There may be trouble riding the rail to River City, but the train to Boulder is running smooth as can be.
There’s no phony salesmanship in saying Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s staging of the “The Music Man” is about as good as it gets for a local stage.
“The Music Man” is a throwback for lots of reasons. Not only is it a nostalgic look back at an America that never really existed in 1912, but director Michael J. Duran’s Rockwell painting harks back to a time when area companies could afford to throw the whole brass band at a musical spectacular like this one. BDT has a cast of 30, a seven-piece band, darn near 76 trombones and, it seems, twice as many costumes.
It’s a throwback, too for Duran, who performed in the 2000 Broadway revival; and in his welcome casting of the lanky Brian Norber – Colorado’s answer to Tommy Tune – as Harold Hill. He’s the con man who comes to Iowa to relieve residents of their cash but, whattya know, instead infuses their lives with hope and purpose.
The charismatic Norber hasn’t had a lead role for four years, and he takes to the spotlight again with the zeal of a dog just freed from his leash. You’ve heard of champing at the bit? Norber is tooting at his trumpet to grab the bandleader’s baton. As Hill, his winning sales strategy isn’t so much to shock and awe the residents of River City, but to awe-shucks them into giving him just what he wants.
Two other big brass reasons to recommend this “Music Man” are Teresa Cope as Marian the Librarian and an 8-year-old named Bryce Baldwin who’s so good you just have to see him to believe it.
It has been a thrill the past few years to watch Cope improve and finally blossom into a top leading lady. She’s lovely to look at, but it’s her ever-maturing singing voice that’s spectacular to behold here.
Baldwin plays Marian’s lisping, shy brother Winthrop, and talk about a triple threat. He’s a ringer who’s absolutely winning as an actor, singer and dancer. He’s such a hit Duran has to give the kid his own curtain call (Baldwin plays most performances but is double- cast, as is often the case with younger dinner-theater actors).
There’s a silky-smooth barbershop quartet, Amy Campion’s moody scenic design, Linda Morken’s seemingly unending costumes and particularly Alicia Dunfee’s clever choreography, to name a few.
Many think of “The Music Man” as a warhorse, but it was a renegade in its day. It’s got lyrics without rhymes, a percussive spoken opening number and songs with identical melodies set to different tempi – all of which flew in the face of Broadway tradition. Not to mention the biggest number takes place after the curtain call.
People go to BDT for the cordon bleu. For “The Music Man” there can be only one choice for dessert, because this is a night as American as apple pie.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
“The Music Man” | **** RATING
MUSICAL|Boulder’s Dinner Theatre, 5501 Arapahoe Ave.|THROUGH AUG. 19|7:45 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays-Saturdays; 7 p.m. Wednesdays; 1:45 and 7:45 p.m. Sundays (dinner served 90 minutes before)|2 hours, 45 minutes|$27-$53
303-449-6000
