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LIGHTNING REVIEW: Dance man energizes 'Music Man'

Dance is a highlight of 'The Music Man' [PHOTO BY SCOTT TREADWAY/Treadshots]

By Bill Moss, Published: June 18, 2016

Dance was not the first thing that came to mind when I sat down to watch The Music Man.

I thought of “Seventy-Six Trombones” and of Winthrop too self-conscious to woo Amarllith and of the great opening train car scene.
No, dance, didn't spring to mind. Chase Brock, the renowned dance choreographer who got his theatrical start on these very boards, changed that in the course of two dazzling hours on Friday night.
Oh, sure, you’ve still got the fast-talking con man, Professor Harold Hill, and Marian, the librarian/piano teacher, first this mark and then his moral redemption. You’ve got the gradual turn of the townsfolk of River City from isolated and doubtful to fun-loving and confident — as in Bye Bye Birdie, as in All Shook Up. The Music Man blazed this well-traveled storyline first and the show remains the most beloved of the genre — “as fine a piece of Americana as exists in our collective culture,” as Brock observes in his playbill notes.
The familiar story is as standard and as sweet as a senior play. On the Main Stage of the Flat Rock Playhouse it turns before our eyes into something more — much more — thanks to a hometown boy made good, set designer Jason Sherwood and a terrific cast of veterans, newcomers and apprentices.
Brock left behind the classroom at West Henderson High School and the studios of FRP's YouTheatre and set out for  New York City at the age of 16 with no more currency than his wits, his family’s blessing and his natural gifts as a dancer. Oh, and one more crucial thing: a job. He had won a role in, you guessed it, The Music Man. When Playhouse artistic director Lisa K. Bryant invited Brock to come home to direct the show in Flat Rock, a circle was complete.

We get our first glimpse of the Chase Brock signature right at the top, when, in something of a pre-curtain call, the ensemble forms at the back of the stage (must be a challenge for the young apprentices to sprint from car-parking duty at 7:55 to the stage at 8).
Cast as the bad guy, Scott Treadway (anvil salesman Charlie Cowell) warns his fellow product peddlers about a smooth operator who’s giving them all a black eye.
“He sells boys bands,” he says. “I don’t know how he does it but he lives like a king. When the band plays, the piper pays him.”
Except the band doesn’t play. Prof. Hill doesn’t know the difference between an octave and an octopus. But he knows human nature and how to seduce the sheltered citizens of River City. They’ve got trouble, he famously barks, and a marching band in full dress is the only salvation.
We get to see the outstanding work of the apprentice class of 2016 and the rest of the cast in the sensational “Seventy-Six Trombones” midway through Act one. Although it’s hard to imagine the show getting better, the hit parade keeps going. We get the reprise of "Trombones" and other iconic songs — “Till There Was You” and “Goodnight My Someone.”
As Harold Hill, Brian Robinson (appearing in his 24th show at Flat Rock) strikes the right balance of being slick without being totally despicable. Under Brock’s direction, Marian, played with spunk by Erin Rubico, is not just prey for Prof. Hill; she’s his equal in understanding human nature and in knowing how to get what she wants.
As dancers and young lovers, Christian Elan Ortiz (Tommy) and Kalyn West (Zaneeta, the mayor’s daughter), deliver some of the show's most visually appealing highlights. Monte Howell plays Mayor Shinn with appropriate bluster.
Brock and Sherwood found a way to use every square foot of the stage. They chose to go with one set, using simple imagery to represent the town square, the library, the Paroo home. The result is the perception that the stage is wide and deep, at least wider and deeper than usual. Brock effectively uses the center aisle and a side aisle as stage entries. Seating Robinson and Rubico at the very front of the stage, inches from the front row, as they sing “Till There Was You,” he makes that pivotal scene even more powerful.
If you love the show — and there’s lots to love — you’ll enjoy the extended curtain call and one last visual wink from Ashli Arnold, the theater’s splendid costume designer.
The Music Man is always worth seeing, and our bet is that the show will sustain the strong box office pace of the ’16 season.The choreography of Chase Brock smartly executed by seasoned dancers alongside a fresh crop of talented apprentices makes it seem new again.

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The Music Man runs through July 9 on the Main Stage of the Flat Rock Playhouse. For tickets go to the box office in Flat Rock or downtown, call 828-693-0731 or visit flatrockplayhouse.org.