Review: 'Meredith Willson's The Music Man' at Sharon Playhouse

“Whereas many theaters today focus on bringing together new playwright with established directors, I thought the Playhouse could stand out by being an artistic home for the next generation of American theatre makers: a space for young directors to experiment, reinvent and shatter our notions of what theater is and discover new possibilities for what it can be.” - Sharon Playhouse Artistic Director Johnson Henshaw

Sharon, CT - My first inkling that ‘Music Man’ at Sharon Playhouse would be different was when I heard that the costumes would be present day. When I first saw a photo of a few of the outfits, I was less than impressed, but hoped that they would be better on stage. Then the word “reimagined” became associated with the production and I surmised that more than the costuming was involved. After the production opened but before I was able to make the 45 mile trip up to Sharon, I learned that an audience member had vehemently complained to the licensing organization (MTI) about this “reimagining” with the inclusion of cell phones, a razor scooter and a “salacious” vibe. MTI issued a letter on Friday telling the theater to immediately cease and desist the production in its current incarnation.

When I arrived at the Saturday matinee, I was a bit surprised to sit in an audience that was quite full for a daytime performance; so many young children attended that the ushers ran out of booster seats. (One of them behind me loudly and repeatedly complained that the show was “boring” before the intermission and did not return.)

Johnson Henshaw, a weekend resident of Sharon who is a young producer and director with both theater and TV credits, is the new Artistic Director of Sharon Playhouse. He bravely took to the stage for his curtain speech and explained the situation with ‘Music Man.’ He began by explaining that when he asked the most talented figures in the theater for their list of the best young directors out there, the name of Morgan Green alone appeared on every list and he asked her to direct all of the shows for the 2017 season.

Ms. Green watched and rewatched the 1962 movie version of ‘The Music Man’ and eagerly chose it as the musical to end the season in Sharon. She appreciated the complex female lead and saw it as “an exciting vehicle to look at America right now and our susceptibility to fear mongering and righteous rhetoric.” She fully embraced the new artistic directors desire to reimagine the classic musical.

Mr. Henshaw stated that MTI did in fact issue the cease and desist letter as a result of the audience member’s’ complaint using the adjectives “lewd” and “salacious” to describe the production. The production team did not want to disappoint patrons that held tickets for upcoming performances, so MTI “graciously” worked with the theater to correct the tweaks enough to keep it open. The two songs that had been cut by the director for being inappropriate, namely Marion’s number “My White Knight” and Harold Hill’s “The Sadder-But-Wiser Girl For Me,’ would be sight-read by the appropriate actors and the cell phone(s) and razor scooter were nowhere in sight. No other changes were mentioned, but others might have been noticed by anyone who saw an earlier performance.

By intermission, I had to admit that some of the updating proved to be pretty exciting and showed a very strong director’s “dream big” vision. Other changes made me wish for the traditional version, despite the fact that the show has never been one of my favorites. Frankly, if the “lewdness” was toned down, the teens making out in the back of the library as well as Marion and Harold kissing on the footbridge were still pretty racy for the youngest audience members. I would have preferred cell phones in every pocket to the handguns and rifles still used by everyone searching for Harold during “Chase Music.”

I enjoyed the “Rock Island” opening scene with the traveling salesmen (Jennie Boone, Matthew Drob, Ben Langhorst, Becca Schneider, Daniel Walstad and Milo Cramer as Charlie Cowell) lined up facing the audience because the audience got to watch the face of Harold Hill (skillfully played by Robert M. Johanson) as the noise of his competitors went on around him. Mr. Johanson was the perfect shyster with onstage energy to spare and he sang very well. Equity member Vin Knight was pretty funny as the fussy Mayor Shinn with Equity actress Annie McNamara as his wife Eulalie. Rachel Eddy played their daughter Zaneeta and Lorelei Gnerre was daughter Gracie.

I didn’t mind the disco version of the otherwise silly “Shipoopi” in the second act, but the low-key “Marian the Librarian” was a disappointment for me. “The Wells Fargo Wagon” was updated with the cast in a long diagonal line passing Amazon packages and it worked. Not selling any seats in the front row of the house confused ticket holders looking for their seats but brought the audience into the scene when cast members sat in them at various points in the action.

The African-American Paroo family included Denise Michelle Johnson as the wise matriarch, young Myles Crain as Winthrop and Elizabeth Thomas as the librarian Marian. Ms. Thomas had the voice of an angel, even for her sight reading of “My White Knight,” however inappropriate it was. The line about the family being Irish was not cut.

The updated quartet wore one knee brace for kneeling; the fine vocalists included Matthew Drob, Robert Bannon, Daniel Walstad and Jacob Pressley. Equity’s Larry Owens played Marcellus Washburn and Katelin J. Lopes was cute as piano student Amaryllis. Becca Schneider stood out as Constable Anna Hix, Ninoshka De Leon Gill played Maud Dunlop, dance captain Jennie Boone was Ethel Toffelmeier and Helen Laser played Ms. Squires.

In the ensemble were Susan Hackel, Colin Gallaher, Tyler Gallaher, Ben Langhorst, and WCSU graduate Megan O’Callaghan (Kitty in the award winning ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ at WestConn.)

Thankfully the costumes designed by Alice Tavener made more sense onstage; the greens and yellows for the townsfolk referenced the cornfields of Iowa and contrasted well with the plaids on the hucksters. While a couple of the video projections designed by Jessica Medenbach worked with the scene, for the most part, just no. I wasn’t a fan of the red, white and light blue theme of the set designed by Carolyn Mraz, but I can’t say that I have a better suggestion either. Choreography by Chris DeVita wasn’t anything that I remembered, but the musicians conducted by Assistant MD Christopher Piro on keyboards with musical direction by Granville Mullings, Jr. did very well with the classic score; Mr. Piro alone accompanied the two added songs.

Meredith Willson’s THE MUSIC MAN has book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson with a story by Mr. Willson and Franklin Lacey. The Sharon Playhouse production directed by Morgan Green continues through Aug. 20.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues and posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theater Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417