River City Returns to Collingswood Theatre in Feb!
It was nine years ago that the fledgling Collingswood Community Theatre held auditions for its first all-town musical, The Music Man, a timeless Broadway classic written by Meredith Willson. Mary Baldwin, the director of the CCT, was astounded at the number of townspeople who tried out. The final cast for the 2003 show totaled a whopping 90 people, ranging in age from 7 through 74, including 51 with family members in the cast. The production still holds CCT attendance records, with more than 800 in the audience for one of the shows, all on their feet at the end. The new cast also totals 90, with a mix of multi-generational families including both old hands and a few newcomers.
The show is set in 1912 River City, a fictional Iowa town full of stubborn but gullible Hawkeyes. It features a pompous, malapropism machine of a mayor, a bickering school board that gets transformed into a barbershop quartet, a group of gossipy busybodies that seems to run everything, and a cynical, high-minded librarian. Harold Hill, a slick, fast-talking salesman and con man, comes to town intent on convincing these “Iowa stubborn” townsfolk to purchase band instruments and uniforms for a boys’ band he claims to have playing in a matter of weeks using his revolutionary “think system.” The mayor and Marion, the librarian are the only ones that see through the con, but seem helpless to stop it. The production features a score full of classic songs, “Till There Was You,” “Trouble,” “Lida Rose,” and of course, “Seventy-six Trombones.”
Since the original Music Man production, the CCT has averaged three shows per year, including classic musicals such as Guys and Dolls, State Fair, and South Pacific; newer ones like Chicago, Curtains, and Urinetown; and straight plays, such as Steel Magnolias, The Odd Couple, and Twelve Angry Men. The theatre group has become a town staple, and an example of unparalleled community spirit. Many members of the group have formed close friendships. They work tirelessly together to rehearse, build and paint sets, and support the group’s productions in various other ways.
Shows will be in the beautiful Scottish Rite Theatre, 300 White Horse Pike, Collingswood, NJ, on February 17, 18, 24, and 25 at 7:30 p.m. There will also be matinees on February 18 and 26 at 1 p.m. Tickets are $17 for adults and $12 for seniors/students. CCT is offering buy one adult, get one child ticket free for the Friday and Saturday evening performances on the 24 and 25. Group rates are available for all groups over 15 for $10 per ticket, which must be purchased in advance. For group sales contact Dale at 609-217-4691.
