Music Man to March into Town

An original poster from the movie musical. Via Wikipedia

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

"The Music Man" is about a band leader who comes to a small town in Iowa and recruits young men for his boy’s band, so it’s fitting that the organizers behind the musical itself are now recruiting some talented musicians and actors for the Kodiak version of "The Music Man."

Veronica Costa-Bolton is the production’s director and says they’re looking for kids of all ages to audition for the fictional band, but certain restrictions apply. After all, the musical takes place in 1912 and does focus on a boy’s band.

“There is a whole section for girls both as a complement to the band – at that time, girls were not in marching bands, but they were definitely part of the accessory – and they have a whole club, a whole dancing club, that they go to. Women were considered to be well-suited for dance, and men would be in the marching bands.”

Which Costa-Bolton says were popular at the turn of the century.

“The entertainment at that time was all about these big marching bands. They were spectacular. You would travel to your state fairs and see these bands and it just created that sense of fame. And so, this is a salesman who comes in and says I’m gonna give you some of that. And he’s initially just in it for the money.”

But that changes when the swindling bandleader meets a local librarian.

Costa-Bolton says she’s looking for all kinds of people to get involved in the musical. Auditions start in early December, so you have plenty of time to decide whether you want to be an actor, an orchestra member, or work behind the scenes.

And if you want to hear more about the musical, you can listen to the full recording of Tuesday’s Talk of the Rock.