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?Music Man? marches into Waupaca

Get ready for an evening of song and dance with Professor Harold Hill, Marian the Librarian, the Pick-a-Little Ladies and the “Iowa Stubborn” folks of River City.

The Waupaca Community Theatre will present “The Music Man” at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 25-26, and again at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, July 31 to Aug. 2, at Waupaca High School. A matinee performance is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, July 27.

Written and composed by Meredith Wilson, “The Music Man” opened on Broadway in 1957 and went on to win five Tony awards. Five years later, the popular musical was adapted to the screen.

The story takes place in the summer of 1912 when a traveling salesman and scam artist, Harold Hill, cons the small-town denizens of River City to start a boys’ marching band. He extols the virtues of music, while inciting parental angst over the vices of boys playing pool.

Sam McLellan, of Wautoma, plays Harold Hill. He is a tenor studying musical theater at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and has performed as Dr. William Chumley in “Harvey” and Buckley Dunstan in “Father of the Bride,” among other roles.

Two actors play the role of librarian Marian Paroo: Katie Anderson, who was in Waupaca High School’s 2009 production of “The Sound of Music” and last summer’s “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” and Jane Marie Erickson, a musical theater major at Ripon College who performed this spring in “The Spitfire Grill.” 

The production is filled with popular tunes, such as “Ya Got Trouble” and “Seventy-six Trombones,” as well as a barbershop quartet singing, “Goodnight Ladies” and Lida Rose.”

Other main cast members are Robin Zabler as Marcellus Washburn, Tammi Kenton as Mrs. Paroo, Kelsey Leaf and Twyla Alix as Winthrop Paroo, Marcel Van Camp as Mayor George Shinn and Julie Neubauer as Eulalie McKecknie Shinn.

Other characters include Kayla Cain and Madison Delaney as Amaryllis, Anna Kirk as Ethel Toffelmier, Gene Badgley as Charlie Cowell, Dave Larson as Constable Locke, Zachary Kubasta as Tommy Djilas, Emma Kelley as Zaneeta Shinn, Claire Jacquet as Gracie Shinn, Jerry Hurst as the train conductor, and Ryan and Maggie Jones as the farmer and his wife.

John Hammond, Chris Mentzel, Nate Peplinski and Bob Telfer are the barbershop quartet.

Carmen Riebel, Kara Delaney and Tamara Jacquet are the Pick-a-Little Ladies.

The traveling salesmen are Greg Harvey, Rocky Landsverk, Todd Klismet, Jeff Oestreich, Dave Larson, Ryan Jones and Matt Bonikowske.

Dozens more will be on stage as townspeople, chorus singers and dancers.

Tickets are $12 and available at the Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce or at the box office prior to each performance.

The Waupaca Community Theatre is associated with the Waupaca Fine Arts Festival.

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