Music Man Shone at the Burgdorff Center

Last night's performance of The Music Man, at Maplewood's shone with all the brass and glitter of a school band cornet.

From the moment Meridoc Burkhardt stepped onto the stage as the fast-talking raconteur Harold Hill, all thoughts of Robert Preston from the 1962 screen version (and '57 Broadway musical) receded. Yes he was that good.  All slick and con artist, he could bamboozle the entire Iowa town of River City for all their musical instruments and uniforms.  Hell he bamboozled the entire front row in seconds flat.  And that was before you realized this guy can sing.  

And no I couldn't stop smiling, not that the entire audience didn't have the same grin on their faces.  It was just so darn contagious, with Meredith Willson's legendary score which, admit it, you kept singing (or whistling) on the way there and even more on the ride home (Seventy-Six Trombones, Lida Rose, Goodnight My Someone).  Hill's love interest, Marian the Librarian, played by the sweet-faced Brielle Raddi, was equally convincing with a lovely voice to match. Their chemistry was palpable, his glib and suave next to her innocent yet level-headed made for a night of sweet romance, yes indeed, there were bells all around.

The theater's resident acting troupe--the Strollers--hand-picked a perfectly suited cast that evoked the early 1900's; adults and children looked the period part with costumes that were spot-on: empire-style dresses, lace-up shoes for the girls, frivolous hats for the gossipy women singing "Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little." Also noteworthy were the child actors, Jaron Bernard, who played the lisping Winthrop, and Beatrice Halper, the piano student. Any thoughts of these two ever texting on an I-phone were dispelled immediately.

The director, Norman Metz's clever placing of the orchestra in the back of the stage as a bandstand was well thought out, as was his use of a movable scrim for the first scene on the train. The barbershop quartet sang in sweet harmony, once again, evoking the period in hairstyle and costume. 

Though the show's final performance was over on Sunday and apparently sold-out their upcoming season looks enticing: Twelve Angry Men, Little Women The Musical and more. 

For more information on the Strollers, please visit www.thestrollers.org.