The Music Man
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This article is about the stage musical. For the film adaptation, see The Music Man. For other uses, see Music Man.
The Music Man is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson.
Based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey, it's set in fictional 1912 River City, Iowa and focuses on "Professor" Harold Hill, a con man whose scam is to convince parents he can teach their musically-disinclined children to play a musical instrument. 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. Hill's modus operandi is compromised when he becomes attracted to local librarian Marian Paroo, who recognizes him for the fraud he is but falls in love with the smooth-talking charmer nevertheless 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.
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, where it remained for nearly three years before transferring to The Broadway Theatre to complete its 1375-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 on January 20, 1958 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.
Contents |
[edit] Song list
Act I
- Rock Island
- Iowa Stubborn
- Trouble
- Piano Lesson
- Goodnight, My Someone
- Seventy-Six Trombones
- Sincere
- The Sadder-But-Wiser Girl
- Pickalittle, Talkalittle
- Goodnight Ladies
- Marian The Librarian
- My White Knight
- The Wells Fargo Wagon
Act II
- It's You
- Shipoopi
- Pickalittle, Talkalittle (Reprise)
- Lida Rose
- Will I Ever Tell You?
- Gary, Indiana
- It's You (Reprise)
- Till There Was You
- Seventy-Six Trombones/Goodnight, My Someone (Reprise)
- Till There Was You (Reprise)
- Finale
[edit] Awards and nominations
1957 production
- Tony Award for Best Musical (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (Preston, winner)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Cook, winner)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Burns, winner; Wolfington, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Conductor and Musical Director (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Stage Technician (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Choreography (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Director (nominee)
- Theatre World Award (Hodges, winner)
1980 production
- Theatre World Award (Bussert, winner)
2000 production
- Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (Bierko, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Luker, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Scenic Design (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Costume Design (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Choreography (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Orchestrations (nominee)
- Theatre World Award (Bierko, winner)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Bierko, nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Luker, nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design of a Musical (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design (nominee)
[edit] Glossary
The Music Man includes many references to the period in which it was set, some of which may not have been familiar to 1957 audiences. These include:
- Balzac, mentioned in "Pickalittle, Talkalittle"
- Bevo, mentioned in "Ya Got Trouble"
- Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, mentioned in dialogue leading into "Ya Got Trouble"
- Chaucer, mentioned in "Pickalittle, Talkalittle"
- Giuseppe Creatore (1871-1952), aka "The Great Creatore", Italian conductor who toured the US from 1902 to 1930[1]
- Cubebs, cigarettes made from cubeb pepper instead of tobacco, mentioned in dialogue leading into "Ya Got Trouble"
- Demijohn, hogshead, noggin, tierce, and firkin, obsolete measures mentioned in "Rock Island"
- Patrick S. Gilmore (1829-1892), an Irish-American bandleader mentioned in "76 Trombones"[1]
- W. C. Handy, a bandleader and composer mentioned in dialogue leading into "76 Trombones"
- Knickerbockers, a style of pants worn by children at the time, mentioned in dialogue leading into "Ya Got Trouble"
- Dan Patch, a race horse mentioned in "Ya Got Trouble"
- Rabelais, a French Renaissance writer mentioned in "Pickalittle, Talkalittle")
- Sen-Sen, a breath freshener mentioned in "Ya Got Trouble")
- Uneeda Biscuit, the first prepackaged biscuit, mentioned in "Rock Island"
[edit] Trivia
- The play’s fictional setting, River City, Iowa, is based in part on Willson’s own birthplace, Mason City, Iowa. The “river” in River City is likely the Mississippi, near Davenport, owing to the announcement by the Rock Island conductor: “River City, Ioway! Cigarettes illegal in this state.” This suggests that Hill and his fellow passengers have just crossed the Iowa border, across the historic bridge spanning the Mississippi from Rock Island to Davenport.
- American Libraries, the journal of the American Library Association, reported in the March 2005 issue the source of the name of the character Marian Paroo (aka Marian the Librarian) was Marian Seeley of Provo, Utah. Mrs. Seeley had been an acquaintance of Meredith Willson during World War II, when she was a medical records librarian. The magazine reported that Meredith Willson "dubbed her 'Marian the Librarian' at the time, then went on to include that character in his play."
- Mayor Shinn indicates the year is 1912, but the song "Ya Got Trouble" contains a reference to Captain Billy's Whiz-Bang, a monthly humor magazine that didn't begin publication until October 1919.
- 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. The Society has since changed its official name to "The Barbershop Harmony Society".
[edit] Pop culture
- In season 2 episode 10 of The War At Home, Larry is seen watching the film on tv and exclaims "it really holds up"
- The indie band The Shins are 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.
- The Music Man is spoofed in The Simpsons episode "Marge vs. the Monorail" written by Conan O'Brien. At some point during the revival, 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, send up a parody version of "Ya Got Trouble" in his opening monologue targeting NBC and their slide in the ratings.
- The song "Ya Got Trouble" was mentioned in the Boston Legal episode "Men To Boys," the Veronica Mars episode "Look Who's Stalking" and the Everwood episode "Vegetative State".
- In the Everwood episode "Fear Itself", Dr. Abbott prefers watching the classic The Music Man to contemporary eye candy XXX, declaring that Robert Preston is cool. He reminds his daughter Amy that she always liked the song "Shipoopi".
- The "Piano Lesson" musical number is spoofed in the Family Guy episode "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows". Additionally, in the episode "The Patriot Games", "Shipoopi" was sung in an extended sequence by the character Peter Griffin to celebrate scoring a touchdown for the New England Patriots, and the characters recreated the famous choreography from the film.
- Several Music Man songs were used in Ally McBeal.
- Gilmore Girls, which uses the same backlot set as the Music Man film, frequently makes reference to the film.
- In the 1960s film The Apartment starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray, Lemmon gets stood up by MacLaine who was supposed to meet him for a date on Broadway to see The Music Man.
- In an episode of Happy Days, Marion Cunningham comments that the little boy in The Music Man looks "so much like Richie when he was little." Both Richie Cunningham on Happy Days and Winthrop Paroo in the feature film The Music Man were played by Ron Howard.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b Scott Miller (2000). Deconstructing Harold Hill: An Insider's Guide to Musical Theatre. Heinemann. , p. 93
In an episode of Family Guy, Peter sings a rousing rendition of "Shipoopi" set at a football game.
