THE PLAY: Spunky-but-shady traveling salesman Harold Hill comes to a small town in 1912 Iowa to scam the people with promises of a boy’s band. This classic musical is full of catchy songs and comical characters.
THE PRODUCTION: Larry Cook (who’s reprising the lead 17 years later) bounds around the stage with endless energy, but was slight on the oversize personality needed to charm the folks. The cast is peppered with enjoyable performances (real-life couple Joe Pabst and Debra Wagoner were the comic highlights). Voices are uniformly solid, set is big and beautiful, lighting is lovely and costumes are colorful. The choreography by Leslie-Owens Harrington is energetic, clever and fills the stage. Even though director John Moon has infused the production with a loving energy, it could have used a bit more stylized whimsy.
THE POINT: A big, lively staging of one of America’s most delightful musicals.
