MORGANTOWN — A production two years in the making, the Morgantown Theater Company’s performance of “The Music Man” is coming to the historic Metropolitan Theater this weekend.
Typically, it takes about four months of rehearsal before the play is performed in front of an audience, director Heath Kale said.
“It was supposed to be performed in April 2020, which never happened. So we’ve been working on it. And then it was going to be in October of 2021. And the (COVID) numbers got bad again. So we pushed it back even further,” Kale said.
“The Music Man” was written by Meredith Wilson and first performed on Broadway in 1957.
“Come watch con man Harold Hill selling band instruments and uniforms to naïve Iowa townsfolk, promising to train the members of the new band. He charms the townsfolk, but prim librarian and piano teacher Marian sees through him,” the MTC description says.
Damian Carlier, who plays the charismatic Hill, said “He’s really just a con man trying to sell instruments of all things, band instruments, very hard things to sell, especially back in 1912. And so he comes to River City, Iowa, just to see how he can swindle these people. But then he finds himself falling in love with the local librarian.”
Carlier is a West Virginia University musical theater freshman. He started performing with MTC at just 5 years old. According to MTC, Carlier has been in 26 company productions over 14 years — including as part of the ensemble in “The Music Man” a decade ago.
“It feels really good,” he said of the approaching performance. “We’ve been putting a lot of work into this show for two years now. I’m just ready to finally put it out there and let people see it.”
There are 40 actors and actresses and about 14 crew involved in the production, according to Kale.
There are four shows this weekend, with the first performance at 7 p.m. Friday. There are two shows, at 2 p.m. and at 7 p.m., on Saturday, and the curtain rises for the last time at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are available through the Morgantown Theater Company Facebook page. They cost $9 for children and $13.72 for adults. Tickets will also be sold at the door.
“I think it’s, the kids of the world have been struggling with the way the pandemic has been handled and the way life is currently at. So I think a little escapism is good for everybody and this show has that,” Kale said. “And you do forget, that’s the point of Golden Age musicals. They were made whenever there were wars, so people could go and forget about the traumas of the world. And I think this show is the perfect show to do during this time.”
Watching the play would be a great way to spend time together as a family, Carlier said.
“Just have an open mind. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy the space because we’ve put a lot of work into this show and it’s really just a wonderful opportunity for our students. And it’s a wonderful opportunity for you to come have a great night and be entertained. Bring your whole family. It’s a great time,” Carlier said.
Kyle Shaw, stage manager, said one challenge in preparing for the show is the magnitude of the set pieces, but that the hardship was worth it.
“They definitely went all out with the set,” he said.
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