'O-ho the Wells Fargo wagon is a-comin' down the street'

Young actors from Carson Valley learned old favorites from the 1962 movie "The Music Man" starring Robert Preston and Shirley Jones, in order to perform them for a Valley audience.

The group began rehearsing musical numbers like "Wells Fargo Wagon," "76 Trombones" and "Ya Got Trouble" about three months ago, and is ready for their second weekend of a two-weekend run.

So, if you want to see talented children as cute as "River City" bugs, and hear famous showtunes from your childhood days at the same time, the Dance Workshop Performing Arts Center is the place to be tonight and Saturday.

The production of Meredith Willson's "The Music Man Junior," is presented by the The Douglas County Children's Theater. These will be the final performances for this cast of 28 actors ages 7-15.

The shows last weekend went "really well," with the biggest crowd on Friday night, according to Ann Peters who co-owns Dance Workshop Performing Arts Center and co-produced "The Music Man Junior" with her husband Craig.

The Genoa couple have owned the Dance Workshop building on County Road near Highway 88 in Minden for four years, and have produced shows in Carson Valley since 1980.

"The Music Man Junior" is a version of the 1957 play also written by Willson and Franklin Lacey, "The Music Man." It is specially adapted for young performers - abridged to 60-80 minutes, with music transposed into keys appropiate for young voices.

In both "The Music Man Junior" and "The Music Man," fast-talking traveling salesman Harold Hill, cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys' band he vows to organize - despite the fact he doesn't know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen.

Melissa Marsh, 15, plays Marian Paroo, the librarian. This is her third appearance in a DCCT production. The lead role of Harold Hill is played by Alex Cerny, 13, also in his third production with DCCT.

The director is Caitlin Papp, who has taught acting and singing at Dance Workshop for two and a half years. The choreography is by Dance Workshop instructor Katie O'Neill, the assistant director-choreographer is Dance Workshop instructor Rachel Chipp and the dance captain for the show is 14-year-old Kim Lowe, who is also in the show.

"The Music Man Junior" will be performed 7 p.m. today and Saturday at the Dance Workshop Performing Arts Center, 1697 County Road, Minden. Tickets are $12, $10 for students. They are available through cast members, at the Dance Workshop and at the door. Reserved seating is available. For more information, call 782-8717.

The cast: Sierra Bertolone-Smith as Mrs. Paroo, Alex Cerny as Harold Hill, Melissa Marsh as Marian Paroo, Cierra Brown, Brennan Callahan, Julia Callahan, Joey Cruz, Kaitlyn Barrett, Parmelee Ebright, Justin Floyd, Travis Floyd, Sage Foster, Ashley Gong, Serena Herup, Allison Jezek, Danielle Kochen, Abby Lewis, Ryan Long, Kim Lowe, Veronica Ortiz, Shannon Porter, Kayla Radzvilowicz, Jaime Skilling, Meagan Skilling, Kai Stoll, Krystal Vargas, J. D. Votel, Tessa Williams and Stewart Winkelman.

n Jo Rafferty is People Editor of The Record-Courier. She can be reached at jrafferty@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 210.