The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra should consider more musicals.

Saturday, when Matthew Kraemer conducted “The Music Man,” the orchestra’s semi-staged production with MusicalFare Theatre, Kleinhans Music Hall was packed—and here it was a gorgeous early summer night.

The fact that the cast was led by Jeffry Denman and Michele Ragusa might have had something to do with it. Both are first-rate homegrown Broadway talents. Ragusa was groomed at Niagara University, Denman at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute and UB.

It was fun to see them both in this homey, delightful production.

Right from the top, when the BPO’s big, bad brass kicked off “Seventy-Six Trombones,” everyone was good. Winthrop, Marian the Librarian’s lisping little brother, was cuter than pie with his hands at his sides, singing “Gary, Indiana.” The barbershop quartet charmed, stepping into the shoes originally occupied on Broadway by Buffalo’s own Buffalo Bills (the barbershop quartet, not the team). Other incidental characters, too, were lively and engaging.

I could not find these folks credited anywhere. Kudos to you, whoever you are.

The Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus gave the show its all — and that all is tremendous. You should have heard the volume of “Wells Fargo Wagon.”

You could tell right off that Denman was a pro. In “Trouble,” his first number, you could catch every word. And though this was a semi-staged show, with everyone carrying scores, Denman left his on the stand and zipped around the stage. Sometimes he returned to it to flip a page, just for show.

Even when he was not on, he was on. As the chorus sang “Wells Fargo Wagon,” he sat there on the side, his white shoes tapping. He was always smiling, watching the action, absorbed. There is a lesson in that for everyone on any stage, anywhere. Look alive, even when you’re not in the spotlight.

Ragusa was a hit at last winter’s Holiday Pops, and she breathed life into the part of Marian, a role that in the wrong hands can be sugary. Her voice is clear and strong and she was genuinely affecting in “Goodnight My Someone,” with Associate Concertmaster Amy Glidden joining in with a sweet solo. “Till There Was You” struck a wonderful note of romance.

Both stars interacted beautifully with the chorus, and Kraemer did a great job of keeping it all together. Speaking of interaction, what fun it was to hear that barbershop quartet — supposedly four men who used to hate each other, before Professor Harold Hill made them sing. All four were fine comedians as well as fine singers.

I expected a brassier ending than the fictional boys’ band limping through a comical version of Beethoven’s “Minuet in G.” But I suppose the River Cityzens did, too.

I wish this repeated, so another crowd would get the chance to see it.

Concert Review

Buffalo Philharmonic

Orchestra

“The Music Man,” a co-production with Musicalfare Theatre, Saturday at Kleinhans Music Hall.