The Music Man There is no musical more American than this classic from Meredith Willson (1957). With its ragtime-infused score, Iowan homegrown wit, barbershop quartet and all-American bad-boy hero, it could only have been written in the good ol' USA. You know the plot: Conman Harold Hill scams innocent townsfolk into supporting a boys' band that will keep the kids out of trouble at the pool hall. ("Trouble with a capital T, and that rhymes with P, and that stands for pool," he croons seductively.) When they order instruments and uniforms, he absconds with the money. He's redeemed when he falls in love with prim, but wise, town librarian Marian. The show is amazingly clever and tune-filled (the first number is music-less, with traveling salesmen mimicking the rhythms and sounds of the train they're riding as they debate the inevitable changes in the modern world). This quirky musical is one of a kind and not seen often enough onstage. Country Playhouse does fairly well with it, except for its overpowering small orchestra, which drowns out almost every singer, and the overbearing dancing townsfolk — and I mean the entire town — clumping around en masse onstage. The cast is enormous, which means at least 100 feet are pounding out the dance routines. Do you know how loud that is? Roy Johnson (The Music Man) lacks the innate pizzazz this ultimate conman must have, and there's not much chemistry with Marian (Deborah Tushnet), who has a lovely soprano when not drowned out by the aforementioned music makers. But the barbershop quartet, the staging of the library scene and the quintessential gossipy "Pickalittle Talkalittle" ladies are all very fine indeed. Through July 28. 12802 Queensbury, 713-467-4497. — DLG
Thoroughly Modern Millie What exactly is the point in casting two leading men who can't sing in a musical? Maybe there's better luck with the alternate cast, but that's the big problem here — a musical this big needs one solid cast, not two semi-rehearsed ones. (Although all the time in the world wouldn't make the two guys I heard, Stephen Heck and Eric Oneacre, carry a tune.) Based upon the 1967 Julie Andrews movie musical parody of the Roaring Twenties, the Broadway show (2002) is delightfully silly and absolutely adorable. It is blessed with a sparkling Jazz Age pastiche of a score by Jeanine Tesori (Caroline, or Change; Shrek III) and surprisingly fun tap routines, especially the show-stopping "Forget About the Boy," here choreographed by Tina Dennison and Dinah Mahlman, which Playhouse 1960 did rehearse and perform gloriously. It was a revelation, to be frank, and utterly unexpected. Caitlin Reader made a spunky "modern" Millie with voice to match, and Sarah McQueen refreshingly spun white slaver Mrs. Meers, a failed actress who, pretending to be Chinese, kidnaps wayward orphan women at her boarding house. So deliciously different from the other cardboard actors, she stole the show without breaking a sweat. The backstage hands still have not learned how to light a show atmospherically without turning on all the lights like a cheap supermarket, and the orchestra was stuck in a room off the side wing, horribly muffling the sound. This was a blessing, as they couldn't play the jazzy syncopations any better than the two male leads could sing it. But the audience was forgiving to a fault, blasting the guys with a standing ovation. Through July 29. 6814 Gant, 281-587-8243. — DLG