THEATER | Loveable con man

Theatre in the Park at Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic site opens with the Tony-award winning musical, The Music Man, directed by Bill Bauser Jr. “With a cast of 50, there’s plenty of action to see, and you’ll get to hear many song favorites like ‘76 Trombones,’ ‘Lida Rose,’ ‘Wells Fargo Wagon,’ ‘Till There Was You’ and many more.” Set in the early 1900s, Harold Hill is a con man posing as a salesman of band instruments to a small, naive town in Iowa. He plans to get paid then skip town, but falls for the town piano teacher. A free pre-show at 7 p.m. before each performance includes a musical performance by a local group and a talk with the director (on all but July 25).