The Becker Middle School finished a run of four shows last weekend featuring a musical directed by Greg Lynch called, Music Man Jr. The opening scenes — including the rail car and conductor — whisks the audience back to the heartland of the country in Iowa in the year 1912.

 

The town is a rural community where ice cream socials, picnics and strolls at the park are some of the biggest pleasures for the citizens. Another event the whole town gets excited for is the wonders the Wells Fargo wagon might bring.

 

Eighth-grader Conner Schafer stars as the conniving and fast-talking Harold Hill, who finds a salesman’s angle to con the sweet-hearted souls of the small Iowan town. He begins the fraud by selling marching band instruments and promising to start a kids band in the town, all the while trying to leave town with the collected money before anyone finds out.

 

Schafer stood out on stage with his exuberant antics and convincing character. His lines were delivered boldly and his singing was impressive for the very complicated role.

 

His co-star, Anna Pancoast, who played Marian Paroo, was equally impressive as the town librarian. Pancoast was spot-on in her timing and her body language and hand gestures were genuine for an “old maid” from 100+ years ago.

 

At first, Pancoast’s character wants nothing to do with Hill until the man helps her younger brother,Winthrop (played by Nicholas Berglund)  overcome his fear of social interactions due to his lisp.

 

Marian eventually begins to fall in love with Harold, despite seeing through his con. Harold, in turn falls for Marian, risking being caught to win her.

 

All the while, the  town mayor (played by Wyatt Hiltner), doubts Hill throughout the production until Hill demonstrates his credibility at the end when he displays the band in their uniforms.

 

The delightful songs from this piece of Americana included "Ya Got Trouble," "Seventy-Six Trombones," "The Sadder-But-Wiser Girl," "Lida Rose," "Marian the Librarian," "Pick-a-Little," and "Til There Was You.”

 

The barbershop quartet — played by Austin Clemens, Kenna Jett Johnson, Gretchen Graftaas and Grace Schendel — were harmoniously superb in their bits of the play as the crowd gave them a nice ovation.

 

Brooke Hendrickson was the liveliest character as she played the boisterous Marcellus Washburn, a sidekick to Hill. Her acting was delightful and she dazzled in her singing and dancing efforts.

 

Aria Webster (Mrs. Paroo), Kaelyn Lombard (Amarylis), Marshall Steffens (Charlie Cowell), Bodie Moore (Tommy Djilas), Maddie Schmitz (Ethel Toffelmier), Marissa Pettit (Constable) and Monica Zimmerman (Conductor) were also marvelous in their portrayals of their characters and expression.

 

Mayor Shinn’s family — Kailey Peterson as Eulalie, Alexis Drehmel as Zaneeta and Leah Pierson as Gracie — had fine moments in the play that helped compliment most of the main characters.

 

Lynch did a masterful job in getting superb performances from his cast, who perfected the numerous lines, scenes and set changes that emulated one of the school’s best productions.

The sets and props were beautifully constructed and displayed and the costuming was out-of-this-world. 

 

The original Music Man production was released in 1962 starring Robert Preston and Shirley Jones. A remake was released in 2003 starring Matthew Broderick, Kristen Chenoweth and Molly Shannon.