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| photo by Jeremy Daniel |
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Kennedy Center's newest Broadway Center Stage production. For those of you unaware of the series, Broadway Center Stage puts on strictly limited engagement, semi-staged concerts featuring the best performers Broadway has to offer at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Since their inaugural season last year, the Kennedy Center has put on some fabulous BCS performances, including Chess, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Little Shop of Horrors, starring well-known Broadway veterans such as Ramin Karimloo, Raul Esparza, Karen Olivo, Betsy Wolfe, Josh Radnor, Megan Hilty, and more! To kick off the 2019 BCS season, The Kennedy Center presented The Music Man, starring Broadway royalty Norm Lewis and Jessie Mueller. I attended the final performance of The Music Man on February 11th (a performance date that was added due to popular demand), and the energy from both the cast and the crowd was infectious! To me it was very clear that the Kennedy Center went all out for this production. As a comparison, when I saw BCS' first production, Chess, a year ago, there was no set (just some scaffolding to place the orchestra), and the entire cast sat in chairs on the stage for the whole show, only moving when they were engaged in the scene. Chess was definitely what I would consider a 'semi-staged concert,' and the entire cast carried scripts with for the entirety of the performance, as advertised to all ticket buyers. The Music Man, though advertised the same way, instead seemed more like a full-blown Broadway show. The only actor who was noticeably holding a script was Norm Lewis, and even then he only had the script in hand for a scene or two. After the show, I spoke with Ryan Steele, one of the brilliant ensemble members, and he explained that originally they were going to purposely choreograph their scripts into the show, to display to the audience that they were allowed to use their scripts; however, as the cast quickly went off-book for the show, they scrapped the idea. Norm's use of the script was not the least bit distracting; in fact I could probably count on one hand how many times he actually looked at the script. If anything, I would guess he was using it as a crutch in a very word-heavy scene.
The costumes were beautiful and period. the set was lovely and featured the fantastic orchestra very well. I also enjoyed the use of projections ( with which I often don't agree) on the backdrop to highlight different areas of River City, Iowa. As the characters walked down the street, the projections followed, which I thought was quite clever for the nature of the production.
Overall, the cast gave very strong performances. Norm Lewis has an effortless stage presence. As leading man Harold Hill, he was witty, energetic, and charming. He could have been singing the phone book and I would have been completely enthralled. He absolutely nailed the lyrics to "Trouble," and received a deserving, uproarious applause once the song concluded. I think Norm did a great job of making such an iconic role his own. He certainly did not disappoint the audience of which I was a part.
In the ingénue role of Marian Paroo, Jessie Mueller was simply sublime. She clearly portrayed a very headstrong and independent woman who has a soft spot for romance. Her soprano vocals were incredible! My jaw visibly dropped several times while listening to her sing, especially during "My White Knight" and "Till There Was You." I knew she had a great soprano voice after seeing her in last year's Broadway revival of Carousel, but that did not prepare me for the chops she showed off during this production. I have been a big fan of Jessie's for a long time, and this performance only solidified that.
There were many other memorable featured roles I would like to mention. Veanne Cox had the audience eating out of the palm of her hand with her impeccable comedic melodrama. Eloise Kropp was equally as energetic as she was pinch-your-cheeks adorable. Rosie O'Donnell as Mrs. Paroo was quite funny, though her Irish accent fell off a few times. John Cariani's hilarious awkwardness was reminiscent of his performance in Broadway's Something Rotten! I was so impressed with the entire ensemble of this show. They were wonderfully engaged and danced beautifully and in excellent synchronicity, especially given how little space they had with which to move.
One of my absolute favorite parts of the entire night occurred at curtain call. After the cast took their bows, Norm Lewis blew a whistle and ninety members of the Mighty Sound of Maryland, the University of Maryland's acclaimed marching band, marched into the audience to play "76 Trombones." The audience cheered and clapped to the beat. I am a proud graduate of the University of Maryland, so I was beside myself with joy listening to the band of my alma mater play, and my mom and I cheered "GO TERPS!" upon the conclusion of their cameo.
After the show, we ran outside to the stage door (which had one of the biggest crowds I've seen at the Kennedy Center!) and got autographs and pictures with much of the cast! We ended up leaving finally after Jessie Mueller made her way to us, and we decided we could no longer feel our feet, as it was 30 degrees and snowing outside. Overall we had a great night out at the Kennedy Center, and it's safe to say that "76 Trombones" has been stuck in my head ever since!
The next Kennedy Center Broadway Center Stage production is The Who's Tommy, which will begin performances on April 25th, 2019, and run until April 28th. Casting has not yet been announced for the upcoming production, but be sure to go to the Kennedy Center's website to get your tickets! (http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/event/TTBCC)
The Music Man rating: G
Hillary's Score: 7.5/10
Check out my other show reviews here!
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