honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, May 2, 2003

They've got double, with a capital A-C-T, in River City

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Dennis Proulx is Professor Harold Hill and Nicole Sullivan is Marian the Librarian in the evergreen musical "The Music Man," opening Thursday at the Richardson Theatre, Fort Shafter.

Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

'The Music Man'

A musical by Meredith Willson, produced by Army Community Theatre

Premieres at 7:30 p.m. Thursday; repeats at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, through May 24

Richardson Theatre, Fort Shafter

$17, $14 general; $10,

$8 children 438-4480, squareone.org/ACT

Directed and choreographed by: Jim Hutchison

Musical direction by Daren Kimura

"The Music Man," Meredith Willson's beloved musical about a beguiling con man, Professor Harold Hill, will have two Hills in its ranks when it premieres Thursday at Army Community Theatre's Richardson Theatre. One's offstage, handling sound; the other's front and center, delivering tunes like "Trouble."

"I just came aboard to handle the sound system," said Rick Jackson, a freelance sound designer, actor and theatrical wannabe. He played Hill in a California production after moving to the Mainland, where he did stage roles as well as sound work, principally in Minneapolis.

The Hill in the limelight is Dennis Proulx, a theatrical veteran here, who played Hill 10 years ago when he was 30 pounds lighter. "This has been a little easier, since I had the part memorized before, and with time, there's a nice perspective. OK, he was cuter and more charming when I was younger; let's just say I play him as a mature individual."

Concerned that ACT had invested in a $30,000 Bose wireless sound system that still occasionally faltered, Army entertainment director Vanita Rae Smith figured she needed to find someone with an elixir to cure its ills. She found Jackson.

"He's a local boy come home; he was eager to run my board because he knows all the cues, having done Hill last fall" in California, said Smith.

Jackson, who free-lances in myriad theatrical endeavors, was doing contract work on the Big Island with Tihati Productions when contacted for this story. He also has mounted a one-man children's show, "Action Jackson," which he has started to tour statewide, and goes full throttle this summer with a series of shows in public places such as libraries.

"I used to live here in my 20s," said Jackson. "I did sound at the (Royal Hawaiian Hotel's) Monarch Room when the Brothers Cazimero were there, but I moved to the Mainland in my 30s, where I did a lot of theater. I moved back seven months ago, sending my resume to different theater groups. On a tip from Lina Doo (a musical director), Vanita gave me a call, and my first Army show was 'Godspell.' "

Because he's also an actor, he said, he would have tried out for the Hill part, except he was needed more as the sound guy. "Besides, I'm happy to do it; I have the script and flip along with the cues."

He said the ACT system only had to be tweaked to reduce noise pick-up. "There's nothing wrong with the equipment; it's what you do with it," said Jackson.

Proulx said he was drawn to re-enter the world of the beloved scammer who falls in love with Marian the Librarian (played by Nicole Sullivan) in River City, Iowa, "because he's timeless." Further, Proulx was marking the third anniversary of his bad-back problem suffered from a work-related incident, and figured the show might be part therapy to get back in the groove.

"Jim Hutchison (who's directing and choreographing) has been good with me," said Proulx. "He knows the limitations of my back ... It really was time for me to do something on stage again; my wife told me I was stinking up the house, so I had to get out and do it."

His last theatrical endeavor was directing The Actors' Group in "K-2" last October; he was in ACT's "My Fair Lady" in 2001 when 9/11 affected performances.

"I love Hill because he's a scoundrel with a heart of gold — though he doesn't even realize what he is," said Proulx. "It's a journey of self-discovery for him. Then again, the show's got all that Americana stuff; only in America would a guy get away selling a boys' band to a small town. It's all about the small-town life, the innocence of the time."

Proulx, who was working for the Navy Marine Corps Internet Project, said he hopes to get back on that job, which was terminated at the start of the Iraqi war.

"That's why I had plenty of time to rehearse, to do this play," he said. "I've thrown out my resume, too, in hopes of finding another job, now that my back's better."

Perhaps he needs to search the soul of Professor Harold Hill to find a gimmick that would work?