In September and October 2003, while Darrel Dietlein was still our Bass, The Glen Echoes Starred in The Damacsus Theatre Company's production of The Music Man. The whole experience was a real awakening for several of us who had never been in a community theater production before. We had to halt all other performances and postpone new bookings for the duration, being faced with rehearsals four to six days per week in the months leading up to the show.  
The Music Man is a play by Meredith Wilson. The show takes place in River City, Iowa in 1912, when Harold Hill, a fly-by-night rougish salesman comes to town and turns their simple, quiet, Iowa life upside down. Hill says he'll establish a boy's band to keep the towns boys out of trouble, however Hill doesn't know "a bass drum form a pipe organ". The charismatic Hill charms his way into River City life and the graces of the town librarian, Marian Paroo, and the antics are fantastic.  
Here, Harold Hill tries to sell us a bill of goods.
Our first weekend of performances went well, the audience really seemed to enjoy our singing and the overall production. We had a surprise for the second weekend of performances in the form of a hurricane! The hurricane dampened our spirits for a few weeks until we could reschedule the performances. The final weekend's two shows went well and we enjoyed seeing our fans and family in the audience.  

Mike Holmes played Jaycee Squires, the owner of the River City, Iowa Livery Stables. Mike was also a great help to the other guys, always knowing where we should be for our next entrance. 		 
in the early acts the four men hate each other and are always arguing. Here thay can't even agree on what time it is!

Richard Cook played Ewart Dunlop, owner of the River City Grocery store. Ewart, a man of few words, was accosted By Harold Hill early in the show and told all about "Trouble right here in River City" by Harold Hill. 		 
After Harold get the guys to sing together they become fast friends.

Ken Sleeman played Oliver Hix, a River City banker. Ken's costume in the first act was a real eye-strainer, red. white and black plaid! 		 
The school board members sign to their honeys, Good Night Ladies.

Darrel Dietlein played Olin Britt, the owner of River City's newspaper. Darrel's antics in the "Ice Cream" routine really got the audience laughing. 		 
Ridin' the rails.

All the guys doubled as salesmen in the opening scene of the show. The scene is called "Rock Island" and is mainly comprised of quick paced rythmic talking in sync with the periodic thumping of the train tracks as the salesmen head into Iowa. The scene "sets the stage" for the show and was very difficult to master. 		 

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