Complete with singing, dancing and almost 76 trombones, The Music Man kicks off a six-month tour at 7:30 tonight at Eisenhower Auditorium.

After three weeks of rehearsals in New York City, the cast arrived in State College on Sept. 22 to continue preparing for the show.

"This is the only time we'll rehearse in a theater before we do a performance," company manager Adrian Young said.

And rehearse they do: from 1 to 10 p.m. the cast and crew have labored away in Eisenhower to perfect the show. Half the cast returned from previous tours of The Music Man, but the other half is new to the show.

"Usually we have the director and stage manager to tell us what to do," said Kelly Fotheringham, the first time cast member who plays Ethel Toffelmier. "But we also have cast members to tell us what we need to do. It's nice to go into a half-done show, so we could just jump in."

To fill the parts vacated after the last tour, The Music Man followed what "a lot of the big shows" do by auditioning in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and Salt Lake City, Young said.

The company picked up a bunch of new actors, including Fotheringham, in Salt Lake City, which Young described as an emerging hotbed of theatrical talent. In addition to learning their lines, songs and choreography, cast members had to learn how to play the trombone and other musical instruments.

"It's good for the returning people to have some fresh blood in the show," Young said.

Some cast members have been around since the first tour of The Music Man, which started in Sept. 2001.

The third tour is smaller in scale, both in the size of the cities it will visit and in the scenic elements and lighting of the show which help to fit into the smaller venues.

"We decided to tech at Penn State because here there's a good crew that can help us out and a good facility," Young said.

"It's also a town that has a lot you can get to, if we need some prop or piece of scenery."

The cast has also enjoyed being in State College for the recreation available to them.

"I went bowling, played some pool, sang a little karaoke," Fotheringham said.

"A lot of people have hit the Creamery already," added Christy Rae Turnbow, who plays Marian Paroo.

As much as they like State College, the cast had one complaint: they were kicked out of their hotel for the football weekend.

Still, "The best [The Music Man] will look on tour is right here in this theatre," Young said.

To celebrate the opening of the season and the start of the tour, a barbershop quartet and a trombone choir will perform the night of the show, said Laura Sullivan, Center for the Performing Arts spokeswoman.

A few tickets are still available for the show at Eisenhower Auditorium, the HUB information desk, or the Penn State Downtown Ticket Center, or by calling 863-0255 or 1-800-ARTS-TIX.