In Fowlerville, a stage big enough for everyone

In Fowlerville, Friday nights usually belong to football. This weekend, however, a different kind of team is suiting up.

Fowlerville Community Theatre will stage “The Music Man,” co-directed by Becky Frank and Kristel Hatt, Friday (May 2) through Sunday (May 4) at Fowlerville High School’s Alverson Center for Performing Arts. The cast of 47 people ranges in age from 6 years old to adult.

“The Music Man,” first staged on Broadway in 1957, follows a fast-talking con man who arrives in a small town with plans to scam the residents out of their money. (Fans of “The Simpsons” will recognize the trope: “Marge vs. the Monorail” was Conan O’Brien’s homage.)

In November, Fowlerville made national headlines when masked demonstrators waving Nazi flags showed up outside a Fowlerville Community Theatre production of “The Diary of Anne Frank.”

They didn’t break the theater’s spirit — or the audience’s. The community rallied around FCT, which was able to keep the doors open.

Photo by Sarah Harvey Summer Harvey in character as Winthrop at the Fowlerville District Library.

Founded as a nonprofit in 2012 by a handful of locals, Fowlerville Community Theatre has always been an example of the Greater Lansing community’s ability to come together and support a cause.

“Our theater is totally volunteer-based,” Frank, FCT’s treasurer, said. “We have sponsors, community support from businesses and, of course, ticket sales.”

FCT’s mission is twofold: Beyond bringing culture to Fowlerville, it gives people a space to learn, try and be a part of something.

“It’s not just about producing the very best with the very best people who have done so many things before,” Frank said. “It’s really about teaching, learning and bringing people together who want to have fun and enjoy.”

Brandon Johnson, who drives in from Dimondale, is the theater company’s secretary as well as an actor, director and prop master. For “The Music Man,” he’s pulling double duty backstage and on stage as Marcellus Washburn.

“We try to have something for everybody: adult dinner theater, musicals for the whole family, that kind of stuff,” Johnson said. “And we’re really starting to develop some new directors. You want to make sure that those new directors have the tools to succeed.”

He said newcomers are welcome, no matter their experience level.

“You don’t have to be a triple threat by any means,” he said. “If you can get on stage and move around, that’s really what we’re looking for. We really try to be a learning theater.”

Rehearsals, he said, are “organized chaos, but that’s true of every show.”

When he fell behind pulling props together for “The Music Man,” he said other members of the cast stepped up to help without being asked.

“I had some personal stuff going on, and people found items, went to businesses to borrow props — they were just super willing to help out,” he said.

Fowlerville resident Sarah Harvey, a board member and the producer of “The Music Man,” said the familial feeling is a big part of why the theater works.

“It’s just one big family,” Harvey said. “It’s so nice to see the teens come alongside the little ones and help guide them and direct them and kind of care for them so their parents don’t have to worry.”

Harvey and her 10-year-old daughter, Summer, were inspired to get involved after seeing an FCT production of “Beauty and the Beast” in 2022.

“Like my mom said, it feels like a big family,” Summer said. “Other kids and people who have been in another show can help you out.”

Summer started out with smaller parts in 2023, singing in the town scenes of “Aladdin Jr.” and picking up a few lines in “The Grunch.”

In “The Music Man,” she plays her first major role: Winthrop, a shy boy with a lisp.

“Some people think I mess up, but I’m supposed to mess up,” she said. “He’s a very shy kid, and he doesn’t really want to talk a lot because he’s nervous about his lisp and everybody calling him names.”

One moment in the show stands out for her: when Winthrop finally sings during “The Wells Fargo Wagon.”

Photo by Sarah Harvey The full cast of “The Music Man.”

“It’s my character singing out to the crowd in a solo part,” she said. “It’s kind of heartbreaking.”

Harvey said it’s been rewarding to see how much her daughter has grown.

“Seeing her remember her lines, sing her songs and do it with confidence and grace, I’m just so proud of how far she’s come,” she said.