The Music Man

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This article is about the stage musical. For the film adaptation, see The Music Man (1962 film). For other uses, see Music Man.
The Music Man
Image:TheMusicManPoster.jpg
Original Broadway Poster
Music Meredith Willson
Lyrics Meredith Willson
Book Meredith Willson
Productions 1957 Broadway
1980 Broadway revival

2000 Broadway revival

Awards Tony Award for Best Musical

The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson. The show is based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. In 1957, the show became a hit on Broadway and spawned revivals and a popular film. It is still frequently produced by both professional and amateur theatre companies.

Contents

[edit] Background and productions

After years of development, a change of producers, and more than forty drafts, the original Broadway production, directed by Morton DaCosta and choreographed by Onna White, opened on December 19 1957, at the Majestic Theatre. There it remained for nearly three years before transferring to The Broadway Theatre to complete its 1,375-performance run. The original cast included Robert Preston (who went on to reprise his role in the 1962 screen adaptation) as Harold Hill, Barbara Cook as Marian, and Eddie Hodges as Winthrop, with Pert Kelton, David Burns and Iggie Wolfington in supporting roles. Eddie Albert replaced Preston later in the run.

The original cast recording was released by Capitol Records on January 20 1958 in stereophonic and monaural versions and held the #1 spot on the Billboard charts for twelve weeks, remaining on the charts for a total of 245 weeks.[1]

After eight previews, the first Broadway revival, directed and choreographed by Michael Kidd, opened on June 5, 1980, at the New York City Center, where it ran for 21 performances. The cast included Dick Van Dyke as Hill, Meg Bussert as Marian, and Christian Slater as Winthrop.

After twenty-two previews, the second Broadway revival, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, opened on April 27 2000 at the Neil Simon Theatre, where it ran for 699 performances. The cast included Craig Bierko (making his Broadway debut) as Hill and Rebecca Luker as Marian. Robert Sean Leonard and Eric McCormack portrayed Hill later in the run.

The success of the 2000 revival prompted a 2003 television movie starring Matthew Broderick as Hill and Kristin Chenoweth as Marian, with Victor Garber, Debra Monk, and Molly Shannon in supporting roles.

Willson recorded his trials and tribulations in getting the show to Broadway in his book, But He Doesn't Know The Territory.

[edit] Synopsis

"Professor" Harold Hill is a con man whose scam is to convince parents he can teach their musically-disinclined children to play musical instruments. Taking pre-paid orders for instruments and uniforms with the promise he will form a band, he skips town and moves on to the next one before he's exposed. Arriving in fictional 1912 River City, Iowa, Hill finds his modus operandus compromised when he becomes attracted to a local librarian, Marian Paroo, who recognizes him for the fraud he is. Nevertheless, she falls in love with the smooth-talking charmer when he draws her self-conscious, lisping brother Winthrop from his shell. When Hill's scheme begins to unravel, he is faced with the choice of escaping yet again or staying with Marian and facing the consequences. He chooses to stay, and is rewarded with unanticipated redemption: uncritical parents marvel and cheer as Hill's newly organized Boy's Band performs, and the characters live happily ever after.

[edit] Songs and music

Song list:

Act I
  • "Rock Island"
  • "Iowa Stubborn"
  • "Trouble" (a.k.a. "Ya Got Trouble", "Trouble in River City")
  • "Piano Lesson"
  • "Goodnight, My Someone"
  • "Seventy-six Trombones"
  • "Sincere"
  • "The Sadder-But-Wiser Girl"
  • "Pick a Little, Talk a Little"
  • "Goodnight Ladies"
  • "Marian The Librarian"
  • "My White Knight"
  • "The Wells Fargo Wagon"

Act II
  • "It's You"
  • "Shipoopi"
  • "Pick a Little, Talk a Little" (Reprise)
  • "Lida Rose"
  • "Will I Ever Tell You?"
  • "Gary, Indiana"
  • "Lida Rose" (Reprise)
  • "Till There Was You"
  • "Seventy-six Trombones" / "Goodnight, My Someone" (Reprise)
  • "Till There Was You" (Reprise)
  • "Finale"

Image:MusicManPlaybill.JPG
Dick Van Dyke on the 1980 Playbill

"Lida Rose" and "Will I Ever Tell You," sung first separately and then simultaneously, are among the rare examples of Broadway counterpoint – songs with separate lyrics and separate melodies that harmonize and are designed to be sung together. Similarly, "Goodnight, My Someone" is the same tune, in waltz time, as the march-tempo "Seventy-six Trombones." Willson's counterpoint, along with two counterpoint song pairs from Irving Berlin musicals, are lampooned in the 1959 musical Little Mary Sunshine. It combines three counterpoint songs: "Playing Croquet," "Swinging," and "How Do You Do?"

