There’s only 9 performances left to catch the award-winning musical Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man at Gateway Theatre in Richmond. The rollicking classic takes us back to a simpler era. The early 1900’s in River City, Iowa was an innocent time making the small town a prime target for renowned con man “Professor” Harold Hill. In Setting himself up as a school band leader, in order to sell the town on his latest scam, he convinces the stubborn Iowans that there’s ‘Trouble’ in River City, that only he can fix by keeping the town’s youth occupied with his band.
Prepared to hit and run, Hill doesn’t expect the town instead to do number on his heart when he meets librarian Marian and son Winthrop. Leads, Jay Hindle as Harold Hill and Meghan Gardiner playing Marian, display good chemistry in their often antagonistic relationship. Making his theatrical debut, Gateway academy student Oliver Gold, as Winthop is a gem. Director Barbara Tomasic tells how Oliver’s enthusiasm with the theatre helped her find the inspiration for her direction of the musical. The early 20th century aura is aided by Set Designer Marshall McMahen and costumers Carmen Alatorre and Megan Kennedy,
Make the trip to Gateway Theatre and be transported River City, but hurry Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man closes December 31, 2016.