiful journey for a human being to go on.”
Another joy for Silber is singing many beautiful songs, which include, “Goodnight, My Someone,” “My White Knight,” and “Till There Was You.”
“It’s so joyful. It’s one of the most brilliant pieces of our canon,” director and choreographer Spelman said of “The Music Man.” “But at the same time, there’s a lot of strife and difficulty inside of it. It’s not without it’s darker points which is why I think the joy pops so beautifully.”
Spelman decided to choreograph the show in addition to directing it because, “It’s a show that feels like it moves all the way through. Choreography is story in this one.”
The director indicated that there are several factors that will make her production of this musical distinctive. For one thing, she cast Marian and Harold Hill older than they are generally portrayed in this show.
Even though it’s not stated in the show, Spelman and her cast decided that a typhoid epidemic hit the town a few years before the musical began. That explains the loss of some people in the town and why Harold Hill’s bringing music back to the town is so significant for the residents.
The biggest challenge for the director is working with a 34-person cast — the second largest cast ever at the Marriott. She indicated it’s an exciting challenge, though. “How do you have all of those people in the space and still get all of the story across that you need to get across?” Spellman posed. She credits the wonderful ensemble for making that process fun.
Silber concluded that Spelman’s take on this musical is “a very entertaining and a very joyful experience but also a very profound one.”
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
‘The Music Man’
When: April 10-June 2cq
Where: Marriott Theatre, Ten Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire
Tickets: $63-$78
Information: 847-634-0200; marriotttheatre.com
