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479-443-5600 www.waltonartscenter.org IN CONCERT SEPTEMBER 15 HERB ALPERT AND LANI HALL Concert Series Sponsor: 4 What's up! september 11-17, 2022 Cover Story of "The Music Man" opening Sept. 16 will give you your first chance to fall in love with Anna Ashwell, a newcomer to the APT stage. Her Marian Paroo is sweet, determined, shy, bold, loving and brave — a heroine worthy of Shirley Jones in the classic film. And then she opens her mouth to sing, and it's literally stunning. There's also Brenda Nemec, finally back on stage as Eulalie Mackechnie Shinn; her husband Jason Nemec as the stolid Mayor Shinn; Michael Weir as Harold Hill's old sidekick, Marcellus Washburn (a role he played in the good old days at Arts Center of the Ozarks); Everett Lee in his APT debut as Winthrop, Marian's lisping little brother who is transformed by the magic of Hill's fictional band; Noelle Drummonds as Zaneeta, the mayor's older daughter, and Drew Harris as her suitor Tommy Djilas; Emma Martin as Ethel Tofflemeier, the player piano piano player; and all the other characters you know and love portrayed by actors you know and love on the APT stage. The youngest in the cast actually might have the strongest acting lineage. Liam Edmunds is only 5, but he is the son of Lexie and Patrick Edmunds, most recently on stage as the romantic female lead and the sleazy casino owner, respectively, in "Disaster." Patrick plays the constable and the train conductor, so Liam says it's "so great to dance and be with Daddy!" He'd rather be on stage himself than watch his parents, he admits, and he adds, "Mrs. Brenda is always so nice to me, and it was the nicest of Mr. Ed to put me in this show!" Ed McClure is the artistic director and one of the founders of Arkansas Public Theatre, and he says this show is so popular on Broadway, "it was probably time to do it again." "It's a huge leap" to transition from the '80s jukebox musical "Disaster," "but it's so refreshing to produce a classic that feels new and fresh. "More than half the cast is making their APT debuts, so that's my favorite part of the show," he says. "The fact that many years ago, when I was playing Marcellus Washburn, I met my future son Zachary is a bonus!" Robinson started performing at APT when he was a sophomore in high school back in 2012. He keeps Music Man Continued From Page 3 See Music Man Page 37 Traveling con man harold hill (Cody robinson, seated center) decides to give Iowa a try in the apt production of the classic musical "the music man." (Courtesy photo/sarah Oakley for apt)