‘The Music Man’ marches to Syracuse

It’s time to take a trip down to River City, Iowa as “The Music Man” national tour makes its way to the Landmark Theatre. The show opened in Syracuse on Tuesday, Feb. 10 as a part of their 100-stop tour across the country. 

The musical tells the story of a traveling salesman, Professor Harold Hill (Elliott Andrews), who ends up making his way to fictional River City, Iowa to con its citizens by building a “boys’ band.” However, his plan to skip town with the cash he took from uniforms and instruments backfires when he ends up falling for the town’s librarian, Marian Paroo (Elizabeth D’Aiuto). 

The show originally hit the stage in 1957, with many considering it a classic musical. However, the national tour more closely follows the 2022 Broadway revival which featured Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. The tour uses the same choreography and even some of the same costumes. 

Tony Award winning designer Santo Loquasto designed the costumes for the Broadway revival and tour. Loquasto aimed to keep the spirit of 1912 alive through the plethora of suits, dresses, shoes and wigs that he used throughout the show to help transport the audience to River City.

“It really informs the way you move, and the way you stand. To put you in that period, the costumes do such a beautiful job. People walked differently in 1912 than they do now, and the clothes certainly do help with that,” said Andrews. 

With a touring cast of 36, there are hundreds of costumes that hit the stage each night. For D’Aiuto who plays Marian, she is no stranger to a lot of costume changes.

“I have seven, I do believe or eight. Every single time I’m on stage, I’m in a new costume, which is crazy,” said D’Aiuto. 

Harold does not have many costume changes as Marian, both in the original production and in this new revival. However, this new version uses costuming as a more visual representation of Harold’s growth from a con man to an honest one, something Costume Coordinator Robin L. McGee was very intentional about.

“Originally he would have been in a white suit, like the entire time. But like the fact that he kind of changed it up to wear it when he’s coming out when we have that scene alone together, I think that was a really smart choice on Robin’s part” D’Aiuto said. 

Courtesy of The Music Man Production

The white suit in Act Two in the scene at the foot bridge with Marian Paroo (Elizabeth D’Aiuto) and Professor Harold Hill (Elliott Andrews) shows the growth within Hill to become a better person for Marian.

Andrews agrees with D’Aiuto that his limited ensemble makes for a more dramatic change in character.

“It’s like such a beautiful choice from Robin [McGee] to be like, ‘He’s earnest now. He’s a good boy now. He was a bad boy going after money in Act One just wearing his green suit, and he’s quite literally as pure as the driven snow in Act Two, just doing his best,” Andrews said. 

While important, the costuming is not the only thing about “The Music Man” that makes the production so beloved by audiences all over the country. Even though Meredith Wilson wrote the show in 1957, the story and script have held up over time.

“There’s a reason why ‘The Music Man’ keeps getting produced. Beyond the musical theater-ness of it all like the singing and the dancing and the comedy, the script is still good! There are jokes that you’re reading it just on paper and you’re laughing,” said Andrews. 

On opening night at The Landmark, Andrews said he already felt the love from the audience immediately, excited to continue bringing the show’s message of love to Syracuse leading up to their final performances on Valentine’s Day.

“To see it with everybody with a full house that’s like willing to engage is so much fun. The heart of it is so human and so simple. It really is a love story,” said Andrews. 

‘The Music Man’ runs at the Landmark through Feb. 14 and tickets can be found here.