The first recording of "Till There Was You" to be released came before the original cast album version. Promotional copies of the 45 rpm single, Capitol P3847, were released on November 26th, 1957, even before the Broadway production had premiered. Produced by Nelson Riddle, it featured his orchestra and 17-year-old vocalist Sue Raney.

The musical instruments featured in the film adaptation were manufactured by the Richards Martin company, which also released limited edition "Official Music Man Models" of some of its most popular instruments.

[edit] Characters

Named characters include:

  • Prof. Harold Hill (a con man)
  • Marian Paroo (a librarian)
  • Winthrop Paroo (Marian's lisping younger brother)
  • Mrs. Paroo (Marian's Irish mother)
  • Mayor Shinn (a blustery politician)
  • Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn (his wife)
  • The Barbershop Quartet (four bickering school board members, Jacey Squires, Ewart Dunlop, Olin Britt, Oliver Hix)
  • Pickalittle Ladies (Eulalie's four gossipy friends, Alma Hix, Mrs. Squires, Ethel Toffelmier, Maud Dunlop)
  • Marcellus Washburn (Harold's friend, now retired from the con-man game)
  • Others: Amaryllis (Marian's young piano student), Tommy Djilas (a young man "from the wrong side of town"), Zaneeta and Gracie Shinn (the mayor's eldest and youngest daughters), Charlie Cowell (a rival salesman and the play's antagonist), and Constable Locke

In an interview with Robert Preston, he said[cite this quote] that he got the Broadway lead as Harold Hill despite his limited singing range because, when he went to audition, they were having the men sing "Trouble". The producers felt it would be the most difficult song to sing, but with his background,[clarify] it was the easiest for him.

The source of the character Marian Paroo (a.k.a. Marian the Librarian) was Marian Seeley of Provo, Utah, an acquaintance of Meredith Willson during World War II when she was a medical records librarian, nicknamed "Marian the Librarian" by him.[2]

Actor/director Ron Howard's young role as Winthrop Paroo in the film adaptation was used as meta-joke in an episode of Happy Days, the sitcom on which he later played the role of Richie Cunningham. The character's mother comments that the little boy in The Music Man looks "so much like Richie when he was little."

In both the stage play and the movie, the School Board was played by the 1950 International Quartet Champions of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA), the Buffalo Bills.[citation needed]

[edit] Setting

The play's fictional setting, "River City, Iowa", is based partly on Willson's own birthplace, Mason City, Iowa. The "river" in River City is probably the Mississippi, near Davenport, Iowa: the Rock Island conductor's announcing "River City, Ioway! Cigarettes illegal in this state" implies crossing the Mississippi from Rock Island, Illinois, into Iowa at Davenport.

The character of Mayor Shinn indicates that the year is 1912, but the song "Trouble" contains both a reference to Captain Billy's Whiz-Bang, a monthly humor magazine that didn't begin publication until October 1919, and the nonalcoholic "near-beer" Bevo, which was first produced in 1916.

