Text Size:
A|
A|
A
Email
PrintRobinson Township Christian School isn't River City, Iowa, and the pupils don't call music teacher Natalie Shaw the Music Woman. But the school does have a few things in common with its selection for spring musical.
The 1957 Broadway show "The Music Man," set in 1912 River City, Iowa, deals with con man "Professor" Harold Hill, who offers to protect River City's youth by creating a marching band.
 |
|||
|
"The Music Man"
|
|||
|
|||
Where: Robinson Township Christian School, 77 Phillips Lane, Robinson.He collects money for instruments and uniforms but before he can move on to scam the next small town, he falls in love with Marian the Librarian. Will he stay in River City and face the music?
Like River City, Robinson Township Christian School is small -- 136 pupils in pre-Kindergarten to grade 12 -- so musical director Mrs. Shaw must use her younger pupils in shows, not just those of high-school age.
And while Harold Hill might not have been wholly serious about protecting youth, Mrs. Shaw must be, and so had to find a show appropriate for all the performers. The family-friendly "Music Man," she said, "was perfect."
Andrew Wright and Jamie Stuart, the actors playing Harold Hill and Marian Paroo, are high-school age, while Marian's young brother Winthrop, played by Danny Boyle, is just one of the 18 third- through sixth-graders in the production.
One of the challenges, said Mrs. Shaw, was teaching the youngest cast members to act and sing harmony, but she added that the high school actors have "been mentors" to the younger ones.
Mrs. Shaw pointed out that, musically, one of the most difficult parts of "Music Man" is the barbershop quartet numbers, but she was confident that the four young men -- Nate Thompson, James Sral, Sam Stucky and Justin Shaffer -- have mastered the complex harmonies.
Another challenge was finding band uniforms, but Mrs. Shaw said they were lucky enough to find a thrift store with a big selection of white tuxedos. "We just added stripes."
"Music Man" has several songs, like "76 Trombones" and "Gary, Indiana" that will be familiar to audiences, but Mrs. Shaw felt Jamie Stuart's "Goodnight My Someone" and the ensemble number "Pickalittle, Talkalittle" will be high points.
At the end of "Music Man," Harold Hill must decide if he will stay in River City and continue to lead the band. Robinson Township Christian School, though, will lose its music teacher when Mrs. Shaw leaves at the end of the year -- not for Iowa, but for Idaho. Soon she'll be moving on to start a new life, but right now, she said, "the kids are giving me a great year."
