The Music Man A Hit at the Arts Center Theatre

River City, Iowa made a brief visit to Marco Island, and while here, the small town’s denizens brought audiences alive at the Arts Center Theatre. 

The social call was, of course, figurative rather than literal. River City is the fictional setting for the award-winning musical “The Music Man.” The time-honored favorite recently completed a rousing, well-received and skillfully performed, five-show, four-day-long run on the island. 

History was made in multiple ways when the curtain rose for the opening. 

For one, it was the first time a full-blown musical, one presented in its complete form, was performed on the facility’s small stage in its roughly 50 years of existence. The run also marked Arts Center Theatre’s first time only presenting performances, rather than also serving as producer and handling all aspects of the production, such as casting, rehearsals and direction. 

That role was expertly handled by the Fort Myers Theatre. The community theater group traveled from its Lee County home to entertain with a show performed in its own theater in early and mid-October. The talented cast of 25 sang, danced and acted with the expertise, panache and passion of seasoned pros. 

In response, the actors were showered with frequent laughter and applause from the appreciative crowds who flocked to ACT’s Marco Town Center digs, October 18-21. 

“The cast loved the intimacy of the Art Center Theatre and the audience response to our show was over-the-top,” said cast member Charlie Blum of Marco, who portrayed the play’s featured character Henry Hill, with aplomb. He’s also a board member of the Marco Island Center for the Arts, which brought the theater under its umbrella in 2022. “It’s such a fun show and a fabulous part.”

Hill is a traveling con man who arrives in River City to con residents into buying uniforms and instruments for a boy’s band he promises to organize. They’re unaware the charming stranger has no musical knowledge and that he intends to abscond with the funds. However, the town librarian, Marian Paroo suspects he’s a fraud. Eventually, Hill develops feelings for her, and she for him, placing him on the horns of a dilemma where his plans are concerned. 

After its 1957 Broadway debut “The Music Man” won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and an individual award for Robert Preston, who portrayed Hill. The 1962 film adaptation, starring Preston and Shirley Jones, was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. 

In the past, musical theater has usually only been presented in a condensed form on Marco. A lack of venues with the on-and-off-stage space the productions require, above and beyond that needed for non-musicals, is a key reason why. That includes the rather cramped stage at ACT’s Marco Town Center theater, which was originally the home of the now-defunct Marco Players community theater group. 

However, the Fort Myers Theatre company also utilizes a relatively small stage, although slightly larger than ACT’s, and full musicals are a regular offering.

Making the adjustment wasn’t difficult, said Michelle Kuntze, the Fort Myers Theatre's artistic director. She and her husband, Jeremy, the troupe’s executive producer, also operate the Creative Theater Workshop children’s theater program, which stages musicals, just like Fort Myers Theatre. 

“We just taped out your stage, and so we were able to practice in a smaller space,” she said. “We knew going into it that we had to be prepared for that. So it was a fun challenge, but it was a challenge.” 

Fort Myers Theatre’s approach to “The Music Man” could be described as minimalist, but in a way that’s not really noticeable. Elaborate sets were nowhere to be found, but time, place and setting were all effectively communicated. Music was recorded rather than live. But the production’s quality ensured the viewer would not feel that a thing was missing. 

The journey to Marco was also history-making for the Fort Myers Theatre. It marked the company’s first time traveling with one of its shows. 

“We had such amazing talent, and we said, ‘We put all this work and time and energy into a production that we want to be able to perform it more than just a weekend,’” explained Kuntze. “So now we're traveling to Marco Island and to Punta Gorda.”

She said the cast was enjoying the experience and she offered high praise for the ACT’s surroundings.

“It's a really beautiful theater,” said Kuntze. “It's perfect. You feel like you're on stage with the actors. You feel like you're part of the show as an audience member.”

Blum is a community theater veteran who has played Henry Hill numerous times with various groups around the country. He described performing in this production as “a blast.

“I was privileged to be a part of an amazing cast that made this show so special for me, both on and off the stage. We were also fortunate to have a fabulous director-choreographer. She was tough on us at times and it paid off.”

The Fort Myers Theatre will return to ACT to celebrate the holidays with its production of Irving Berlin's “White Christmas.” There will be six performances December 13th through December 17th.

ACT’s 2023-20224 theatrical season began on October 25, with a production of “The 39 Steps.” It will be followed by “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] [Again],” Noël Coward’s “Private Lives,” and lastly, the season-closer, “Vanities” by Jack Heifner, which runs from next March 13 through March 30. 

Those performances will be joined by an array of live music, the comedy series and more, including the possible addition of theater classes. 

The Arts Center Theatre is located in Marco Town Center, 1089 N. Collier Boulevard, Unit #432. For more information about the ACT, and to purchase tickets, visit marcoislandart.org or call 394-4221. For more information about the Fort Myers Theatre, visit ftmyerstheatre.com.