River City’s got Trouble . . . with a capital T that rhymes with C that stands for Change. With some creative surprises, Bill Rauch reveals and celebrates the transformative power of art in this joyous American musical classic, brought to you OSF style. River City’s folks have a chip-on-the-shoulder attitude until Harold Hill steps off the train with a glittering scam: to teach music to the town’s children—and bilk their parents. Surprising himself and everyone else, Hill colors the town with openhearted possibility, and love makes River City the end of the line for him.
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Schedule
Running time: 2 hours 34 minutes, with one intermission
Audio & Video:
Production Preview (2:08)
Why The Music Man at OSF? (2:45)
Thoughts on the production (4:33)
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Play image: Michael Elich (Harold Hill) and Gwendolyn Mulamba (Marian Paroo)
Artistic Team/Cast
Director
Choreographer
Scenic Designer
Assistant Choreographer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Music Director/Arranger
Assistant Music Director
Sound Designer
Fight Director
Voice and Text Director
Dramaturg
Assistant Director
Cast List
Harold Hill
Marian Paroo
Mayor Shinn (selected performances after 5/28)
Mayor Shinn (selected performances after 5/28)
Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn
Mrs. Paroo
Marcellus Washburn
Charlie Cowell, Farmer
Tommy Djilas, Salesman
Zaneeta Shinn
Ewart Dunlop, the grocer
Oliver Hix, the banker
Jacey Squires, the livery stable owner
Olin Britt, the editor
Conductor, Constable, Driver
Alma Hix, Ensemble
Maud Dunlop, Ensemble
Mrs. Squires, Ensemble
Ethel Toffelmier, Ensemble
Farmer's Wife, Chorus Woman
Winthrop
Winthrop
Amaryllis
Amaryllis
Davey, Salesman
Linus Dunlop
Barnie Hix
Barbie Hix
Susie Britt
Gracie Shinn
Flute
Conductor, Pianist
Trumpet
Clarinet, Saxophone
Percussion
Guitar, Banjo, Bass Guitar
Trombones
* Member of Actors' Equity Association
Photo Gallery
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Age recommendation: A delightful story of moving past "just dreaming" to actively reaching for those dreams, it is suitable for ages 6 and up.
Please note: Children under 6 are not admitted to plays or other events.
e-Luminations: Phraseology
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Illuminations, OSF's 64-page guide to the plays.
Audio & Video:
Production Preview (2:08)
Why The Music Man at OSF? (2:45)
Thoughts on the production (4:33)
Synopsis: July 4, 1912: Charlie Crowell, his fellow salesmen and a stranger are playing cards aboard a railway car somewhere in Iowa. Charlie’s angry about a conman named Harold Hill, who blows into town promising to start a boy’s band, collects money for instruments and then skips. As the train pulls into River City, the stranger gets up to leave and the others realize, too late, that he is—Professor Harold Hill.
The first person Harold runs into is an old crony, Marcellus Washburn. Marcellus warns Harold that Marian Paroo, the local music teacher, is sure to expose him. Undeterred, Harold goes to work riling up the townsfolk about the moral pitfalls of the town’s new pool table and offers them a wholesome alternative—a boys’ band. Everybody is bewitched by Harold’s salesmanship. Everybody, that is, except for Mayor Shinn (who owns the pool table) and Marian.
As Harold cons the community, Marian, in her other capacity as town librarian, checks out his claims as a musical educator. Armed with a book proving that he is a fraud, she goes to Mayor Shinn, intending to expose Harold but is interrupted by the arrival of the Wells Fargo wagon carrying the band instruments. Marian has a soft spot: her lonely, withdrawn little brother, Winthrop. When Marian sees how happy he is with his shiny new cornet, she tears the damning page out of the book she was going to give the mayor.
The Ice Cream Sociable reflects Harold’s influence on River City. Mayor Shinn’s wife and the Ladies Auxiliary are presenting Grecian tableaus, the local school board sings barbershop quartets and Tommy Djilas, the town delinquent, is dancing with Zaneeta, the mayor’s daughter. The most pronounced change is in Marian, who has fallen in love with Harold. At the footbridge, she tells him how she feels and presents him with the evidence that would have exposed him. It’s a lovely moment that won’t last. Charlie Cowell arrives in town and has told the mayor everything. Marian urges Harold to run but he won’t. He’s in love, too, and he’s going to face the music.
Down at the school gymnasium, there is talk of tarring and feathering until Marian confronts her neighbors. She reminds them what River City was like before Harold came. Then the River City Boys’ Band marches in. As they play a shaky, barely recognizable Minuet in G, Harold and the townspeople realize that he has, indeed, finally delivered the goods.—Beth Bardossi