The show drop that hangs like a curtain at the front of the Goodspeed Opera House stage has a throwback image on it. The title of the current show, “The Music Man,” looks as though it’s been needlepointed onto a canvas, resembling something your grandmother might have done. Very old-school.

And, yes, “Music Man,” which premiered on Broadway in 1957 and is set in 1912 Iowa, is traditional in a lot of ways. But the Goodspeed production directed by Jenn Thompson is full of life.

And, I dare say, you’re likely to leave the theater feeling uplifted. Not only because of the strong material and the quality production but also because the show emphasizes the importance of community, a sentiment that feels so welcome in today’s contentious world. When Harold Hill gets townspeople to befriend some people who had been outcasts, those are heartwarming moments.

The man who created “The Music Man,” handling the book, music and lyrics, was Meredith Willson. It’s hard to believe that Willson ended up only writing three other musicals, considering what an adeptly constructed show “The Music Man” is. (Except for the rather abrupt ending, that is.)

Willson whipped up such clever ideas for the songs, even beyond the iconic “Seventy-Six Trombones.” I’m particularly partial to the quartet of women dubbed The Ladies whose bird-like chattering in “Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little” is an amazing approximation of gossipy women gabbing. Infusing The Ladies with plenty of zest are actresses Stephanie Pope, Victoria Huston-Elem, Cicily Daniels and Kelly Berman.

A wonderful counterpoint to them is The Quartet, with men going for barbershop-esque four-part harmony. How should we describe their harmonies? As honeyed? Silken? Angelic? All of the above? Long story short: the voices of C. Mingo Long, Jeff Gurner, Kent Overshown, and Branch Woodman meld beautifully.

And what a way to start a show: the opening number, “Rock Island,” sent ripples of excitement through the crowd. The patter-happy tune, accompanied only by percussion, was ahead of its time (it’s like an early version of rap). Men locomotive their lyrics about defrauder Harold Hill to the beat of the train they’re riding, and they jounce to mimic the movement of a rail car.

Willson composed another piece with Usain-Bolt-fast lyrics in “Ya Got Trouble.” It’s essentially Harold Hill’s sales pitch to unsuspecting Iowans, and it’s a rat-a-tat-tat bit of genius. Edward Watts, who plays Hill, churns this number out with apparent ease, enunciating each word precisely; it’s hard to figure out when the actor actually breathes.

As for that sales pitch: Harold Hill (that’s his nom de con) runs a scam where he comes to a small town and offers to create a boys’ band as a purported way to combat potential hoodlumism among youngsters. When he arrives at River City, Iowa, some folks are intrigued; others, like town librarian Marian (played by Ellie Fishman), are skeptical. Harold tries to woo the flinty Marian in the hopes that she won’t upend his scheme.

Harold and Marian might, at first blush, sound like one-note characters, the swindler and the schoolmarm (not technically a schoolmarm, just in spirit). But Watts and Fishman find all sorts of grace notes in their acting. The dapper Watts conveys the ingratiating con-man side, with a klieg-light smile and a hail-fellow-well-met manner, even as he shows that Hill lets down his guard as he become more enamored of the people in River City.

Fishman, she of the porcelain skin and silvery soprano, balances Marian’s take-no-baloney side with the character’s longing and humor. Fishman shows Marian in full romantic thrall in “Till There Was You,” which she sings with celestial purity. 

In fact, the whole cast is pretty darned good. Amelia White is a delight as Marian’s voice-of-reason Irish Ma. Alexander O’Brien, portraying Marian’s little brother who is teased about his lisp, adorably delivers the song “Gary, Indiana.”

This “Music Man” is lucky, too, to have Patricia Wilcox’s sassy choreography. In “Marian the Librarian,” the youngsters start out sitting ramrod straight, books held in front of their faces. Then, they let loose from their behave-yourself restraints, and they literally dance on the tables. The ridiculously titled song “Shipoopi” becomes a lark, thanks to exuberant steps and twirls. Credit must go, too, to the dancers in the show, who are in a class of their own.

The production has some nice incidental touches, from the horse puppet that trots across the stage to a clothing switcheroo where Hill, in the middle of hard-selling the band idea, wears an off-white blazer that gets deftly pulled off, turned inside out to become a marching-band uniform, and is slipped back on him.

It might come as a surprise that Goodspeed, known for reviving musicals, had never presented “The Music Man” before in its multi-decade history. The good news is: they got it right the first time.

If you go

What: “The Music Man” 

Where: Goodspeed Opera House, 6 Main St., East Haddam

When: Runs through June 20; shows at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, (with select performances at 2 p.m.), 8 p.m. Fridays, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays (with select performances at 6:30 p.m.)

Tickets: Start at $29

Contact: (860) 873-8668, www.goodspeed.org