76 Hambones in ‘Music Man’

“The Music Man” still has the capacity to charm--provided it offers a sizzling Professor Harold Hill, the tour-de-force turn upon which the musical rises and falls. In Musical Theatre West’s production at La Mirada (and later moving to Long Beach), Squire Fridell projects a mild affability in this central role but never builds the head of steam required to pop the corn in Meredith Willson’s period paean to the American heartland.

Despite distracting microphone glitches in Maurice Dozal’s sound design, there’s a palpable sense of fun in these proceedings. However, director Gary Gordon, choreographer Lee Martino and musical director Todd Helm never quite manage to focus the energies of their enthusiastic but amateurish cast. Actors are alternately overblown or tentative. A particularly wince-worthy performance by Joey Gyondla as Tommy Djilas should certainly have been nipped in the bud by Gordon, who has not so much directed certain of his performers as turned them loose.

A notable exception to the general hamminess is Janine Lindsay Benson, whose soaring voice and well-considered performance as Marian the Librarian establish the standard to which this cheery but limited production could have aspired.

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* “The Music Man,” La Mirada Theatre, 14900 La Mirada Blvd.: tonight, Saturday and Thursday, March 6 and 7, 8 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday, March 7 and 8, 2:30 p.m. $18-$32. At Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton St., California State University, Long Beach: March 14, 8 p.m.; March 15, 2 p.m. $25-$35. (714) 521-4849. Running time: 3 hours.