The CHIEF January 2024

PTHS Presents:

By: Lilian Rainbolt

Greetings, Chief readers and fellow musical theatre enthusiasts! I am pleased to inform you that the PTHS Drama Club will be performing The Music Man as our long-awaited spring musical production this year. If you are unfamiliar, The Music Man was composed by Meredith Wilson in 1957, and has since had two large movie adaptations. It just recently closed on Broadway in January of this year, but it boasted large names in the cast such as Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. The plot follows a character named Harold Hill who is a con man posing as a children’s band leader. He intends to sell the unsuspecting citizens of small-town River City, Iowa, instruments and uniforms for their children, then skip town with his profits without providing any of the promised music lessons. However, his plans begin to change when he meets and becomes enthralled with the resident librarian, Marian Paroo, who sees right through his schemes. As the musical continues, we watch as Harold juggles the tasks of running his scam, wooing Marian, and avoiding suspicion by righting the concocted “trouble” in River City, all the while evading the mayor and school board searching for his credentials. The Music Man is sure to captivate your hearts in a story of comedy, wit, and romance. Our production is being directed by Mr. Joseph Durbin, with Mr. Scot Schickel directing the pit, along with Miss Anita Nangle choreographing, and Mrs. Ellen Yedinak assisting in choral music. Our cast is composed of over fifty members, featuring Daniel Bradshaw, who will be playing the main character Harold Hill, and Olivia Yedinak, our leading lady, as Marian. Musical theatre runs strongly in the Yedinak family with all three siblings in our production, including thirteen-year old Henry Yedinak, coming to us from 7th grade at Saint Mary’s. Henry will be playing the role of Winthrop, Marian’s little brother with a lisp who avoids speaking but begins to open up when Harold comes to town. The remainder of the cast can be viewed below! Mr. Durbin comments on the production saying, "I am very excited for the school and community to see all the hard work and talent that PTHS has to offer in our spring musical, The Music Man . It takes a village to put on a show like this. From the actors/singers on the stage, the instrumentalist in the pit, those working backstage on set design and construction, and those in the booth working on lighting and sound, we have more than sixty people working hard to bring the town of River City, Iowa to life. I and Mr. Schickel always look forward to putting together the musical every other year!" If you are interested in attending, performances will be on Friday, March 15th and Saturday the16th at 7pm, as well as Sunday, March 17th at 3pm. Hope to see you there!