Life in the town of River City is hard to come by. To create this astonishing portal into a world of a town that is shocked by a singing and dancing con man, Dover-Sherborn High School turned to the marvelous Sheridan Miller.
Sheridan Miller is a member of the Dover Foundation and has graciously donated her time and effort to providing costumes for this show. The Dover Foundation provided an authentic 1900s feel to this show, working diligently with members of the DSHS costume committee. Senior Rori Mcmanus is one of the costume designers on The Music Man. “Working with costumes has been super interesting because we have combined the usage of vintage clothing and hand-made outfits that have led to a combination of different aspects of fashion and theater design.” She also reminisced on the time she worked with Sheridan Miller saying “It has been great to use the extensive resources of Sheridan Miller’s costume closet and use the accessibility of so many different costumes at our own discretion, it has made the hard job easier and more consistent” Sheridan Miller is also currently working on Hello Dolly which is premiering this spring.
The Music Man ties in aspects of friendship and hope and discovering who you are within a spectacle of song and dance that will leave you speechless. The show is filled with songs and dances and even flying trains that will leave you speechless. The Music Man premieres at Dover-Sherborn High School on March 16th, 17th and 18th.
A fun, favorable, likable con man? Hard to believe, but the stars of Dover-Sherborn High School’s production of the Music Man make it look easy. Junior Owen Fontaine on playing Harold Hill said, “playing Harold Hill is definitely an interesting role all around. Although the character has so many dislikable qualities, he still manages to hoodwink a stubborn town and act goofy enough to trick the audience into liking him that much more. Playing a flirty, pushy, and dishonest con man actually turned out to be much more fun than expected. Throughout every scene I have to focus on making every line have the perfect smooth talking and or flirtatious tone with articulate pauses making every moment that much more concerning, uncomfortable, goofy and overall entertaining. I have always enjoyed the DS drama programs, and I am so glad I finally got the chance to take a lead role.”
Dover Sherborn High School uses a duel cast system as so many people love to be involved in the drama program. Junior Thomas Hodge also plays Harold Hill. He is a fan of the duel cast system that Dover-Sherborn offers, as he thinks it builds a greater community between cast members. He talked about his leading role, saying “It took a lot of work to memorize the lines and songs, and even now I don't have everything completely down yet. Since he has the most lines in the show, it makes sense that the Harolds put in the most effort to prepare for the show. On top of the dances we have to know for our on night, we also have to learn our off night parts, which is additional work to the stuff we already have to do. Needless to say, it's a lot, but I'm confident Owen and I will get it all before opening night.”
The cast and crew of the Music Man have been working diligently to create a fun musical world revolving around the story of a lighthearted con man. Through collaboration and connection, this group has managed to create a show about friendship and love and connection. The Music Man premieres March 16th, 17th and 18th at Dover-Sherborn High School.
