Last night I saw the first professional production THE MUSIC MAN which I have ever seen! I've seen it done by colleges and summer stock house, but until last evening I had never seen a pro pro.
The reason I saw this production was the fact that Jeff Goldblum was returning to his musical theater roots, not to mention his hometown for this show.
The thought of the gigantic Goldblum, who as an actor on film has more than his fair quota of tics, tackling the role of Harold Hill seemed to be one of those "What were they thinking?" propositions, yet, Mr. Goldblum was quite good.
Casting this had to have been a bitch and true to my immediate thoughts when I had heard that Goldblum was cast, yes, indeed, it was a Land of the Giants cast. Ed Begley, Jr. (one of my faves from ST. ELSEWHERE) stands about an inch taller than me - we exchanged kinds words as he was on his way into the theater, both of us hoping for a ST. ELSEWHERE reunion special.
Mr. Begley was playing Mayor Shinn - far, far better than Victor Garber - with a touch of his father's spirit against the divine Ileanna Douglas as his wife. Ms. Douglas was a revelation, to be sure; taking the role and running with it, yet always true to the script.
Jeff Goldblum's charming fiancee, Katherine Wreford, posesses a lovely soprano voice, quite rangy, and shone through with true acting ability from the first moment she hit the stage to the final curtain call. Her fine handling of "My White Knight" and the tenderness of "Will I Ever Tell You?" were major highlights of the production. Very, very funny with her confrontation with Charlie, too.
As for Mr. Goldblum, he was not as miscast as Matthew Broderick had been, as well as being as far away from Robert Preston as one can be. Thank goodness he borught quite a bit of originality to Hill, a con man, yes, but, one who thinks on his feet and on the fly. It was delightful to watch his Hill develop his scheme and to grow as a character. With only slight vocal problems, sustaining throughout "Marian the Librarian" did not detract too much, since his charisma shone through.
All of the character development paid off in spades once "The Footbridge Scene" came about. . .the kiss which ends "Till There was You" was a kiss out of THE PRINCESS BRIDE, absolute perfection.
Presented by Pittsburgh's Civic Light Opera and directed by Richard Sabellico, the show's pacing was appropriately quick.
Goldblum has reined in his performance since the opening night review:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04190/343134.stmThere was no uncertainty in his Harold Hill last night.
Stage dooring afterwards, I present Jeff with his first copy ever of SCARLET STREET magazine, the "Unzips the Fly" issue, which he was very impressed with. Katherine had not yet seen the contents of the "to be autographed" envelope, so she kindly asked me if they could leave it at the stage door TODAY for me to pick up.
You see, Miss Wreford and I hit it off nicely (as did Mr. G, and I) as we posed for pictures together and someone said, "It looks like you're Daisy and Violet," and, well, as if possessed, Katherine and I launched into a totally impromptu, totally appropriate rendition of "Like Everyone Else" on the sidewalk! We then had a lengthy conversation about SIDE SHOW, favorite musicals and Jeff's compliments to me about my voice, which I must humbly say, did blend nicely with Ms. Wreford's. . .Katherine said that she was delighted to find a person in Pittsburgh who shared an affinity for SIDE SHOW.
The show will be playing through July 18th, and I might just take another gander at it, but, for now, I am reticent. Oh, yes, I am reticent.
