Columbia Children's Theatre Presents THE MUSIC MAN JR.

That "Wells Fargo Wagon" is rolling into town as Columbia Children's Theatre (CCT) presents the Meredith Willson's classic The Music Man Jr.. August 3-12. Performances are Fridays at 7:00 pm, Saturdays at 3:00 and 7:00 pm, and Sundays at 3:00 pm. General admission tickets are $10.00 and $8.00 for active military and seniors with proper ID. Advance ticket purchases are strongly recommended and may be purchased securely on-line at columbiachildrenstheatre.com.

All shows take place at The Freddy Grace Theatre at Sanders Middle School, 3455 Pine Belt Rd. in Columbia. CCT's YouTheatre season is sponsored by Staymobile.

About the Show
Based on Meredith Willson's six-time-Tony-Award-winning musical comedy, The Music Man JR. features some of musical theatre's most iconic songs and a story filled with wit, warmth and good old-fashioned romance.

Master showman Harold Hill is in town and he's got "seventy-six trombones" in tow. Can upright, uptight Marian, the town librarian, resist his powerful allure? The story follows fast-talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys' band he vows to organize. The catch? 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, whose belief in Harold's power just might help him succeed in the end.

"You don't want to miss this one," said CCT Artistic Director Jerry Stevenson. "Our summer show is the only time audiences get to see our Peanut Butter & Jelly Players (grades 1-6) AND our CCTeens (grades 7-12) together on one stage. Not to mention this is our third mounting of this show in 13 years and it promises to be the biggest and best yet!"

The cast features over 100 Midlands youth, performing over two weekends. The Brass Cast performs August 3-5 and includes Addie Brown, Eliza Brown, Franklin Caudle, Jack Caver, Alex Cone, Lindsay Conrath, Elizabeth Crosby, Megan Crutchfield, Thomas Daly, Gracie Daly, Joshua Diveley, Adelle Fuller, Anna Fuller, Mary Catherine Gabrielli, Paige Griswold, Hannah Gross, Lily Hadden-Ford, Wellslee Hall, Jaxson Hillard, Blair Kirkland, Vanessa Lopez, Amelia McCravy, Sadie McKip, Phoenix McKip, Ian Miller, Olivia Moody, Lily Moody, Baker Morrison, Nathan Mullins, Madison Nelson, Josiah Reed-Smith, London Saunders, Jude Schoenhoff, Zach Shaduk, Eva Shealy, Olivia Sprayberry, Kemiya Taylor, Mac Thames, Micah Turner, Cameron Vipperman, Louise Vipperman, Ashton Waters, Lauren Waters, Landon Watts, Dorothy C. Weaver, Marjorie Weaver, and Jackson Wright.

The Woodwind Cast performs August 10-12 and includes Lily Aiken, Campbell Barnes, Caroline Brandes, Connor Brandes, Kaitlyn Branham, Toby Brock, Liam Carrico, Carolyn Coffey, Collins Coffey, Katie Conrad, Jacob Deutschmann, Cate Dingeldine, Joshua Diveley, Coco Diveley, Liam DuPree, Molly Edwards-Lehman, Abby Geppert, Shayna Grossberg, Maggie Hadley, Lindsay Hunter, Caia Jones, Lilli King, Anna Knowles, Madison Litton, Mackenzie Litton, Mason Litton, Bess Lyon, Robert McCreary, Mahogany McCreary, Henry Melkomian, Liza Milling, Ally Montgomery, Jesse Morgan, Chloe Morgan, Toby O'Connor, Leah Pennington, Mary Kate Pinkerton, Leila Pregnall, Annie Pregnall, Ainsley Ropel, Luke Schrader, Molly Schrader, Cort Stevenson, Annabelle Stevenson, Luke Tanner, Grayson Taylor, Susana Vandelay, Walker Weaver, Sam Weiss, Kate Weiss, Brayden Williams, Rylee Winecoff,

The show is directed by Paul Lindley II, with choreography by Lisa Sendler, and costumes by Donna Harvey and Jerry Stevenson.

This production is part of Music Theatre International's Broadway Junior collection, which reformats full-length productions for young performers, while still maintaining the fun and spirit of the original.

Columbia Children's Theatre is a professional resident not-for-profit theatre dedicated to providing quality live theatre experiences for families and young audiences, and is supported in part by the City of Forest Acres, and the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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