School Story:
My funny story pertains to a lady named Marion--but back in the day, it was not so funny at all. By a strange quirk of Providence, Mr. Wiegel (the Redwood music teacher and choir director) chose Scott Davi and me to play Professor Harold Hill in the 1964 performance of the Music Man. I was pretty good, except for one minor blemish: I couldn't sing. This is problematic for the lead male in a musical. Now the Music Man features an especially difficult song, in which Professor Hill is flirting with lovely Marion, the town librarian. Bouncing as it did from major to minor keys, the song was a nightmare for tone-deaf Dean. I cringe when I remember Mr. Wiegel pounding on b-flat (while Dean was pounding on c-charp, or thereabouts). I never could sing that song, but did manage to chant it with passable results. To this day I am grateful for the lower expectations that folks bring to free High School musicals--and the mercy and grace of the whole redwood family.
