Easy Street does The Music Man

I was privileged to be a part of The Music Man this past weekend at Powers Auditorium. Todd and Maureen have been friends of Jaci’s for a long time, and they’ve graciously welcomed me into their circle. I played keyboards for Beauty and the Beast in ‘07 and then starred in Forever Plaid at Ford Family Recital Hall.

Milan Paurich wrote an unfortunate review in the Vindicator Sunday. Todd asked me to write something as a counterweight that would help keep spirits up for the final show. Since it was well received, I’m reprinting it here. I’ll follow with the letter to the editor I wrote about the review. I’m all for criticism, and there were valid issues with the show that could have been addressed. The Vindy writer, however, by choosing to approach the review as he did, missed any opportunity for constructive criticism.
—

River City Gazette

The past four weeks have been a whirlwind of activity here in River City, where picnics in the park and quiet reveries in the library have been replaced by band practice and wild dancing. While this paper has previously denigrated these types of frivolities, we have been gradually won over by our newest Citizien, the Professor Harold Hill.

While initially affronted by his bold presumption, the testimony of the fair librarian and piano teacher Marian Paroo has brought us into a favorable circumstance with the honorable gentleman. The new singing group formed by the members of the school board—grocer Ewart Dunlop, stable owner Jacey Squires, banker Oliver Hix and this writer—has in particular brought a new harmonious sensibility to daily life in our fair city.

We send regrets to Charlie Cowell who, though assuredly of good intention, failed to prove his case against the intentions of Professor Hill. Likewise, our leading ladies—Alma Hix, Maud Dunlop, Mrs. Squires and the incomparable Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn—are to be commended for graciously admitting the Paroo family (for Mrs. Paroo’s sake, on Mother’s Day of all days!) into its inner circle.

As the summer marches on, we will be watching closely to see if little Winthrop and Amaryllis are able to raise a live frog together, if Constable Locke will find some kind of charge that will stick to the lithe Tommy Djilas, and whether we may also—now that we indeed have a boys band (with Johnny, Willy, Teddy and Fred all in resplendent uniform!)— indulge in that new pool table. After all, Mayor Shinn should be allowed to recoup his investment; I’m sure this would also find favor with Banker Hix, as he extended the loan to His Honor.

This paper is happy to announce that Ethel Toffelmier and Marcellus Washburn will be joining together in holy matrimony next Saturday. All are invited to join together at River City Cathedral, where our Most Reverend Train Conductor will officiate the ceremony.

Finally, we cheer with gratitude for the many dancers and chorus members not named above who have so ably and courageously given voice and lift to our city’s spirits over the past several weeks. They are the backbone of this fine community, and without their remarkable gifts and selfless sacrifices, this entire happening would not have … well, happened.

one more note: To those at a competing newspaper who are melting tar and plucking feathers for the performances of our fine River Citiziens, I say, “Jeely Klye” to you!

Respectfully,

Olin Britt, Editor
River City Gazette

—
Dear Editor:

Milan Paurich’s Sunday review of The Music Man did a disservice to the local theater community, not to mention the tradition of critical review. Traditionally, “large, appreciative audiences” are a measure of a theater company’s success. Apparently, they are beneath Mr. Paurich, who merely uses his ink to serve some kind of grudge against Easy Street founders Todd Hancock and Maureen Collins who, instead of being billed as co-owners, are mocked as “king and queen.”

Easy Street has been putting on quality, popular productions in Youngstown for a generation, providing reliable opportunities for amateurs and gigs for professional actors and musicians. They are one of the few, and now perhaps the only, local theater companies putting on large-scale, Broadway-style musical productions.

Yet the reviewer suggests Easy Street’s use of professional sets and costumes from Broadway and touring show productions is some kind of physical manifestation of the production’s collective ego. With an affair as big as Meredith Willson’s beloved, Tony Award-winning show, one might only expect criticism if Easy Street and its partner the Youngstown Symphony Society had succumbed to economic fears and put up a few hand-painted, cardboard cutouts as opposed to the terrific depictions of turn-of-the-century River City, Iowa they rented.

Reviewers can help audiences know what to attend and how to appreciate it. Instead, this reviewer merely shows how to insult and how to pit community theaters against each other. How else to explain a recommendation of the three-weekend run of the Oakland’s Reefer Madness as a valid alternative to the family-friendly Music Man, which ran for one weekend?

Mr. Paurich apparently never met a metaphor he didn’t like. From the worst oil spill on North American soil to Disney theme parks to American Idol, the writer doesn’t bother sticking to a coherent theme that can effectively critique the production, instead reaching for any device that will help him heap scorn on the proceedings.

It’s customary for theater reviews to comment on featured players, and few are more visible than the school board quartet, an important ingredient for a successful Music Man production. The quartet, however, was never mentioned (full disclosure: I was a member of the quartet). Consistency is also a casualty of the writer, who talks about the production being over the top and then praises the featured roles of Mayor Shinn and Charlie Cowell, the show’s two most outsized roles.

Perhaps the reviewer should sit a bit closer to the stage, where he’s not bothered by the stage manager giving instructions in the back of the auditorium, and where he can appreciate the quality of the effort put forward by the diverse and accomplished cast of The Music Man.

- Tyler Clark

Popularity: 41% [?]