Broadway’s beloved musical, The Music Man, kicks off The 2024 – 2025 PNC Bank Season for City Springs Theatre Company. Composer/lyricist/writer Meredith Willson’s six-time, Tony Award®-winning musical has been charming audiences since 1957 with its energetic tale of a traveling con-man, the small-town citizens he’s attempting to swindle, and the piano teacher with whom he unexpectedly falls in love. This quintessential American musical features such memorable songs as “Till There Was You,” “Ya Got Trouble,” “Goodnight, My Someone,” “The Wells Fargo Wagon,” “Shipoopi” and “Seventy-Six Trombones.” This production is suitable for all audiences.
“The Music Man is one of those shows that in more than 60 years has never once gone out of vogue with audiences,” said Natalie DeLancey, executive director of City Springs Theatre Company. “We’re not only thrilled to have Shuler Hensley back in the director’s chair, but also to have some of New York and Atlanta’s finest talents coming together to create what will hopefully be an iconic production of our own.”
Beginning in 1957, The Music Man ran on Broadway for more than four years and won six Tony Awards®, famously beating out West Side Story for Best Musical that year. The show catapulted its original star Robert Preston to instant fame, and since then the lead role of “Harold Hill” has been portrayed onstage and onscreen by such names as Dick Van Dyke, Eddie Albert, Bert Parks, Matthew Broderick, Norm Lewis, and Hugh Jackman. Songs from The Music Man have been recorded countless times by artists such as Henry Mancini, Peggy Lee, Jack Black, and Seth MacFarlane; and the song “Till There Was You” was the only “showtune” ever recorded by The Beatles.
After having helmed its own productions of The Sound of Music and Fiddler on the Roof, City Springs Theatre Company (CTSC) welcomes its Tony Award®-winning artistic director Shuler Hensley back to the stage. “After starring in The Music Man for a year in New York,” says Hensley, “it’s exciting to return to the material while it is still fresh in my mind and put our own stamp on it for our wonderful theatre company here in Sandy Springs.” In addition to Hensley, CSTC’s production will also feature new choreography by another veteran of the recent Broadway production, Sara Edwards. Edwards also previously directed and choreographed both Anything Goes and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas for CSTC. Fresh off the company’s hit run of Jersey Boys this summer, Miles Plant returns to music direct the cast and orchestra for The Music Man.
The cast of The Music Man will be led by Atlanta-native Billy Harrigan Tighe, who has previously played memorable roles in CSTC’s Anything Goes, Into The Woods, and Monty Python’s Spamalot. Tighe appeared on Broadway in Pippin, and in the West End production of The Book of Mormon, and most recently finished a successful run in the Broadway musical The Heart of Rock and Roll. In the role of Marian Paroo, also returning to CSTC is leading lady Scarlett Walker, who co-starred in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas last December and is a veteran of Broadway’s Carousel. Returning performers also include Googie Uterhardt (CSTC’s Monty Python’s Spamalot) as Marcellus Washburn; Brian Kurlander (CSTC’s Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Broadway’s A Little Night Music) as Mayor Shinn; Courtenay Collins (CSTC’s Fiddler on the Roof, Broadway’s The Prom) as Mrs. Shinn; and Pamela Gold (CSTC’s Billy Elliot, Broadway’s How To Succeed.., and Once Upon a Mattress) as Mrs. Paroo. Other CSTC alumni starring in The Music Man include Alec Beard, Ruby Calamia, Kyle Robert Carter, Galen Crawley, Kate Fahrner (Broadway’s Wicked), Trevor “TJay” Groce, Gabe Hardin, Gigi McClenning, Brian Montemayer, Mallory Nolting, Ryley Perry, Claudio Pestana, Zac Pritts, Jordan Sam Rich, and Zach Shanks. Making their debuts with City Springs Theatre Company are Jackson Arthur, Mia Bolash, Lyndsey Cole, Kammie Crum (Broadway’s The Music Man), Bella Dole, Evan Hamilton, Dayne Joyner, Nick Morrett, Joseph Quintana, Megan Sell, Benjamin Tippens, and Jose Zepeda.
CREATIVE AND PRODUCTION TEAMS:
Director: Shuler Hensley
Choreographer: Sara Edwards
Music Director/Conductor: Miles Plant
Lighting Designer: Mike Wood
Sound Designer: Anthony Narciso
Scenic Designer: Jacob Olson
Props Designer: Azahn Billins
Costumes by Maine State Music Theatre
Wigs by: Alycia Berry
Production Stage Manager: Gina Barone
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: Sept 6-22
Wednesday, September 11, 18 @ 7:30pm
Thursday, September 12, 19 @ 7:30pm
Friday, September 6, 13, 20, @ 8:00pm
Saturday, September 7, 14, 21 @ 2:00pm & 8:00pm
Sunday, September 8,15,22 @ 2:00pm
TICKETS:
On sale now ($42 - $108), with discounts for seniors, students, groups, and active and retired military personnel. Call 404-477-4365 or visit www.CitySpringsTheatre.com for more information. Gift cards and discounts for groups of 10 or more are available by calling the Box Office at 404-477-4365. CSTC’s Box Office is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
LOCATION:
Byers Theatre in Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center,
1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs.
About City Springs Theatre Company:
City Springs Theatre Company (CSTC) is dedicated to entertaining, educating, and enriching lives by creating world-class entertainment experiences and innovative arts education programs that drive cultural and economic vitality. Through musical theatre productions that utilize the talents of local and national artists, CSTC provides Broadway quality entertainment to the diverse Atlanta populace, helping to establish Sandy Springs, Georgia, as a growing cultural center. City Springs Theatre Company is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, led by Executive Director Natalie DeLancey, and Tony Award®-winnerand Atlanta native Shuler Hensley as artistic director. To date, CSTC has served over 175,000 patrons and 135,000 students through its mainstage musicals and educational programs.
