Put Some Music ManIn Your Weekend

Traditional musical theatre buffs will delightfully savor every morsel of the winning combination of great singing, high-stepping music, superb choreography, colorful period costumes and much more in the Newark High School Drama Club’s performances March 1st -3rd of Meridith Willson’s timeless Broadway hit “The Music Man.”

“Audiences will love this classic piece of musical theatre!,” Director Emily Howard raved February 25th. “We guarantee to have you clapping along to “76 Trombones” by the end of the performance! “The Music Man” is a great family-friendly show. This is the perfect show to introduce children to live theatre.” 

The early twentieth century story line centers around charming con artist Harold Hill masquerading as a boys band leader trying to cheat the naive residents of River City, Iowa with his conniving scheme of offering to equip and train the marching band, then skip town with the money since he has no musical skill. His plan goes south when when he falls head over heels for a not-to-be-fooled librarian whom he is trying to keep from exposing him while he inadvertently enriches the town with a love of music.

“As I said when rehearsals began in January, “Music Man” has been on my "someday" list for show selection for several years,” Howard said. “We were just waiting until we had the right combination of young performers. We are particularly excited this year that the cast features 9 Kelley School and Newark Middle School students.

“Overall, this show was an ambitious undertaking. We had to be very creative about set pieces since there are seven different distinct locations in the script. This is the largest cast I have directed and it has been a fun challenge trying to fit everyone on the stage without resorting to just lines of people! I'm excited that the cast is broken into little families on stage. I know their work creating interesting characters and relationships with each other will be fun for the audience to see.”

Howard, who is also the choreographer and artistic director for the show, is joined by NHS vocal music teacher Kate Flock as the vocal director for the show; NHS instrumental music teacher Bob Humphrey as the orchestra director and Mary Lou Bonnell as the piano accompanist.

The cast features: Jaston Brooks as Harold Hill; Dylan Burley as school board/quartet member Jacey Squires; Cody Acquista as school board/quartet member Olin Britt; Jack Comella as school board/quartet member Oliver Hix; Joey Malach as school board/quartet member Ewart Dunlop; Ben Cepulo as Mayor Shinn; Carson Jordan as Marcellus Washburn; Anisha Stallworth as Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn; Isabella Bailey as Alma Hix; Kelsie Bushart as Maud Dunlop; Isabelle Figueroa as Mrs. Squires; Bria Dano as Ethel Toffeimier; Natalie Acquista as Marian Paroo; Cherylanne Garrett as Mrs. Paroo; Addison Burgess as Amaryllis; Braydan Sherman as Winthrop Paroo; Medina VanDuyne as Zaneeta Shinn; Gabriella Taylor as Gracie Shinn; Ashton Keene as Tommy Djilas; Ryan Hermenet as Charlie Cowell; and Liam Childs as Constable Locke. River City townspeople include: Rebecca Atwell, Tanner Blaisdell, Anna Bouwens, Grace Casler, Phillip Collom, Ella Crowder, Emma Healy, Ryan Hermenet, Tyler Jewett, JJ Fontanez-Orwen, Samantha Johnson, Elijah Malach, Ethan Meeks, McKinley Miller, Paris Morris, Nadia Rothpearl, Brenna Stefanides, Veronia Swann, Anna Szarek, Deborah Szarek and Emma Whiting. River City children, in addition to Winthrop and Amaryllis, include: Molly Bailey, Maggie Cornwell, Mariah Cruz, Beatrice VanRiper, AJ Comella, Talen Kanaley and Henry Klemann.

The crew includes: Liberty Faliveno, Talissa Rodriquez-Ramos and Kayla Williams as the stage management team; Preston Precourt as the light board operator, Lauren Mays as the sound operator; Blake Aldrich, fly; Alex Collom, Abigail Nezelek, Anna Renzi, Owen Ross, Deontae Tarver and Chloe Weichbrodt deck crew; and Jacob Stalker and Rachel George, spotlight operators. Student pit band musicians include: McKenna Briggs, reed 2; Mallory Williams, trumpet 2, Brendan Briggs, trumpet 3 and Stephen Skvarek, violin on synthesizer.

Dave Howard is in charge of set design and Linda Whiting is in charge of costumes. The show will be presented March 1st and 2nd at 7 p.m. in the NHS auditorium and at 2 p.m. March 3rd. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children. Senior citizens may attend the final dress rehearsal of the show for free February 28th at 3:30 p.m..