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St. Christine's presents The Music Man
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Harold Hill, as played by eighth-grader Chase Kovacs (center), is used to being the center of attention. In his quest to trick the Iowa townspeople, Hill tells the town that a pool table is bad for local kids in the song “Ya Got Trouble.”
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .The 100 plus students who were cast and crew of “The Music Man” gathered for a celebratory photo before their first show on March 24.
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The cast rushed the stage to welcome the audience to the small Iowa town where the “The Music Man” was based, as they sang a song about being “Iowa Stubborn.”
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Marian Paroo, as played by Samantha Blasko, sings goodnight in the play. Because she hasn’t met a special person yet, she sings only to a vague someone, in “Goodnight, My Someone.”
By SARAH FOOR
A bit of classic Broadway came to the Gutman Hall stage at St. Christine School, as it presented its version of “The Music Man” on March 24-26.
The production follows the story of a “music man,” Harold Hill, who poses as a boys’ band leader, selling band instruments and uniforms to naive Iowans before skipping town with the cash.
However, Hill gets more than he bargained for when he falls in love with the local music teacher, Marian Paroo, and begins to question his con.
In the St. Christine production, students Samantha Blasko and Chase Kovacs nabbed the roles of Paroo and Hill. The two eighth-graders acted as leaders to the more than 100 cast and crew members.
“We’ve both been part of the drama club since fourth grade,” explained Kovacs, “but that doesn’t mean we’re not nervous. It’s my character’s name on the program, so I feel some pressure, but I’m sure it will be great.”
Kovacs’ co-star, Blasko, welcomed a bit of nerves.
“I’m always nervous, but I think any good performance should have some butterflies. The show is going to be so much fun, and there’s always a great turnout for us,” Blasko said.
“‘The Music Man’ truly has been all around the school. We recreate the painting ‘American Gothic’ in the play, and our art teacher has incorporated art of that time period into her lessons. Many of the teachers have been playing the score in the classrooms. The play’s time period is about 100 years ago, and we’ve made sure to teach the students a bit about history as well,” said director Anita Philibin.
The show featured a wealth of song and dance, and had an important role for nearly all of the very large cast. The show took advantage of the space in Gutman Hall and featured parades through the aisles and dancing in front of the stage, as the audience followed the love story of Harold Hill and Marian Paroo.
“I assisted last year, but this is my first time directing,” admitted Philibin. “I’m just hoping to honor the great tradition of fine arts here at St. Christine’s.”