Harold Hill has left the building

Sunday’s closing matinee of The Music Man was sold out and the cast’s excitement and adrenaline manifested in some crazy ad-libs and over-the-top performances.  I don’t blame them.  It was the school’s first musical.  I remember bringing one of my ex-bf’s to his first Broadway musical, Aida, and he was blown away.  I mean, Aida!?  Imagine if I had brought him to Ragtime or Hairspray.  He’d of passed out.

I had also forgotten how good Meredith Willson’s book is, with all the songs emerging organically from the dialogue and every scene catapulting the story forward.  The recent crop of new musicals, save maybe Book of Mormon, really do have shitty books compared to the classics.  It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when today’s audience standard of quality is Mamma Mia.

Considering many of our young actors had not sung onstage before, the shows went remarkably well with several lovely performances.  I do have to give an extra fist pump to Brenden Paternostro, our Harold Hill.  He was one of the few cast members who, throughout the rehearsal process, was always prepared and off book.

I also have to give a shout out to our dancers, who picked up any staging and choreography we threw at them with little to no rehearsal.  Oh, to have these dancers in the Pineda Conservatory shows (sigh).  A girl can dream.

If I was being picky, it wasn’t until Saturday evening’s show that the cast really relaxed and found their “groove.”  They finally got out of their own heads and started to work off the energy of the live audience.  But I guess that’s to be expected when you don’t have your lines memorized until opening night.  Oh, yes.  I went there. 

I won’t name any names, but imagine how much better the show could have been had certain cast members actually bothered to learn their lines before the first performance and we were able to actually direct them.  Sadly, some were still stumbling with lines up through the final performance - as if they think we didn’t notice.  Oh well, that’s a rant for another time and over a few cocktails. 

I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer.  There were some wonderful performances and many proud friends and family members.  Hopefully the success of this inaugural production will inspire these young actors to up their game next year.