The Music Man (4) "Wells Fargo Wagon"

Continuing The Adventures of Me in the Gahanna Community Theatre production of THE MUSIC MAN by Meredith Wilson.

We're now in our last week of rehearsals before the show opens this Friday. Have you gotten your tickets yet?

A shady character going by the name of Professor Harold Hill stops off in River City, Iowa to try to con people out of their money to fund a boys' band. Of course, he has no intention of ever actually starting the band. Problems ensue when he starts to have feelings for the local librarian.

As a member of the chorus I play a citizen of River City. We sing four songs: "Iowa Stubborn," "76 Trombones," "Trouble," and my favorite, "Wells Fargo Wagon." (I've talked about all of these songs except "Trouble," so if you want to hear Robert Preston's THE MUSIC MAN versions of them, search The Theatre thread for the month of January and February and they should pop right up.) As a kid I sometimes would order stickers or model kids from magazines, or I subscribed to comic-books. I *loved* the idea that the mailman or the deliveryman would stop and bring me something cool, delivered right to my door. And this is a fun song all about that phenomenon. 

By the way, as a citizen of River City I have ONE line. Here it is in its entirety: "What are you doing about getting our money back!?!"

You'll have to come see me to find out what my cue is to say the line, though.

I've had a lot of fun doing this show, and I hope only two things: (1) that I don't mess up my rat-a-tat "Rock Island" salesman bit at the very beginning, and (2) that I don't trip or otherwise cause myself or others embarrassment. I always say that as long as I am not the least talented person on stage, I'm doing okay.

Oddly enough, in the movie of THE MUSIC MAN the Mayor and Shirley Jones (as the librarian) have their conversation between verse 1 and verse 2. In the stage version, their conversation occurs before the song starts. I wonder why that was changed.

If you want to wish me luck, tell me "break a leg." That is the traditional theatre way of saying, "Good luck." 

If you would like to know more about when and where our production will be, please click the Gahanna Community Theatre homepage. or purchase tickets from iTickets here

The Music Man (3) "Iowa Stubborn"

Continuing The Adventures of Me in the Gahanna Community Theatre production of THE MUSIC MAN by Meredith Wilson.

Rehearsals have picked up in the last week as we run through the entire show every night. The show is Feb 14-16, and so far we have done all staging, blocking (who goes where, and when), and choreography. This week we are going to start working with the orchestra. Things are moving ever forward to Opening Night...!

I am in the very first scene, the "Rock Island" train bit I talked about last time. As soon as that scene ends I need to do a quick costume addition to change from "Salesman #4" to "Iowa Citizen." As soon as the train leaves the station at River City, the chorus goes into the first song, which is "Iowa Stubborn." This is sung by all the townspeople of River City, Iowa when Professor Harold Hill is sizing-up the place for his con. It's an introduction to the "small-mindedness" of small town people. However, Meredith Wilson actually grew up in Iowa. If you listen to the words, it's not so much a criticism of small town people as it is a song TO them.

And we're so by-God stubborn we can stand touching noses 
for a week at a time and never see eye to eye

is followed by the kicker

But we'll give you our shirt and the back to go with it
If your crops should happen to die

You really ought to give Iowa a try. 

So it's a fun song to sing with cool lyrics. Also, that bit about helping our fellow man is sung a capello, and we sound pretty good if I do say so myself.

The hardest part of the song for me is the end, where we have to sing several Iowa city names, the vast majority of which I have never heard of!

If you would like to know more about when and where our production will be, please click the Gahanna Community Theatre homepage. or purchase tickets from iTickets here

The Music Man (2) "Rock Island"

Continuing The Adventures of Me in the Gahanna Community Theatre production of THE MUSIC MAN by Meredith Wilson.

Last week I was at rehearsal and we went through "Rock Island." This is the very first scene of the show, when  a band of traveling salesmen sit around on a train talking about how modern times are making their profession harder. While they are riding from Illinois into Iowa one guy brings up someone named Professor Harold Hill, who is a traveling salesman specializing in selling boys' bands.

