THEATER REVIEW : A Well-Tuned ‘Music Man’ : The Brea Civic Light Opera Does a Pretty Nice Job With This Charming Work

In the Brea Civic Light Opera’s version of River City, we’ve got, well, a little trouble. But not enough to indicate that the group can’t do “The Music Man.”

A lot of civic light opera groups can’t do it, but because they’re civic light opera groups, they do it anyway. Meredith Willson’s one brilliant success in the musical theater is that much of an institution, the CLO equivalent of “La Boheme” or “Rigoletto.”

The Brea folks do a fairly good job dusting off the almost 40-year-old institution, and there’s never a sense in director Greg Hinrichsen’s staging that this is an obligatory CLO assignment. It obviously is tough work for this company, but the show’s timeless charm shows through.

That charm begins with Jack Stauffer as charismatic traveling con artist Harold Hill, the Music Man himself. Robert Preston may have owned the role, the way Yul Brynner owned the King of Siam, but Stauffer shrewdly makes no attempt to imitate Preston. Indeed, with Preston, there always was the shadow of deceit behind the wide smile; Stauffer injects the character with Midwestern nice-guy warmth. His anthem, “Seventy-Six Trombones,” seems like a genuine call for the town to help fund an all-boys band. Stauffer’s Harold is so nice that we almost forget that he’s conning the town: Stauffer has conned us as well.

Karen Cushing plays Marian, the spinster-in-training for whom Harold falls, as a tad older than she should be, but she compensates by brewing up real chemistry with Stauffer. They really bubble during such ultra-romantic tunes as “Till There Was You” and “Goodnight My Someone.” Cushing stands as the best proof that Hill, con man or not, can bring out the best in people.

And that’s the main idea behind Willson’s book, which actually celebrates salesmanship as an art right up there with lyric writing and composing--Willson’s other hats. If any musical amounts to a one-man creative band, this is it. Listen to the weaving of tune and lyric in a showstopper like “Marian the Librarian” (the word play begins with the title), or “Trouble,” and you realize that Willson was not embarrassed to show off his genius. (It’s still one of theater history’s oddities, though, that he distilled the genius into this one hit.)

The Brea troupe is able to deal with the genius in fits and starts. The devilishly difficult all-rhythm, no-music opener “Rock Island” doesn’t seem to faze Doug Goetz as salesman Charlie or the rest of his comrades. And as the blustery River City mayor, Dan Stroud immediately sets the right comedic tone for “Iowa Stubborn.”

However, Lee Martino’s choreography appears so uncoordinated that dance numbers like “Shipoopi” seem like afterthoughts. The talent level among the dancers varies widely, starting with Tom O’Malley’s Tommy and working down from there.

Set-wise, some key scenes are played in front of a grim, black curtain. Grimmer still is the under-miking of the actors and the over-amplification of musical director Douglas Austin’s recorded orchestra--a sure and fatal formula for wiping out some lovely, scintillating Willson lyrics.

But the costumes (credited to the company) make the show a constant joy to watch. Harold in his resplendent yellow suit, handing Marian a bouquet of yellow flowers, is a particular joy to behold. Added joys include Beth Carey’s deliciously bumbling mayor’s wife, Rich Miller’s jocular Marcellus and the finely tuned barbershop quartet, Drew McCreery, Radames Montes, Michael Eberhardt and Victor H. Hernandez. And there’s the littlest joy of all: Adam Wylie as lisping Winthrop, making “Gary, Indiana” his own.

* “The Music Man,” Curtis Theatre, 1 Civic Center Drive, Brea. Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends May 8. $7-$12.50. (714) 990-7722. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes. Jack Stauffer: Harold Hill

Karen Cushing: Marian Paroo

Rich Miller: Marcellus

Dan Stroud: Mayor Shinn

Beth Carey: Eulalie Shinn

Judy Jones: Mrs. Paroo

Adam Wylie: Winthrop Paroo

Tom O’Malley: Tommy Djilas

Gina Lynch: Amaryllis

Lyndie Renee: Zaneeta

A Brea Civic Light Opera production of the Meredith Willson musical, directed by Greg Hinrichsen. Musical director: Douglas Austin. Choreography: Lee Martino. Costumes and set by the company.