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New Season at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
One of the great cultural advantages of the north state continues to be its proximity to Ashland, Ore., and the Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival. From Redding, it’s just over a two-hour drive (and gorgeous right now with snow-covered Mt. Shasta) to see some of the top theater productions happening on the West Coast.
Two weekends ago the festival opened four plays from its 11-play season, which runs through Nov. 1.
On Friday and Saturday, I saw three of the four: Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man”; Wole Soyinka’s “Death and the King’s Horseman”; and Sarah Ruhl’s “Dead Man’s Cell Phone.” Here is the first of my reviews. Stay tuned this week for more.
For more information on the festival, visit www.osfashland.org. For tickets, call (800) 219-8161.
“The Music Man”
Harold Hill (Michael Elich) tries to work his magic on Mayor Shinn (Richard Elmore) and Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn (Linda Alper). Photo by Jenny Graham.
The first question many theater fans might ask is, why would OSF do “The Music Man”? Why take on a production that’s ubiquitous to every high school in the country with a musical/theater program? (I think Shasta High has done it at least four times.)
The answer: Who cares?
Directed by Bill Rauch (in his second year as OSF’s artistic director), it’s a tour de force — a brilliant, entertaining romp. Actually, considering the national angst brought on by the current recession, doing “The Music Man” seems like the perfect call.
At what better moment can we fall back on the diversion of pure entertainment than in hard times? The Iowans hand over their money to Professor Harold Hill for the hope of music. In art, we see something different than commerce. The joy and wonder of human expression can guide us through tough times.
I was emotionally moved by the performance of this cast that seemed to really relish every nuance of the classic. The role of Hill is in the masterful hands of OSF veteran Michael Elich, who strikes the perfect charismatic balance. He plays beautifully off Gwendolyn Mulamba as Marian (the librarian) Paroo, whose powerful voice soars through the Angus Bowmer Theatre.
The show roars out of the gate with its opening scene of salesmen on a train. The hip-hoplike rhythm of their dialogue, coordinated with the bouncy movements of rail travelers, makes for a scene so visually and rhythmically entertaining you almost want them to stop the play and do it again. It’s just a teaser of what’s to come from choreographer Darren Lee and music director Daniel Gary Busby.
Shigeru Yaji’s costumes are another huge star of the show. The River City residents wear black-and-white-and-grey gowns and suits as Hill arrives, sporting a red-and-white-striped vest and red jacket. As music and hope spread, so do splashes of color. When Marian’s gown goes from grey to pink with a quick release of a couple of buttons, it penetrates the audience with emotion. It’s a simple, brilliant effect.
Spread the accolades around wide and far: the barbershop quartet, the humor generated by Richard Elmore as Mayor Shinn, the use of sign language with the character Marcellus Washburn (Howie Seago), the pit musicians under the direction of Darcy Danielson.
It’s noteworthy that Seago and actor SimoneReneeMoore, who plays a member of the chorus ensemble, are the first deaf performers to appear on OSF’s stage. How poignant that these two hearing-impaired actors should perform in a musical.
Running two hours and 45 minutes, “The Music Man” is a showcase of how well OSF can pull out all the stops. Rauch had a vision for this well-traveled musical, and even if you’ve seen it dozens of times, you’ll want to see how his imagery played out in this particular production.
Bravo!
The school board members — and barbershop quartet — (Cristofer Jean, Brad Whitmore, Robert Vincent Frank and Jeremy Peter Johnson) perform with gusto. Photo by Jenny Graham.
River City’s girls celebrate the Fouth of July. Photo by Jenny Graham.
1,482 views
I can hardly wait to see it now! I have always valued the honesty of your reviews and boy, this has got to be a terrific show.
Looking forward to reading the next 2 reviews.
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Jim Dyar, thank heavens for you. This sounds so FUN.
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Jim Dyar Reply:
March 10th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Thanks, Kelly,
It really is a treat to dive into the other world that is Ashland and the OSF.
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I’m taking my 10 year old niece to see it in a few weeks. I can’t wait!
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We just saw the Music Man in Ashland this weekend and though I enjoyed the show, LOVED Michael Elich and the unique way the story unfolds I was very disappointed in the casting of Gwendolyn Mulamba. Her voice was not good, this is not just a subjective preference, she went from flat to sharp and back. I have been attending plays at OSF since 1985 and this was by far the WORST performance I’ve ever seen. She is a lovely woman and a fine actress but she cannot sing.
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I had a very good time at this show as well, but could not agree more about being disappointed in the casting of Gwendolyn Mulamba as the librarian. Most of the actors and actresses did a great job on vocals and played their parts well, but her part was played flatly without any charm at all (even at the end), there was no chemistry with Harold Hill, and her singing was downright awful.
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Yes, I thoroughly agree with the criticisms of Gwendolyn Mulamba. I came all the way from Ohio to see the OSF (and the redwoods and Crater Lake NP), and I was so disappointed. I feel strongly that this was blatant mis-casting. Choosing Mulamba to play Marian the Librarian probably was done to fulfill the “diversity” goals of OSF…However, so many of us grew up with this musical and winced at the strangeness of it all. Not only did you fail to promote true and realistic diversity (choose not a blonde Shirley Jones but a true plain-Jane, snub-nosed and frecked red-haired Irishwoman for the part !)- you nearly ruined an otherwise fine production. If Mulamba was the most talented singer who auditioned for the part, I would be shocked….There are so many highly talented African-American singers. Mulamba couldn’t sing and, in my opinion, couldn’t act…at least not in this play. There was ZERO chemistry with Harold Hill, and that chemistry is really critical to the success of the musical.
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I completely agree with Mary, Alison and Sam. The Music Man is one of my hands-down favorite plays. It’s sappy and corny and wonderful. The role of Marian is critical to the success of the whole show.
Harold Hill was fantastic, as were all the other supporting players. I liked Howie Seago in the role of Marcellus, and i think the symbolism there really worked well. But the casting of Gwendolyn Mulamba in this role was just weird.
First rule of Musical Theatre, Mr. Rauch: If you are going to produce a musical, find someone who can sing. Please!
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A big thank you to Mary, Alison, Sam and Tanya for corroborating what we observed. Everything about “The Music Man” is glorious — and it’s ruined every time Mulamba opens her mouth. I was so disappointed in this unfortunate miscasting. Because of all that’s right with the production, we will see this again in September — I’m praying for an understudy.
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I agree with Katie, Tanya, Mary, Alison and Sam. The casting of Mulamba as Marian was beyond odd. Besides the fact that I winced each time she tried to sing (Shirley Jones - she aint!) a bi-racial love drama in pre-1900’s Iowa is a little obsurd. Just as obsurd as it would be to cast a white man with a weak voice as Othello. Good drama allows a person to lose themselves in the performance. Each time Mulamba appeared I was slapped back to the reality that I was sitting in a theater in Ashland and not on the streets of River City Iowa. It was otherwise a wonderful production.
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