By Zach Heywood
Get ready for a fun family musical full of all the right elements that bring the audience directly into the heart of Iowa’s very own River City. Follow “The Music Man” Harold Hill, a swindling traveling salesman, as he goes about transforming a town into a beautiful mesh of musical chaos. From starting a supposed “boy’s band”, friendships are built that will change the course of the stubborn little town and Carbon High School forever.
New Carbon County resident and brand new drama teacher at Carbon High School Steven Pay was hired at the beginning of this school year and was given one task upon his start date. “They asked me if I could do a full musical,” said Pay. He responded with a very profound, “Absolutely.”
The Carbon High school drama department has not produced a musical in years. “I’ve watched the kids,” Pay explained. “This is something that is new to them, so they have had a big learning curve to get to where they are at.”
Pay stated that the length of rehearsals were one of the biggest struggles that the students faced in preparing for the show. When all is said and done, Pay was pleased with the students and the turn out for opening night on Thursday. “What we’ve seen and what we’ve heard so far has been really positive,” he said. “Thankfully, our music directors and choreographers expected that the kids really step up to the plate and put some effort into this. So, it wasn’t just a half hazard show.”
“This is the first time that the school has done a musical like this in quite a few years” stated Pay. “They do not even remember when the last one was. So, that was part of the deal when they hired me.”
Pay has directed the show once before as a community production and said that it was received well by the public. “It is well known by the public and I knew that we could involve a lot of kids,” Pay explained as to why he chose “The Music Man.”
Pay expects that the drama department at Carbon High will be producing another musical in the fall. For now, the students are excited to finish the rest of their performances and have already started on their drama competition pieces.
“The Music Man” can be seen at Carbon High tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m.