One Fan Show

How do you convince audiences to root for a con man who’s made a career out of duping Americans by preying on their fears? 

If it’s the year 2025, a time when that description can accurately describe the president of the United States, then you need someone special to lead The Music Man so that audiences leave with the rosy view of Meredith Wilson’s classic instead of the cynical one. Luckily, Lyric Arts found just the man for the job in Tony Potts, who plays Harold Hill in this reinvigorated staging of the beloved musical. 

Potts is younger than Robert Preston was when he created the archetype for Hill as the Broadway original in 1957 and star of the classic 1962 film, and you’ll feel that spry energy jump out right from the start. But if you’ll allow me to mix my pop culture references, Potts also brings a dash of Jim Halpert’s affability, a dose of Cary Elwes’s charm and a heaping helping of Jonathan Groff’s tireless showmanship to his version of Hill. It’s a potent mix — one I think you’ll understand immediately if you catch this production before it ends on August 10.

When Hill leaps off the train in River City, Iowa, the traveling salesman sets to work planning his latest con. He’s in the business of boys’ bands — instruments and uniforms, specifically — and once he convinces a town their kids need regimented music lessons to keep them out of trouble, and that they should buy the equipment from him, he’s always been able to escape before they realize he doesn’t know the first thing about actually teaching music. In River City, he spots his scapegoat: a new pool table. (“Ya got one, two, three, four, five, six pockets in a table / Pockets that mark the diff’rence / Between a gentleman and a bum.” Watch out!)

Potts pulls out his Jim Halpert (John Krasinski’s character from The Office) here, during “Ya Got Trouble.” He pokes a few small holes in the fourth wall, winking and slyly pointing at the audience as he pulls a fast one on the townsfolk, so that we feel as if we’re in on the joke. This isn’t con, fellow audience members, it’s a harmless prank! He then seals the deal with his easy but surefooted wordplay — Wilson’s forte — and similarly handled gesticulations which help us understand that Hill is a seasoned vet. It’s comforting to know you’re in the hands of a pro, even if the occupation isn’t entirely above board.

While the River City residents put up little resistance during the initial sales pitch, there are obstacles Hill must contend with if he’s going to pull off this latest job. There’s Mayor Shinn (Paul Reyburn), who enlists four hotheaded school board members to rustle up Hill’s credentials. Potts turns on his best Cary Elwes when confronted, disabling the men with charisma and distracting them with the idea of singing like a barbershop quartet. (Once the actors Ben Glisczinski, France A. Roberts, Alex Stokes and Cole Strelecki harmonize, you’ll start to yearn for their presence on stage. But Stokes, in particular, who I remember from The SpongeBob Musical, really sells the absurdity of this whole situation.) 

Hill’s most formidable foil is Marian Paroo, played by Nadia Franzen. Well, she strives for that role, but Hill sees the unwed librarian as the romantic component of his hit-and-run scheme. While the story by Wilson and Franklin Lacey offers plenty of twists and turns for these two unlikely lovebirds — Marian finding a hole in Harold’s story, Harold winning over Mrs. Paroo (the delightful Margaret Reid) and Marian’s 10-year-old brother Winthrop (Maddox Tabalba) — the strength of the pairing of Franzen and Potts comes down to their sparring showstoppers. 

As they pass the vocal baton back and forth — Franzen enchanting the audience with her “My White Knight,” Potts rousing the assembled (us included) with “Seventy-Six Trombones” — it’s impossible to choose which performer you prefer more. The same goes for choosing sides in their feud, which you’ll realize is the entire point when they’re on the footbridge singing a version of “Till There Was You” that feels like you’re hearing it for the first time. 

This is Lyric Arts’ big summer musical, and the Anoka institution hasn’t skimped: 24 cast members, 11 musicians, and five choreographers. Okay, so there’s one choreographer, Lauri Kraft, who is also making her directing debut here; but as the resident choreographer for the theater, she’s taken up another job as well: working with four choreography fellows. The Music Man marks the debut of this program, in which Kraft worked with “emerging professionals who would like to build experience in choreographing for musical theater,” including Sandi Flahn, Mayhugh Fox, Xan Mattek, and Madi Nelson. 

Not only is this choreography fellowship another feather in the cap of Lyric Arts, one of my favorite places to see theater in the Twin Cities, but its effects are palpable in this first production. Ensemble numbers like “Marian the Librarian” and “Shipoopi” are enlivened by fresh movement and shapeshifting dance configurations that the younger cast members seem especially keen to test the limits of. Even if some of the scenes may be a bit overstuffed, your eyes will have a hard time finding a dull spot on the stage.

Music director, conductor and keyboardist JJ Gisselquist coaxes out an equally bold and delicate sound, as needed, from the orchestra, so that Music Man lovers accustomed to the Broadway album or movie soundtrack won’t be disappointed. But trying to capture that vintage feel led to my main issue with this production, too: While Franzen’s singing is sublime, her scenes were peppered with extremely raised eyebrows and other overly comic expressions that pushed Marian too far into the realm of cartoon. If Kraft had focused on bringing out Marian’s humanity instead of her humor, as Franzen does in her songs, the ending would feel much more believable.

As the audience at my performance proved, if you’re old enough to have grown up watching The Music Man, I probably don’t have to convince you to buy a ticket. If you’re a bit younger, like myself, and wondering if you need to see a musical that’s almost 70 years old, buy a ticket to hear Potts and Franzen’s renditions of Wilson’s timeless songs — they’ll help you understand why even the Beatles fell in love with this score.

Full Transparency: I bought my own ticket to The Music Man.

The Music Man

Lyric Arts 
420 E Main Street
Anoka, MN 55303

July 11 – August 10
Read more at Lyric Arts