The Broadway Center Stage production of Meredith Willson’s Tony-winning The Music Man played the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Eisenhower Theater February 6–11.
Tony nominee Norm Lewis (Porgy and Bess) starred 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.
In the video above watch scenes from the limited engagement, including portions of “76 Trombones,” “’Till There Was You,” and “Trouble.”
The semi-staged concert production was directed by Marc Bruni with choreography by Chris Bailey and music direction by James Moore.
The cast also featured 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 ensemble included 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.
Completing the creative team: set and projection designer Paul dePoo, costume designer Amy Clark, lighting designer Cory Pattak, and Tony–winning sound designer Kai Harada.
The Tony-winning Best Musical The Music Man, with music, book, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, follows traveling salesman Harold Hill as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying uniforms for a boys’ band that he vows to organize—despite the fact he doesn’t know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town are foiled when he falls for Marian, the town librarian.
Norm Lewis has been a special guest performer on Playbill's Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Cabins are now on sale for Playbill’s Broadway in the Great Northwest. Playbill Travel’s first domestic cruise will bring passengers on a journey through the Pacific Northwest from April 26–May 4, 2020. Playbill Travel is currently accepting waitlist travelers for its sold out cruises: Broadway on the Rhône River 2 April 7–14, 2019, featuring Melissa Errico, Norm Lewis, Rebecca Luker, Marc Kudisch, and Seth Rudetsky, Broadway in Bordeaux With Michael Feinstein (September 1–9, 2019), and Broadway on the High Seas: The Greek Isles (June 24–July 1, 2019). Call Playbill Travel for tickets at 866-455-6789 or visit PlaybillTravel.com.
