The Music Man

TOPS can be relied upon to produce a good, entertaining show and they did it again on this occasion.  The Music Man is not a show that is done very often but it is a great show, with lots of likeable songs.

Luke Coldham played the leading role of ‘Professor’ Harold Hill and an excellent performance it was.  He charmed his way through the show with some terrific singing and a very strong performance.  Cerys Wilkin played the librarian, Marion Paroo, and what a beautiful singing voice she has.  Dawn Peat (Eulalia MacKechnie Shinn) was a complete delight, with her fabulous facial expressions she brought a ray of sunshine to the stage whenever she was there.   Harry Doyle (Mayor Shinn) completed this duo and, between them, there was some lovely comedy moments. Josh Handley (Marcellus Washburn) was just a touch too ‘pantomime’ for my liking, sometimes comedy works better if it is underplayed.  He has a very expressive face and a strong stage presence.  The Principal line-up was completed by Vanda Mercer (Mrs Paroo) with a sympathetic and beautifully accented performance.

I must make a special mention of the ‘Barbers Shop Quartet’ together with the adult ensemble, they produced some excellent singing and nice characterisations.  There are some very strong performers in this company and this was evident in the performances that they delivered.

Now, from memory, this show did not have too many children in the original version.  However, TOPS have a strong team of children that have been in a number of their shows recently so director, Ann Sullivan, quite rightly took advantage and put some very talented children into the show.  Unfortunately, I was only able to see one team in action so my apologies to the children that I didn’t see playing Principal parts, I am sure they were equally as good.  George Lane (Winthrop Paroo) was outstanding; he got the ‘lisp’ perfectly and sang out beautifully for his song.   Kaylan Teague (Amaryllis) was delightful as the younger child and her antics at the piano were beautifully timed.  Olivia Shepherd played the older girl Zaneeta Shinn well and she has a lovely singing voice.  All the children were excellent, well drilled, well behaved on stage, projecting nicely and generally demonstrating how good children can be when they are well directed and focussed.

I must mention the costumes, regular readers of my reviews will know that this is one of my special interests and I was aware that TOPS had gone through some traumas to get their costumes for the show.  The ladies costumes were absolutely beautiful and all well accessorised to complete their outfits.  The men were all dressed properly for the period and there was a nice variety.  Well done to the wardrobe team!

This venue has some limitations for scenery because there are no facilities for flying.  However, the production was well paced and the use of cloths to make the major scene changes worked very well indeed.  The show was well lit and the sound was spot on.  The band, under the direction of MD Patrick Tucker produced a good sound which never drowned out the performers.  Given the location of the band in this venue, that was not an easy task to achieve.

I loved the show, I loved the performers and we all came away having had a really enjoyable evening.  Thank you TOPS.

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