REVIEW: Pioneer Press
'The Working Boys Band' review: New musical has all elements marching in fine harmony
By Rob Hubbard
Special to the Pioneer Press
May 6, 2014
It's the early 20th century and a transplanted music professor wants to get boys out of the pool hall and into a marching band, evoking visions of crisply tailored uniforms, booming brass and Midwestern hearts swelling with civic pride.
If that sounds familiar, you've probably seen "The Music Man." But the pitch is a sincere one in "The Working Boys Band," a new musical by playwright Dominic Orlando and composer Hiram Titus, who died days after writing its final song last fall.
Premiering at St. Paul's History Theatre, "The Working Boys Band" focuses on the efforts of a German-born music teacher, C.C. Heintzeman, to start a music program in Minneapolis for boys who spend their days working in mills, canneries and laundries.
What a sweet swan song for Titus. Not only is "The Working Boys Band" a very good musical -- engaging as a profile of a driven artist and educator, a portrait of a tense time of state-sponsored intolerance and a star-crossed-lovers romance -- History Theatre's production is executed with richly textured characterizations, passion for the material and energy to spare. Consider that a veteran musical theater composer is saying farewell with a reminder of how music can change lives, and you may find it a very moving experience, too.
While it leans on the time-tested inspirational staple of uniting a group of hardscrabble kids in a common purpose, Orlando adds a valuable history lesson about the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety's efforts to "Americanize" a state population that was 84 percent foreign-born, particularly eradicating German-ness while the U.S. was at war with the Kaiser. Throw in plenty of detail about the travails of being a child laborer and a few developing romances and it becomes about a lot more than just some boys in a band.
At the center of a consistently strong cast is Jon Andrew Hegge, who makes Heintzeman a firm, compassionate educator with convincing vulnerability. His softer side is brought out by his assistant, Kendall Anne Thompson bringing subtlety and a clear, high soprano voice to that role.
Standouts among the outstanding ensemble include Randy Schmeling as a smarmy band board member and Christian Bardin as a conflicted young drum major. But no one steals scenes like Jen Burleigh-Bentz, who's note-perfect as the wicked witch of this story, the haughty enforcer of the purity police out to drive Heintzeman from the helm of the band. Her bouncy paean to "Liberty Cabbage" (sauerkraut to you) is a delicious slice of satire.
Director Ron Peluso must have been as firm and enthusiastic as Heintzeman to make this musical's many moving parts flow together so smoothly, including coaxing distinct personalities from each young band member. It certainly helps to have a costumer who sets the dials on the time machine to 1917 as capably as Kathy Kohl, or someone like Raymond Berg to complete the arrangements and orchestrations after Titus' death. And it's worth noting that Andrew Fleser not only leads a versatile pit quartet, but has turned a cast of young actor/singer/musicians into a cohesive wind band. It's a group that likely would have made both Heintzeman and Titus proud.
Rob Hubbard can be reached at rhubbard@pioneerpress.com.
What: "The Working Boys Band"
When: Through June 1
Where: History Theatre, 30 E. 10th St., St. Paul
Tickets: $40-$15, available at 651-292-4323 or historytheatre.com
Capsule: An entertaining, inspiring new musical.
Go to Pioneer Press