Sometimes Waiting Is Worth It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                  I had never seen "The Music Man" on stage.  I had missed the last several revivals, and when this one was announced, while I was happy it was playing at the Winter Garden, my favorite theater, (because of "MAME" and "FOLLIES" having played there) I was a little worried about Sutton Foster, whose voice is not in the range of Marion, like her originator, the great Barbara Cook.  However, I am happy to report, on July 7, when David and I, plus some friends of ours, caught the matinee, all fears vanished.

                                   There is an unseen star onstage, and that is Warren Carlyle's choreography.  Like Justin Peck, with "Carousel" four years ago, he has made this "Music Man" more dance centric, and the entire cast, including a good number of children are more than up to it.

                                     As soon as Hugh Jackman launched into "Trouble," and Sutton Foster got the emotionality of "Goodnight, My Someone," I knew this production was in good hands.  Foster does something darker and interesting with Marian that I had never seen before.  She is a match for Hugh Jackman.  The sheer high we had expected to obtain from seeing "Funny Girl" months earlier, was more than compensated for by this performance of "The Music Man."  I am still on a high from it, even as I write.

                                      Not since "Carousel," four years before, have I seen such a perfectly realized musical production.  And the audience agreed.  As soon as the Overture burst out into "Seventy-Six Trombones," the theater began clapping in rhythm.  And when Harold and Marian embraced at the climax of "Till There Was You," people were applauding, and I was crying real tears.

                                         Especially beautiful and heartbreaking was Benjamin Pajak's touching performance as Winthrop Paroo, Marian's kid brother.  The chemistry between he and Foster was emotionally palpable. Same with Marie Finn as Mrs. Paroo, Jayne Houdyshell as the Mayor's Wife, Shuler Hensely as Marcellus Washburn, and Emily Jewel Hoder as Amaryllis.  As for the ensemble, every step, every note they sang, I wanted to be up there with them.

                                            Thank God for Santo Lopqasto's sets and costumes; he is still Broadway's best.  And this type of musical is Jerry Zaks' directorial element.  This "Music Man" marches perfectly to the beat of Meredith Wilson's lush score, and I am so glad I waited for this production to see it.

                                                Girls, see this immediately, with your someone, or the someone you still wish for.  It will send your emotions soaring on a joyous and hopeful note.

                                                   Enjoy it while you can. Shows like this are not done anymore.