The Music Man In Mid-July

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A con man breezes into small town America in the early 20th century. He poses as a band leader promising instruments and uniforms and lessons to kids in a small town in Iowa. A local librarian sees what he’s up to and things get complicated in the classic Meredith Wilson musical from the late ’50s.

The Music Man has been through a number of different productions over the years. Being someone born nearly a decade and a half after the 1962 film adaptation, it’s difficult for me to imagine the classic campy musical as anything other than a wholesome piece of musical narrative for school and community theater productions. The fact that there was a broadway revival back in 2000 seems impossibly bizarre to me. It’s not a bad work by any means...it just seems to me like something that with all the cozy guile-less warmth of squeaky-clean Americana that seems perfect for pleasantly commercial productions in various parts of the country.

One such production finds its way to the stage of Fort Atkinson High School next month as Fort Atkinson Community Theatre presents the musical in mid-July. The directing team of Jeannie Vechinsky, Jocelyn McGurk, and Megan Miller are joined by the vocal directing team of Jeannie Vechinsky and Nicole McCarty and choreographer Megan Miller at the helm of a cast of over 30 performers. 

FACT’s production of Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man runs Jul 9 - 16 at Fort Atkinson High School Auditorium on 925 Lexington Blvd. For ticket reservations and more, visit FACT online.