Area Actors On Stage with Orchestra? ? William Henry Curry Conducts, April 13-15
RALEIGH, N.C.?The North Carolina Symphony takes concertgoers to River City, Iowa, next month when Resident Conductor William Henry Curry leads the orchestra and noted area actors in a semi-staged production of Meredith Willson?s treasured Broadway musical The Music Man.
The Pops Series performances take place at Raleigh?s Meymandi Concert Hall on Friday and Saturday, April 13-14 at 8:00 p.m. A matinee performance follows on Sunday, April 15 at 3:00 p.m.
Maestro Curry and the orchestra take the stage to perform unforgettable songs from a score of favorites that include ?Seventy-Six Trombones,? ?Ya Got Trouble,? ?Till There Was You,? ?Marian the Librarian? and ?The Wells Fargo Wagon.?
?I?m a great fan of Meredith Willson, who few people remember was one of the great instrumentalists of the 20th century,? says Curry, citing the artist?s history as a piccolo and flutist in Sousa?s band and the New York Philharmonic under Toscanini.
That professional background combined with Willson?s memories of his small-town childhood to inspire the story of a fast-talking con man, Harold Hill, who tries to dupe Iowa townsfolk into purchasing equipment and music for a local boy?s band he claims to be organizing. Yet Hill?s escape with the cash is complicated by his growing interest in the straitlaced town librarian Marian Paroo and her family.
The Music Man ?is in the great tradition of the American musical comedy,? Curry says. ?It is a light piece, but it has heart and soul. The music is absolutely irresistible. You feel like you know the characters. They?re real, and they grow, which is the mark of great writing.?
Joining Curry and the orchestra is a cast of area actors led by Sanford, N.C., based theater director Peggy Taphorn.
?This is sort of a hybrid between a concert and doing the entire show,? Taphorn told The Sanford Herald earlier this month. ?They needed someone who could craft the script and choose the songs with the conductor. William Henry Curry and I chose the songs we?re going to do, which is about 99 percent of the songs.?
?Peggy is a total class act,? adds Curry. ?She?s been a joy to work with, and I?m extremely encouraged about our success as we work together on this production.?
Roughly 80 North Carolina actors auditioned for roles in the Symphony production. Like Taphorn, who is producing artistic director of the Temple Theatre in Sanford, several members of the cast are familiar to Lee County area audiences. They include Ken Griggs (Harold Hill), Katharine Anderson (Marian), Kathy Gelb (Mrs. Paroo), Michael Jones (Hill?s loveable crony Marcellus) and Michelle Harkness (the staunch and comical Eulalie MacKecknie Shinn, the mayor?s wife).
Other cast members include Virginia-based actor Larry Conklin as Mayor Shinn and North Carolina-native Marti Boger, who has performed in operatic roles throughout North Carolina, as well as New York and Lofer, Austria. The cast will rehearse together for one week prior to two run-throughs with the Symphony before performances begin.
The performance follows the Symphony?s successful collaboration with Chapel Hill?s PlayMakers Repertory Company to present a semi-staged version of Peter Shaffer?s drama Amadeus in December 2010. That concert was called ?a masterstroke of musical theater,? by Classical Voice North Carolina. ?This thrilling performance gives a power and impetus to the play that even a fully staged production could never provide.?
The Independent Weekly labeled it ?one of the strongest theater productions in the Triangle this year,? while Roy C. Dicks, writing in The News & Observer, praised it as ?a striking example of fresh programming.?
Now the North Carolina Symphony turns those talents on a Broadway classic. The Music Man premiered in December 1957, running for 1,375 performances and winning five Tony Awards, including Best Musical over West Side Story. Later a popular film, with two Broadway revivals, it remains one of the most beloved musicals ever written.
The Music Man is ?as American as apple pie and a Fourth of July oration,? wrote The New York Times following its premiere. ?It?s a marvelous show, rooted in wholesome and comic tradition.?
Regular tickets to the Symphony?s Pops series performances of The Music Man, April 13-15, range from $33 to $48, with $30 tickets for seniors and $10 tickets for students.
For tickets, visit the North Carolina Symphony website at www.ncsymphony.org or call North Carolina Symphony Audience Services at 919.733.2750 or toll free 877.627.6724. Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh.
About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony performs over 175 concerts annually to adults and school children in more than 50 North Carolina counties. An entity of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the orchestra employs 67 professional musicians, under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn, Resident Conductor William Henry Curry and Associate Conductor Sarah Hicks.
Based in downtown Raleigh?s spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It holds regular concert series in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines and Wilmington?as well as individual concerts in many other North Carolina communities throughout the year?and conducts one of the most extensive education programs of any U.S. orchestra.
Concert/Event Listing:
North Carolina Symphony
The Music Man
William Henry Curry, Resident Conductor
Peggy Taphorn, director
Fri/Sat, April 13-14, 2012, 8pm
Sun, April 15, 2012, 3pm
Meymandi Concert Hall, Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh
Production Credits:
North Carolina Symphony
The Music Man
William Henry Curry, Resident Conductor
Peggy Taphorn, director
Book, Music and Lyrics by Meredith Willson
Story by Meredith Willson
Concert Adaptation by Evans Haile
David Paul Adams?? Ewart/Barbershop Quartet
Katherine Anderson?? Marian
Marti Boger?? Maud/Ensemble
Jessika Brust?? Alma/Ensemble
Neil Bullard?? Winthrop
Larry Conklin?? Mayor Shinn
Alex Copas?? Ensemble
Kathy Gelb?? Mrs. Paroo
Ken Griggs?? Harold Hill
Michelle Harkness?? Eulalie MacKecknie Shinn
Katherine Hennenlotter?? Ethel/Ensemble
Patrick Holt?? Ensemble
Israel Kiefer?? Oliver/Barbershop Quartet
Jodi Lewis?? Ensemble
Elizabeth Lobach?? Ensemble
Michael Jones?? Marcellus
Michael Murray?? Charlie Cowell
Allison Podlogar?? Amaryllis
Ariel Reed?? Ensemble
Christopher Slacke?? Olin/Barbershop Quartet
Jim Tarantino?? Jacey/Barbershop Quartet
Lynda Clark, costume designer
Eric Collins, sound designer
Travis Creed, stage manager
Thomas Mauney, lighting director
Peggy Taphorn is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.
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