The Broadway Center Stage production of Meredith Willson’s Tony-winning The Music Man began performances at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Eisenhower Theater February 6. The semi-staged concert production, directed by Marc Bruni with choreography by Chris Bailey, is scheduled to play a limited engagement through February 11.
The Tony-winning Best Musical, with music, book, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, follows traveling salesman Harold Hill as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into paying for a new marching band. His plans to skip town are foiled when he falls for Marian, the town librarian. The classic score features such standards as “76 Trombones,” “’Till There Was You,” and “Trouble.”
Tony nominee Norm Lewis (Porgy and Bess) heads the cast as Harold Hill with Tony winner Jessie Mueller (Waitress, Carousel, Beautiful) as Marian Paroo, and stage and screen star Rosie O'Donnell as Mrs. Paroo.
Flip through photos of the production below:
The cast also features Tony nominee John Cariani (The Band’s Visit, Something Rotten!) as Marcellus Washburn, Tony nominee Veanne Cox (An American in Paris, Company) as Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn, Mark Linn-Baker as Mayor Shinn, Tony nominee David Pittu (The Front Page, Is He Dead?) as Charlie Cowell, Damon Gillespie (Aladdin, Newsies) as Tommy Djilas, Eloise Kropp (Cats, Dames at Sea) as Zaneeta Shinn, Sam Middleton (Les Miserables) as Winthrop Paroo, and Emmy Elizabeth Liu-Wang as Amaryllis.
The company also includes Tessa Grady, Arlo Hill, Todd Horman, Denis Lambert, Liz McCartney, Hayley Podschun, Katerina Papacostas, Blakely Slaybaugh, Jimmy Smagula, Ryan Steele, Daryl Tofa, Diana Vaden, and Nicholas Ward.
The production features music direction by James Moore, set and projection design by Paul dePoo, costume designe by Amy Clark, lighting design by Cory Pattak, and sound design by Tony Award winner Kai Harada.
