LAPORTE -- River City, Iowa, in 1912, came to life in LaPorte Saturday night as the LaPorte County Symphony Orchestra staged “The Music Man” at the Civic Auditorium.
What was originally planned as a few songs sung in concert turned into a fully staged production, complete with choreography and costumes.
Thomas Coe, choral director at LaPorte High School, played Harold Hill, the traveling salesman who persuades parents to buy musical instruments, instruction manuals and band uniforms for their sons, then skips on to the next town before people realize their children haven’t learned how to play a note. Linda Murphy, who sings with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has performed at LaPorte Little Theatre, portrayed Marian Paroo, River City’s spinster librarian.
Other principal characters were LaPorte Mayor Leigh Morris, as River City Mayor Shinn; Steve Becker as Harold Hill’s cohort Marcellus; Susie Richter as Mrs. Paroo; Patrick Post as her son, Winthrop; Kristen Lang as Amaryllis; Bonnie Quigley as Eulalie Shinn; Rich Snyder as traveling salesman Charlie Cowell; and Howard Brenneman, Matt Nelson, Curtis Passafume and Robert Richter as school board members turned barbershop quartet. The orchestra was directed by Philip Bauman with Robert Dure and Nelson as chorus masters of the 77-member chorus of local singers.
James Snyder as stage director and Quigley as his assistant created the motion of a train in the first scene, as Cowell and other salesmen travel from Rock Island, Ill., into Iowa. Cowell’s mantra was “you gotta know the territory!” Coe’s precise diction served him well in both speech and song throughout the night.
Susie Richter played Marion’s nagging Irish mother with a very valid accent and Murphy’s clear tones came through in her first solo, “Goodnight My Someone.”
The quartet had several barbershop-style songs where their voices blended well. They sang “Goodnight Ladies” while the ladies of River City sang “Pickalittle,” not an easy thing to do, but nobody missed a beat. One of the most poignant songs was “My White Knight,” a duet by Murphy and Susie Richter.
After the intermission, symphony board President Marcia Morris auctioned the right to conduct the orchestra. Bassoonist Cindy Ault made the winning bid of $3,200 so her daughter Janet, a high school senior, could conduct the last rendition of “Seventy-six Trombones.” Ault said later her daughter had wanted to conduct the orchestra since she was in third grade. Winner of a stay at Arbor Hill Inn was Kathy Eldridge of LaPorte. Bauman thanked the sponsors of the event, Arbor Hill, The Herald-Argus, the Robert J. Hiler Family Foundation and Wells Fargo Bank.
The funniest scene was when Quigley led the ladies of River City as they danced with scarves, contorting themselves and prancing around the male quartet.
Patrick Post, only 12 years old, had a strong, confident singing voice and his “Gary, Indiana” brought well-deserved prolonged applause from the audience.
Murphy and Coe’s duet, “Till There Was You,” was the love song of the musical, and they sang it without either one trying to steal the limelight from the other.
At the finale, the Boston Middle School Jazz Band joined the orchestra, and the audience showed its appreciation for the huge community involvement in the production by giving everyone a standing ovation.
Afterward, Murphy said playing Marian again was her “fantasy.” She had played the part 12 years ago at LaPorte Little Theatre. “I knew, after that, that I was going to be too old to play her again. But Phil (Bauman) called and asked me to audition, and I was thrilled to get the part.”
Coe said this was his first part in LaPorte. “I haven’t done this since college,” he said. “I’d like to do more.”
“It was a tremendous amount of work,” Dure said Sunday. “We had our first rehearsal in February and started regular weekly rehearsals in March for the chorus, townspeople and principals.”
It must take a great deal of organization, community talent and cooperation to put on a performance such as this. But judging by the obvious enjoyment of the audience Saturday night, the effort was appreciated.
