After a show like The Music Man, I’m often asked, “How do you remember all those lines?” Well, my standard response is, “If you had the same conversation over and over, perhaps twice a night, you’d eventually memorize it.”
Now a song like “Ya Got Trouble” from The Music Man brought on its own set of problems, er, troubles.
Even if you’re not familiar with the show, you can probably finish the line: “Ya got trouble, my friend, right here...” Admit it. Your mind said, “Right here in River City!”
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That one line was about all I knew of the song before being cast in the show. This song is a staple of the show. Fellow cast member Kevin Fitzhenry, a real theatre buff, told me the other day that it almost didn’t appear in the show at all. It originally was dialogue that Professor Harold Hill (my character) was telling the town. The author was considering cutting it, when he realized it had a sort of pattern to it, or a lyrical quality, and one of the signature songs of the show was born.
Almost immediately after finding out I was cast in the show, I knew what my first task must be. Number one priority: Learn “Trouble!” It was then that I realized that this “song” was really just going to be me talking as fast as I can for just shy of four minutes. It spans eight pages in the script. EIGHT pages! How nuts is that?
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One word: Repetition. In the shower, in the car, in the elevator, in my head—constantly. I admit I received many strange looks—the teenaged grocery bagger at Kroger thinks I’m insane. A homeless guy downtown offered me some money. But it was all worth it.
I’ve been told that once you learn the song, it gets locked in and you can pull it back at any time, even years later. I like that idea. ‘Cause then I’ll be ready just in case at a party somewhere, I’m asked to talk as fast as I can for just shy of four minutes. You never know when that may happen.
But just when I start to think I’ve really accomplished something almost insurmountable, at the last Sunday matinee, I notice Tony Cipriano and Gino Calisi (if you average their ages, it’s probably around 10 years old). They were having what could only be called a “Trouble-Off”.
Those darn kids know the song better than me!
Tim Reinman portrays Professor Harold Hill in Grosse Pointe Theatre’s The Music Man continuing at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial’s Fries Auditorium, this Thursday through Sunday, October 2nd. Call (313) 881-4004 for tickets or on-line at www.gpt.org.