This was the first time I had rehearsed this song (for lack of a better word, although there is no music to it) and boy! was it difficult to get down! Not only are the words said to the beat (representing the sound of the train chug-chug-chugging along), but they are said lightning fast. So imagine a duet or song with individual solos, add in difficult lyrics, and keep it to a fast beat. Now you've got the idea of how difficult it is to do "Rock Island."

Luckily (?), I was cast as Salesman No. 4, i.e. "the annoying one." If you know the piece I'm talking about you know one of the salesmen keeps repeating, "Whaddya talk?" This time, that annoying guy is me. So I already know 85% of my lines! Now I just need to remember that I say it five times in a row, then three times in a row, then four times, then five times again, and then twice. You get the idea. If I say it three times but I'm supposed to say it twice, I'll throw the rhythm off. If I say it four times when I'm supposed to say it three times, I'll step on the next guy's line. So....yeah, pressure.

Our musical director and the director of the play both told us (eight guys) to rehearse it over and over again until we have "muscle memory." So I have been singing, "Whaddya talk?" at the CD player for the last few days. My wife thinks I'm crazy.

Here's the scene from the Matthew Broderick ABC-TV version from a few years ago.

There is a place in Illinois on the border with Iowa named "Rock Island" so I guess that is where the name comes. There is a line in the show that says the train has now crossed into Iowa, so it must have started in Illinois.

If you would like to know more about when and where our production will be, please click the Gahanna Community Theatre homepage. or purchase tickets from iTickets here

The Music Man by Meredith Wilson (1)

One of the greatest American musicals is THE MUSIC MAN, by Meredith Wilson. He wrote the music and lyrics, and worked with Franklin Lacey on the book. The show premiered on December 19, 1957 off-Broadway and ran through April 15, 1961. At the 1958 Tony Awards it won Best Musical, Best Lead Actor in a Musical (Robert Preston), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Barbara Cook), and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (David Burns).

The story revolves around con-man "Harold Hill," who travels through the Mid-West taking orders for instruments and uniforms for boys' bands, then skipping town as soon as he gets his money. In River City, Iowa, however, he begins to fall in love with Marian (the librarian) and his plot unravels. 

Wilson was born and grew up in Mason City, Iowa. One of the songs, "Iowa Stubborn," is a love-letter to the hard-to-get-to-know people of the Hawkeye State.

In 1962 THE MUSIC MAN was made into a motion picture, produced and directed by the Broadway director, Morton DaCosta. Although Warner Bros purchased the rights, and they had a history of insisting "bigger" names take over the main roles when filming Broadway shows, DaCosta and Wilson both insisted that Robert Preston be cast as Harold Hill in the film.  It was his biggest success. Shirley Jones, fresh from OKLAHOMA! and her Academy Award-winning role in ELMER GANTRY, played Marian. 

Meredith Wilson was an accomplished songwriter in Hollywood before he began writing musicals. He has also written such well-known songs as "You and I," "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas," "May God Bless And Keep You," and "Chicken Fat." Three songs from THE MUSIC MAN have also become very famous: "76 Trombones," "Trouble," and "Til There Was You." The latter was recorded by the Beatles and appears on their US album, MEET THE BEATLES.

The reason I'm writing all this (and you are reading it) is because my local theatre is putting on an amateur version of THE MUSIC MAN in February. I am playing one of the Iowa Citizens, aka "Chorus." So for the next month or so I will be showcasing the songs from this great show.

If you are anywhere near central Ohio on/around Feb 14, check out the Gahanna Community Theatre page and come see me. "You really ought to give (us) a try....!"

First song I'll feature here is one of the most famous, and one that was used as the Finale in the movie. We haven't gotten to that part yet in rehearsals, but I'm guessing it will be our finale, too.

