Backstage Players make actors shine in 'The Music Man' this weekend

 WOLFBORO — If you had walked into the auditorium of The Village Players Theater any given night before "The Music Man" opened Nov. 3rd, and you would have seen Corky Mork on a tall ladder working on stage lights. Or glance to the developing set of River City, Iowa onstage, and you might have seen a note from “K.W.” warning that paint on the screen door may still be wet.

This November’s production of The Music Man marks 39-and-a-half years that the Village Players have been performing in Wolfeboro. In that time, the community theater has grown in membership, physical plant, experience, and quality of production. And while many audience members may think only of the actors they see on stage and how they’ve grown as artists, it’s the work of the folks behind the scenes that really makes the actors shine.

Director Rosemary Lounsbury has given producer Megan Rohrbacher and her crew the happy challenge of making the theater’s 35-foot-wide stage a credible small town city while also leaving enough room for the 57-member cast to sing and dance to playwright Meredith Willson’s toe-tapping score. That means that while real furnishings like a piano, a turn-of-the-20th-century street light, and a porch swing take us to 1912, a built backdrop is replaced in some scenes of this production with a high-tech projection of a gymnasium, a park and a street created by talented local artist Emily Marsh.

Village Players’ costumers have been put to the test outfitting 57 people, aged 4 – 70+ in century-old fashions, some with three or more costume changes. Luckily, the theater’s third floor is a well-organized treasure trove of costumes, genuine vintage wear, and accessories. Does Mayor Shinn need a bowler hat? Got that. Or perhaps it should be a top hat, like Lincoln’s? They will try that, too. The townspeople have spent hard-earned money on band uniforms shipped in by the Wells Fargo Wagon? Just wait to see them dazzle your eye. Always attentive to historical fact, costume creators Diane Sullivan, Dee Graham and Bobbi Boudman have been studying fashion books, sewing at all hours, and fitting actors between scenes, before rehearsals and any other moment they can lure them away from their work onstage.

A musical is always more challenging to produce than a drama or comedy. Most actors feel accomplished in only one medium. Acting might be their forte, or singing, or dance, but in a musical, they must appear comfortable doing all three. Rosemary, Megan and assistant director Catherine Collins have pulled together a talented team to help everyone onstage appear natural as they admit their pioneer failings in “Iowa Stubborn,” obsess about “Trouble in River City,” or dream about “76 Trombones” in a big parade. Choreographer Kaylin Dean has a knack for making even the most clumsy dancers look graceful, and the music team of Julie Carbone, Leighlan Prout, Scott Lounsbury and Kristi Nieman have been working with the cast individually and in groups, helping everybody do their best job of telling the story in song.

The Village Players invite you to their production of The Music Man this November. You’ll see a cast of dozens onstage, but truly, the work behind the scenes has called for the talent and labor of dozens more.

The Music Man runs Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10 and 11, with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. on Nov.12. Tickets are on sale now at Black’s on Main Street in Wolfeboro or at www.village-players.com. "The Music Man" is sponsored in part by WASR Radio 100.7FM and 1420AM.

Village Player lighting director Corky Mork goes over cues with Cate Poole in the light booth at Village Players. A generous gift to the theater from longtime member Michael Wilkes will result in the use of new projection techniques in the production of "The Music Man." (Courtesy photo)