The audience shuffles into their seats, the lights dim and anticipation soon fills the room. The stage begins to glow and an outburst of music infects the auditorium. Bright lights, colorful costumes, and vivid scenery turn the stage into a small Iowa town.

This spring Revere High School’s very own Revere Players are performing a Broadway musical, Meredith Willson’s The Music Man. The story follows the adventures of con-man Harold Hill as he dishonestly sells instruments and band uniforms to the citizens of River City, Iowa. Before he can skip town, Hill takes interest in the town librarian Marian Paroo and risks everything to be with her.

Revere senior Noah Sigsworth has participated in Players performances since his freshman year and is currently the club’s vice president. He will play the lead role of Harold Hill in the upcoming production. He described his experience with the part.

“[It is] a difficult part, but so far [it has] been a blast to work with so many other talented actors and actresses,” Sigsworth said.

Sigsworth continued to compare The Music Man to other Players productions. He said that this musical has a similar tone to the The Wizard of Oz, a show Revere put on two years ago. Sigsworth also contrasted this year’s musical to Revere Player’s performance of last year’s musical, The Sound of Music.

“[The Music Man is] definitely different than Sound of Music, but by no means worse. It simply exchanges drama for excitement and humor. With Sound of Music and Our Town being very dramatic and heavy, [it is] nice to be in a show [that is] a bit more fun,” Sigsworth said.

Although Sigsworth is playing the lead role, many people put in work behind the scenes of the stage production. Laurie Russell has directed Revere Players for 18 years, and she explained how this year’s musical compares to those in the past.

“This musical has many, many big ensembles, Which means there’s a lot of numbers where a lot of kids get to perform. And that’s what I like, last year we didn’t have that with The Sound of Music, although [that show] was wonderful.” Russell said.

Russell explained how the costumes play a big role in the performances and how they help embody the characters.

“Good costumes do something to the actors; the minute they put those costumes on they just become the character,” Russell said.

Along with Russell, Assistant Director Rena Baker has worked with Revere Players for fifteen years. She choreographs the dances for the musical, and helps select the actual show for all productions.

“[When deciding which play to put on] we look at the potential pool of actors and actresses and we consider a production that can include as many [people] as possible, fit their talents [and] abilities, and still draw a decent audience. For the fall play I try to look for classic stories [and] literature themes when I can,” Baker said.

“This is very much a singing show, the vocal performances are so important. It is also a very quick paced show. The cast is very busy, especially the chorus who are in so many numbers. There is comedy, romance and action,” Baker said.

Junior Kelly Schikowski has participated in Revere Players for three years now in a total of six shows and is currently a general board member for the club. She will portray the role of the town librarian Marian Paroo, one of the leads in the musical. She explained what she likes most about the production.

“This musical is very light-hearted. It’s something everyone can enjoy” Schikowski said.

Junior Paige Fritz is the flutist of the production pit, a collection of musicians who play the musical scores of the show.

She explained what her role is in the The Music Man as a pit member and what pit can do for a musician.

“[Pit band gives] students an opportunity to play more challenging music and to work in an environment that is different from traditional band rehearsal. The pit rehearsal is performance-oriented, so we are expected to have learned the music on our own before we come together as a group. It is both challenging and fun to work with professionals, and we definitely grow as musicians over the pit season,” Fritz said.

The cast of The Music Man includes Sarah Blake, Sydney Borcherding, Lucia Boulos, Gina Ciolli, Caroline Crawford, Tylor Davis, Sasha Desberg, Ellie Edwards, Alexa Farist, Kyle Fink, Mary Flowers, Grace Godard, Nicky Gutierrez, Ben Hunt, Spencer Jones, Christina Liccardi, Ethan Lockmiller, Dean Manning, Amanda Marchetta, William Marchetta, Kathryn Mason, Eve McCarty, Tim Miller, Nathan Mullaly, Molly Oldham, Garrison Peters, Zach Piltz, Micah Post, Susie Post, Joe Restivo, Kelly Scheetz, Becca Schmidt, Julia Schwertner, Joci Scott, Julia Scott, Ryan Scott, Sarp Sezer, Keri Tomechko, Claire Weihe, Katie Weil, Jessica Weil, Lauren Weil, Madi Williams, Charlie Wise, and Jacob Zimmerman. This year’s stage managers are Anna Gerber and Ben Tipton. The tech crew for this production includes: Lexi Abou-Ghalioum Jason Choy, and Ramia Mascioli on sound. Eric Dye, Brendan Loeb and Gavin Peters on lights.

The show will open on Thursday April, 20, and runs until Sunday, April 23.