Look closely and you may notice little Ron Howard in the cast as Winthrop. This was after he had started appearing in THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, "Seventy-Six Trombones (reprise)" from THE MUSIC MAN, words and music by Meredith Wilson.

My Life In The Theatre (Intro)



me as Mr. Kirby (R) with Priscilla McFarland as Mrs. Kirby
and Diane Whitenack as Gay Wellington (2002)

As I get ready to go do our last show of MAME! with the Gahanna Community Theatre later this afternoon, I wanted to take this time to write a quick note about why I do theatre. Short answer: not sure, haha! I think I have some sort of drive to be creative and it manifests itself in drawing, singing, telling jokes, writing (this blog?), and, I guess, performing. I've never had any particular passion to be a "star" or a lead; I've always been satisfied with the bit or supporting parts. But when I'm surrounded by other people who have that "bug" to perform, I guess it's contagious enough to infect me, too.

My first actual "part" on stage was in high school. For three years I was only on the Stage Crew, but for the Senior Play I played the Chef in some forgettable play called MRS. McTHING. The play was stupid but the experience was fun. I also helped out in some American History Revue, singing and doing one or two small bits ala the old variety shows. That, too, was fun. And I got to kiss the girl! Mostly, though, I enjoyed crew work on shows like HELLO DOLLY, GREASE, and A RAISIN IN THE SUN.

Fast forward about 20 years when I came back from Japan and took a job in Portland, Indiana. There wasn't a whole lot to do in Portland, but there *was* community theatre. So after I went to see their version of ANNIE and verified that they didn't suck (haha) I went to Open Auditions for YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU. I had wanted to introduce myself and volunteer my Stage Crew expertise. However.....! Jay County Civic Theatre suffers from a chronic need for male participants (aka "you have a penis, you have a part") and I went away from the audition with the role of Mr. Anthony Kirby, father of the lead. YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU is still my favorite show and experience; the role was just big enough for me to not fret over too much, the people I worked with were fantastic, and there was a minimum amount of stress. As a newbie, I really didn't know there was plenty of drama behind the scenes, even in comedies! This show, however, was almost 100% fun. Plus the book itself by Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman is just so well written, it's impossible to not enjoy it.

That was the beginning of a fun time with Jay County Civic Theatre. Even after I moved to Columbus I remained the Home Page Editor,so I went to every show and took cast and show photos. It was fun.

Eventually, however, I got that *itch* again. I looked around my neighborhood and found community theatre groups in two nearby towns: Pickerington and Gahanna. Gahanna was putting on GUYS & DOLLS, an old favorite; Pickerington was putting on BYE BYE BIRDIE at the same time as an Indiana show. So almost by default, I ended up auditioning for Gahanna. They wanted a song with music....and the only thing I felt confident enough to do was "The Star Spangled Banner." Now, this is a notoriously difficult song to sing, so I figured if I could do it to their satisfaction I would be in. I got to the higher notes ("and the rockets' red glare...!") and they stopped me and said I was IN. :-) Last year was a lot of fun hanging out with "the gangsters." I think I actually had one or two lines; otherwise I was strictly chorus. But this was just the introduction that I was looking for.



me (third from L) as one of "the guys" in GUYS & DOLLS (2011)

This year for Gahanna's production of MAME I almost didn't audition. Because my schedule has been so crazy and I didn't really know the show itself, I initially intended to sit it out. However, a few guys from last year and the producer, too, FB'd me and said "I better get my heinie in the show." And now I'm glad I did. The music and dancing has been very difficult, but last week when it all finally *clicked* we've been able to enjoy the whole thing. I actually get a role this year as Stage Manager. (If you're familiar with the show, I'm the guy who says, "Sorry, Moon Lady.") We've had two great shows, and now we have one more today and then we're done for another year...and I think I'll keep coming back as long as I can. 

I'll be back in a few days with pictures from MAME. Until then... 

On With The Show!