ANTIGO — The Antigo High School Drama Club is in the last stages of preparation for this spring’s show, “The Music Man,” which will open this Friday at the Volm Theatre at 7 p.m.
“The Music Man,” a musical originally written by Meredith Wilson, tells the story of Harold Hill, a man who travels across the country posing as a boys’ band organizer in order to con small communities into paying for band equipment he doesn’t plan to actually provide.
Hill will be played in Antigo High’s production by senior Tom Frei, who suggested River City, the small Iowa town his character sets about attempting to take for a ride, is not so different from Antigo itself.
“All the characters are so well-made. They all interact with each other perfectly. It is that small town sort of vibe where, ‘Oh no, I have nothing to talk about, so I’m just going to gossip,’” Frei laughed. “But Harold Hill is just posing as a music teacher and trying to sell instruments, uniforms, and instruction. His challenge is he has to dodge the fact that he knows nothing about music. Most of it is him just trying to convince the piano teacher and everyone else that he’s actually going to sell them this and he’s actually going to teach their kids. Because he’s really good at convincing people that they’re good and talented and have potential, but he’s really bad at putting in the work to actually learn the craft.”
The piano tutor (and librarian) skeptical of Hill’s story is one Marian Paroo, played by sophomore Hailey Burhop, who said her character’s humor comes from her conceit.
“My character is very stuck up and she basically rejects every guy that talks to her,” Burhop said. “It’s been fun getting to play something that I usually don’t act as, being all stuck up and better than everyone else.”
Both Frei and Burhop said practices, which began in January and have run at least two hours each night after school since then, have taken up a significant portion of their extra-curricular time, but have nonetheless been worth it.
“I have a lot of songs to work on and a lot of lines. When I have free time in school I’ll read through my script after I’m done working. I’ll read through it or if I get here early I’ll run my songs with Mr. Oxley when I have pride time in the morning. It’s a lot to remember, but you get there,” said Burhop, who played the precocious Jane Banks in last year’s “Mary Poppins” production. “But the vibe of everything with this year’s show is just very fun and upbeat, and everyone’s been supportive and happy about the show.”
“Every year I’m always kind of worried how the musical is going to interact with everything else I’m busy with,” said Frei, who was in the school’s shows the past two years as well. “But at the end of the day, it’s worth the stress for me. I come here and it’s a really good outlet for music and silliness. Also this year, I think it’s definitely been a nice opportunity for me to play somebody that isn’t a worried father figure, because those were my last two roles.”
Sophomore Ayda Washatko said “The Music Man” has given her a chance to play a vastly different role than she’s played in the past as well.
“I play Jacey Squires, who is the highest singing role of the school board. I picture Jacey as being the kind of sassy, kind of sarcastic one always trying to boss everyone around even if she’s not necessarily the boss,” Washatko laughed. “Preparing for it has been really fun. We do singing for the quartet every day and we work on our lines, trying to make sure that our actions are portraying our character really well, so my actions have to be kind of sassy and snappy, so pointing at people, telling them what to do in kind of a mean way. Rehearsals are very long, but they’re fun — I think everyone’s having such a fun time together.”
Josie Seay, a senior who said she has never had time to be in shows until this year, agreed with Washatko that the camaraderie between the cast and crew has been growing in the past months.
“I am part of the ensemble and I have a solo as the mayor’s wife in the beginning number, so I’m pretty background. But it’s really exciting to see how everything operates. A lot of my friends have been part of it in the past and they’ve told me all about it. So it’s interesting to be a part of it and see how everything runs and see how everyone becomes friends and how everything just meshes together,” Seay said. “The best part might be getting to know so many of the younger kids. I’m a senior, so I don’t really have a chance to talk to a lot of the underclassmen, but I’ve made so many little buddies just hanging out doing stuff and figuring out things together.”
Thursday night, cast and crew members like Seay hustled on and off the stage in one of the first full dress rehearsals for the production, which Director Michael Blood characterized as being on a scale similar to last year’s show, “Mary Poppins.”
“Almost everything on our stage this year moves,” Blood said. “We have a house that moves. We have a train that moves. We have a bridge that moves on and off. So everything has to move on and off, and we have what’s called a scene curtain or a traveler that will come down. When that comes down there will be people in front of it finishing a song or doing lines, and while they’re doing that, they’ll be moving things behind, so as soon as they finish that scene and those lines, that goes up and we’re in a different spot. Everything moves and the kids do all the moving, and I’ve got a couple of kids in the back to help guide all that and make sure they’re moving safely with it. It gets exciting.”
That this year’s production will feature so much complex scenery is thanks in large part to set designer Jeremy Doucette, who prior to returning to his hometown of Antigo designed sets for 25 years on the east coast, including in Broadway shows.
“It’s a good solid show,” Doucette said. “It’s a classic of the American theater that I think will be fortunate for the Antigo audience to see again because it’s something that hasn’t been here in 20 years.”
“So it’s something that is nice to bring back — a classic American theater musical that people don’t get to see a lot in regional or university theater. It has a lot of songs they’ll recognize and maybe a lot of songs they won’t recognize. I think it’s a great story and just an overall enjoyable night in the theater.”
The musical’s producer Betsy Frey-Neufeld credited the dedication of Doucette and Blood with the invigoration of the high school’s recent productions, which have been recognized at the Jerry Awards, Wisconsin’s award ceremony for high school musicals.
“Michael Blood is really good about going to see other high school’s shows. He went to DC Everest to watch their ‘Catch Me If You Can.’ They’ve gone to Merrill. He brings them down to Appleton sometimes. Molly Gums is fantastic at costumes, and she’s also directed. Elise Snider is a wonderful choreographer. There’s really a great team of experience,” Frey-Neufeld said. “So we’re a small high school, but it’s an amazing production.”
The first two shows of “The Music Man” will begin at 7 p.m. this Friday and Saturday. Sunday’s matinee will begin at 2 p.m. The following week will feature shows from March 14-16 at 7 p.m. each night.
Tickets can be purchased at my.hometownticketing.com. More information is available by calling 715-623-7611 at extension 2313.
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