Based on Meredith Willson’s six-time-Tony-Award-winning musical comedy, Genesius Kids Music Man features some of musical theatre’s most iconic songs and a story filled with wit, warmth and good old-fashioned romance. The Music Man Kids is family entertainment at its best – a bold, brassy show that will have the whole town atwitter!
Master showman Harold Hill is in town and he’s got “seventy-six trombones” in tow. Can upright, uptight Marian, the town librarian, resist his powerful allure? The story follows fast-talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys’ band he vows to organize. The catch? He doesn’t know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian, whose belief in Harold’s power just might help him succeed in the end in spite of himself.
The Genesius production of Music Man Kids is part of a series offered by Music Theatre International to take their big shows and tailor them down for children to perform. This very special adaptation affords these bright young talents the unique opportunity of being in a theatrical production. This excerpted musical format has been an excellent learning experience for each child, and many times, it’s the beginning of their theater training.
This scaled down musical, of this classic Broadway hit, is approximately 30 to 40 minutes in length, but focuses on the key elements of the larger show. Many of the teens that were just in the Genesius hit production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, got their start in the Genesius Kids, Jr. Musical, and Summer Camp Program. The other unique item about this year’s Music Man Kids is we are being very 2018 and several of the guy roles are being played by older females. Kind of reverse Shakespearean!
The show is being directed by Simmon Fecho, Music Directed by Dara Himes, Choreographed by Caitlin Whelan, with Stage Management by Ashley Calderon. The Leading Cast Members include: Harold Hill – Gretchen Himlin, Marian Paroo – Ellen Rochlin, Mrs. Paroo – Sophia Ottinger, Winthrop Paroo – Sydney Maher, Amaryllis – Hazel Sensenig, Alma Hix – Brindley Kobularcik, Charlie Cowell – Riley Mattes, Marcellus Washburn – Montana Kindlick, Mayor Shinn – Sedona Loose, Eulalie Shinn -, Madelyn Suppa, Zaneeta Shinn – Marlee Fraser, Gracie Shinn – Kaylee Gall.