[edit] Awards and nominations

Image:TheMusicManCD.JPG
2000 revival cast recording
1957 Tony Award nominations
1958 Theatre World Award
1981 Theatre World Award
  • Theatre World Award – Meg Bussert (WINNER)
2000 Tony Award nominations
2000 Theatre World Award
  • Theatre World Award – Craig Bierko (WINNER)
2000 Drama Desk Award nominations
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical – Produced by Dodger Theatricals (Des McAnuff, Michael David, Rocco Landesman, Doug Johnson, Robin De Levita, Ed Strong, Sherman Warner), The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Elizabeth Williams, Anita Waxman, Kardana-Swinsky Productions, Lorie Cowen Levy, Dede Harris
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical – Craig Bierko
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical – Rebecca Luker
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography – Susan Stroman
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical – Susan Stroman
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations – Doug Besterman
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design of a Musical – Thomas Lynch
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design – William Ivey Long

[edit] In Popular culture

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The indie[clarify] band The Shins is named after the Shinn family in The Music Man. James Russell Mercer chose the name for the band because his father loved The Music Man.
  • The song "Till There Was You" was covered by the Beatles in 1963 on their second album With the Beatles. It is the only showtune the Beatles covered, and one of the songs they performed on the Ed Sullivan Show.
  • The Music Man is spoofed in The Simpsons episode "Marge vs. the Monorail" written by Conan O'Brien. At some point during the Broadway revival,[clarify] O'Brien was approached about playing the role of Harold Hill for a brief run, but he ultimately could not fit it into his schedule. He says, on the DVD commentary track for the aforementioned Simpsons episodes, that it was the hardest choice he's ever had to make professionally, because The Music Man is one of his all-time favorite things. O'Brien did, however, as host of the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, sing a parody version of "Trouble" in his opening monologue targeting NBC and their slide in the ratings.
  • Several Music Man songs were used on Ally McBeal.
  • Gilmore Girls, which uses the same backlot set as the Music Man film, frequently refers to the film.
  • In the Family Guy season 5 episode "Patriot Games", the main character, Peter, sings "Shipoopi" at a New England Patriots game along with the entire stadium. Also, in the season 3 episode "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows", there is a scene similar to the "Piano Lesson" number from the musical.[clarify]
  • The second episode of Carnival Capricious, a webcast series made with puppets, spoofs The Music Man with an episode titled "The Mountebank Man". In the episode, the main characters are having trouble running their popular carnival. Hearing their cries, Slater Slope, a con man, offers to sell them his "100% functional" robots to help run the carnival. Much like Marian Paroo in the original Music Man, Ali, the smart one of the cast, sees through his disguise and investigates. However she eventually falls in love with him after he has gotten Walter, the depressed ghost character, singing and (almost) filled with joy. Once the robot shipment comes into town, the carnival realises that Slater has been lying to them, and charge after him to kill him. But Ali convinces them that it was all for the good. After a goodbye kiss, Slater boards the bus. As he does so, he mutters, "Suckers!"
  • In Episode 22 of Boston Legal titled "Men to Boys", the character of Alan Shore, played by James Spader, stands up in a restaurant and breaks into a parody of the song "Trouble", in order to convince the patrons of the restaurant to not eat the trout.
  • In an episode of the sitcom The Nanny, the character Fran goes to her high school reunion, at which one of her friends' dates sings "Seventy-six Trombones".
  • The premise of Jeff Goldblum's mockumentary Pittsburgh involves The Music Man.[clarify]

[edit] Notes and references

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
  1. ^ . The cast album was awarded "Best Original Cast Album" at the very first Grammy Awards ceremony in 1958. From DoggedResearch website[clarify][unreliable source?]
  2. ^ (March 2005) "[title missing]". American Libraries.[clarify]

[edit] External links

Awards
Preceded by
My Fair Lady 		Tony Award for Best Musical
1958 		Succeeded by
Redhead
v • d • e
Tony Award for Best Musical: Winners (1949–1969)

1949: Kiss Me, Kate  •  1950: South Pacific  •  1951: Guys and Dolls  •  1952: The King and I  •  1953: Wonderful Town  •  1954: Kismet  •  1955: The Pajama Game  •  1956: Damn Yankees  •  1957: My Fair Lady  •  1958: The Music Man  •  1959: Redhead  •  1960: The Sound of Music†  •  1960: Fiorello!†  •  1961: Bye Bye Birdie  •  1962: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying  •  1963: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum  •  1964: Hello, Dolly!  •  1965: Fiddler on the Roof  •  1966: Man of La Mancha  •  1967: Cabaret  •  1968: Hallelujah, Baby!  •  1969: 1776
(†: tie)

Complete List · Winners (1949–1969) · Winners (1970–1989) · Winners (1990–2009)

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