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Regional Reviews: Albuquerque/Santa Fe

Regional Reviews

The Music Man—a Winning Song and Dance Blast
Landmark Musicals

Also see Dean's review of Once Upon a Mattress


Ryan Shepherd
The Music Man was the first musical that grabbed me as a kid. First it was the hit album that was played over and over in my home. Next came the 1962 movie featuring Robert Preston reprising his stage role, Shirley Jones as Marian, and the astonishingly cute performance of Winthrop by a seven-year-old "Ronny" Howard. Finally, when I got caught up in Beatlemania, Paul McCartney sang "Till There Was You" on the Ed Sullivan show. Not only was that validation for my teenage love of The Music Man, but the Beatles recoding of the song delivered more royalties to composer Meredith Willson than either the Broadway or movie soundtracks.

The Landmark production at Rodey Theatre is the first time I've seen the musical live. I don't know if my affection for The Music Man makes me more kindly disposed or more critically sensitive. By any measure, the Landmark production with Ryan Shepherd in the lead role of Professor Harold Hill is a blast from start to finish.

The musical follows the story of Hill, a con man with a fake name. He shows up in River City, Iowa (which resembles Willson's home town) with a scam to sell musical instruments and band uniforms for the local kids. The instruments and uniforms are real. The scam is that Hill will ditch the town after getting his cut of the sale, without investing in teaching the kids music and building a legitimate marching band.

But there's a snag in Hill's plan. He falls in love with Marian the librarian (Daniela Deuel) and he doesn't want to amscray. At first Marian is skeptical of Hill, as is the town's mayor Shinn (the excellent Warren Asa Wilgus). The mayor is looking for a way to expose Hill and asks Marian to do some research on Hill's suspicious musical credentials. As Marian begins the research she also begins to fall for Hill. She evades the mayor and eventually removes incriminating evidence from a newspaper archive that would expose the fraud.

This is a play about the redemptive power of love and the need for encouragement. While Hill plays out his scam, he is also helping those in need and those who are misunderstood find their way to their feet, which further wins Marian's love. As the play progresses, we see that Hill has become a genuine and caring man even as appearances say otherwise.

The Landmark production—produced by Myra Cochnar and Louis Giannini, and directed by Zane Barker—is solid throughout. Giannini excels again in his role as Landmark's choreographer. The dancing is magnificent. Giannini just gets better and better. Shepherd as Hill is strong throughout, wonderful in voice and acting. Deuel is good as Marian, though there seems to be a lack of chemistry between Shepherd and Deuel.

Other standouts include Erin Warden as Mayor Shinn's wife, Valarie Duran as Zaneeta Shinn, the mayor's daughter, Alexander Baca as Marian's brother Winthrop, and Jasper Johnson as Tommy Djilas. The Blue Steele Quartet, a barbershop group that includes Shawn Mondragon, Stew Bush, Greg Titus, and Jamie Arrington, steals every scene they are in. One of the hallmarks of Landmark is live music. The excellent crew of 12 musicians is led by conductor Darby Fegan.

This is one of the strongest productions I've seen from Landmark, a superb delivery of a classic—and very American—musical.

The Music Man by Landmark Musicals will run through August 2, 2015. Performances are on Friday and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm. There will also be a special matinee performance on Saturday, August 1 at 2:00 pm. Performances are held in Rodey Theatre at the UNM Fine Arts Complex. Tickets are $20, $22, and $24, with a $2 discount for students and seniors. You can buy tickets online at landmarkmusicals.org, or by calling 505-925-5858 or 877-664-8661.


Photo: Max Woltman

--Rob Spiegel