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<\/a>\u201cSo when we\u2019re singing the song \u2018Wells Fargo Wagon,\u2019 we told them about the Sears-Roebuck catalog and we equated that to going on Amazon and the Wells Fargo wagon is like UPS.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Music Man,\u201d which is about con man Harold Hill who sells a small town on a boy\u2019s band despite \u201cnot knowing a lick of music,\u201d will run March 21\u201324 at the Joan B. Kroc Salvation Army Theater.<\/p>\n
This marks the fourth time PPJT has done the Tony Award-winning musical in its 48-year history, but some members of this year\u2019s cast went deeper than Arapostathis expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were talking about characterization and one group of girls created a family tree of all the characters and their backstories, and explained why Harold Hill was the way he was,\u201d Arapostathis said proudly. \u201cIt\u2019s all fictitious, and they even drew a map of the town and who Harold Hill\u2019s grandparents were and what let him to become a cheat and swindler.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe accuracy of the dates and how someone could be related to someone else held up. I haven\u2019t seen kids do that before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additionally, Arapostathis was able to use the current popularity of the musical \u201cHamilton\u201d to help the students master some of the lyrics of songs from \u201cThe Music Man\u201d that are also rhythmic in nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cI explained Lin-Manuel Miranda\u2019s rationale for using hip-hop because in order to tell this much story in a song, every story had to be on the beat,\u201d he said. Songs like \u201cTrouble\u201d use a square dance-type of cadence which Arapostathis explains \u201cwas the hip-hop of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Music Man\u201d takes place in 1912, which just happens to be the year that La Mesa was founded. Arapostathis admits using that fact to help his actors get a feel for the town of River City, Iowa.<\/p>\n
\u201cI point out to them that if they look at the downtown of La Mesa, some of the features still resemble how River City is described in the script,\u201d he said. \u201cI do think there are parallels between the two cities, and I think if the musical\u2019s composer, Meredith Wilson, had seen La Mesa, he would have thought so as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Performances for the show begin at 7 p.m. for the evening shows, 1 p.m. for Saturday\u2019s matinee. In addition, Thursday night is \u201cAlumni Night,\u201d where former PPJT cast members are encouraged to attend.<\/p>\n