Review: THE MUSIC MAN at Toby's With Capital T

A salesman manufactures an imaginary town crisis, offering salvation in the form of a children's band, despite having no musical talent. THE MUSIC MAN has captured the hearts of audiences for several generations and shows no sign of descending quietly into obscurity.

The beloved Toby's Dinner And Show in Columbia, Maryland undertakes this winner of a show, (5 Tonys in 1957, its Broadway debut), showcasing some less familiar faces in the cast, featuring unusual music and movement to great effect and audience delight.

Meredith Willson’s show THE MUSIC MAN is an American classic, meticulously created. Willson made 30 revisions over the course of 8 years to create the 1957 musical, writing lyrics, music and book, eventually bringing in Franklin Lacey to help with the story. He wrote nearly 60 songs, 21 of which appear in the show. One of them, “Till There Was You,” had been released by Willson, a renowned musician and composer, as “Till I Met You” in 1950, though it became popular only after its inclusion in the 1957 musical. I somehow reached the age of never-you-mind and didn’t know it was a cover when the Beatles sang it on the Ed Sullivan show. The music is lush and varied, the lyrics rapid, clever and often non-rhyming. Many of the songs are unusually formatted for a stage musical, the staging is deliberate stagey, and it is genuinely fascinating nearly all the time. 

Director- Choreographer Mark Minnick, who unfailingly delivers immersive, 3-dimensional action and lively dance sequences suitable for in-the-round performance, is at his absolute best in this show. The synchronized motion in the opening sequence promises something unusual and the rest of the show pays that promise, with dividends. He mitigates the embedded misogyny inherent in the script by changing the band from a “boys’ band” to a “kids’ band,” though there’s not much to be done about  songs like “The Sadder But Wiser Girl” and “Shipoopi.”

As shifty salesman Harold Hill, Jeffrey Shankle is undeniably charming, and has the vocal chops to carry the part, and then some. The chemistry between him and leading lady Janine Sunday is tepid, an element that leads me to believe the script is going somewhere unconventional. Sunday, playing music teacher/ librarian Marion Paroo, has a strenuously demanding singing role, hits all her high notes (and the rest of them) and displays expressiveness and power. Her warmth shines across the whole stage.

Music director Ross Scott Rawlings gets some truly powerful sound from this excellent cast, and the very small orchestra, which certainly does NOT have 76 trombones tucked away offstage. Don Patterson, the only one actually on trombone tonight, delights us all the same. 

Though the musical is known for its big fat Musical Theatre numbers like “76 Trombones,” The “Wells Fargo Wagon,” “Gary, Indiana” and “Till There Was You,” my favorite numbers are more obscure. The syncopated patter in the opening number “Rock Island” is accompanied by illustrative movement and repeating staccato lyric lines.”Ya Got Trouble” is slick sales pitchmanship at its slickest, “Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little” calls to mind all sorts of imagery and references (and, in doing so, metaphor) and “Marian the Librarian” has a deep undertone that is borderline sinister. I’m delighted by the Quartet, every single time, and there are plenty. Vince Gover, Carter Crosby, Alec Brashear and David Bosley-Reynolds are marvelous as the feuding School Board, undergoing a dramatic transformation at the suggestion of Harold Hill.

In other supporting roles are Alan Hoffman, entertainingly befuddled as Mayor Shinn, the versatile Lynn Sharp-Spears as Mrs. Mayor, Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn, Jane C. Boyle as Mrs. Paroo, youngsters Elijah Doxtater and Julia Ballenger (among others) playing Winthrop Paroo and Amaryllis, David James as antagonist Charlie Cowell, and Shawn Kettering as former shill Marcellus Washburn. In this large, excellent cast, it's difficult to single out performers to praise, as in truth, everyone on the stage is praisworthy and precise.

The precision of movement opening the show, in the number "Rock Island" sets this show immediately apart from most musical comedies, as Traveling Salesmen Dereck Atwater, David Bosley-Reynolds, Alec Brashear, Benjamin Campion, Carter Crosby, Joey Ellinghaus, Jaylen Fontaine and Vince Gover create a train with some boxes and their bodies. This is probably my favorite number in the show.

Costume Design by Sarah King & Janine Sunday is another treat to the eyes, the lush skirts and feathered hats full of motion and energy. This effect is particularly noticiable in Mrs. Mayor Shin's entourage, the Pick-A-Little Ladies, played by Valerie Adams Rigsbee, Heather Marie Beck, Amanda Kaplan Landstrom and Melynda Burdette.

In spite of my issues with the script, (embedded misogyny, 'reformed man' trope, conventional resolution), this is an absolute standout show. It's kicky, clean and clever, packed with surprises both visual and auditory.

From the beautifully choreographed train sequence to the ‘classical’ dance performance of Mrs. Eulalie Shin’s Grecian terpsichoreans, THE MUSIC MAN is wonderful to observe, and full of unusual, stylized movement. It’s also a treat to the ears, with a great variety of musical styles, accompanied by humorous lyrics and dialogue. Get ready to hum the Minuete in G, grab your family and go see this highly entertaining show. 

Photo: Jeffrey Shankle and Jeanine Sunday as Harold Hill and Marion Paroo

Photo Credit: Jeri Tidwell Photography

THE MUSIC MAN plays at Toby’s Dinner And Show, 5900 Symphony Woods Road, Columbia, MD 21044, through May 18, 2025, Tuesday - Saturday, 6 PM for dinner; Wednesday and Sunday 10:30 for brunch. Phone the Box Office 410-730-8311 Monday- Saturday 10:00am- 8:00pm; Sunday  10:00am – 7:00pm for tickets or buy them through Ticketmaster .Ticket are priced $70- $95.00, depending on day of the week and your age.

The construction for the new arts center is underway, so your parking situation at Toby’s is different than it was. The entrance has also been altered. If you’ve visited Toby’s in the past, allow a bit more time for arrival and disembarkment.

Final Factoid: THE MUSIC MAN is the reason WEST SIDE STORY earned only two Tony wins, neither of them Best Musical. They were produced on Broadway the same year.