Twenty-one Middle School Montrosians are rehearsing weekdays the upcoming production of The Music Man Jr.. The Music Man will hit the M&M stage on the weekend of November 22 and 23.
The story is set in Midwest, where a stranger comes to town (“Professor” Harold Hill) and cons this quiet, trusting town into giving money to this man for their children’s instruments and uniforms to participate in a marching band. He manipulates their fears that their youth faces the dangers of “pool halls” in the absence of quality after school activities.
The “Professor” instructs through a revolutionary new “Think System,” where the children simply think of the music and then they will be able to play the music.
The con man transforms through the story, as he gets to know the families and realizes how much a marching band has raised the hopes of the town, especially for a young child struggling since his father died. That child’s old sister, Miss Marian (the Librarian), becomes skeptical, and she investigates the “Professor.” Meanwhile, love blossoms between the two. Will Hill carry out is devious schemes, despite his growing attachment to the town? Will Marian reveal the dirt she has uncovered about the “Professor?” A nefarious salesman tips the scales.
In the production, you will meet the townspeople whom the “Professor” manipulates with flattery and confusion — the colorful ladies of the town, with their funny renditions and songs that capture the nature of female gossip, and the highly-distractible barber shop quartet.
While the middle schoolers work behind the scenes, Montrosians will wonder what magic Montrose’s Drama Director Mrs. Sullivan, Assistant Director Kate Cusack, and Stage Manager Nora Sullivan, will work with this latest production. Stay tuned…