The Music Man

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For the song and game, see The Music Man (song).

For the guitar company, see Music Man (company).

For the movie, see The Music Man (film).

The Music Man is a musical play with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson (story by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey), which opened on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre on December 19, 1957. The original company starred Robert Preston (in his musical debut) as 'Professor' Harold Hill and Barbara Cook as Marian Paroo. The show ran for 1,375 performances. Preston reprised his role in the 1962 film version.

Plot summary

'Professor' Harold Hill (his real name being Gregory) is a con man, claiming to be a traveling salesman from Gary, Indiana. From town to town he goes by rail, taking pre-paid orders for musical instruments and uniforms, pretending that he will teach youngsters to play the instruments and form a town band. His plan to carry out this scam in River City, Iowa, is derailed when he becomes attracted to Marian Paroo, the unmarried local librarian and piano teacher, who promptly recognizes him as the fraud he is. When four bickering town officials request his credentials at the mayor’s behest, Hill sidetracks them by forming them into a harmonious barbershop quartet. He gets around the ladies of the town by encouraging them to put on a dance recital, and he wins Marian over by his kindness towards her very young brother, Winthrop, who has become shy and withdrawn over the death of Mr. Paroo years before. Although she recognizes his scheme, Marian falls in love with Harold Hill. At the close of Act One, the band instruments have just arrived on the Wells Fargo Wagon, to the delight of everybody, especially little Winthrop, moving Marian to conceal the damning evidence she alone has uncovered. Hill is eventually exposed and apprehended, thanks in part to the determination of a rival salesman, but decides to stay in town and face the music: he cannot escape the “sadder-but-wiser” Miss Paroo. In the end, the townspeople forgive him. Even though he lied about the band, all finally realize that he did a lot for River City, including its officials, the ladies and Winthrop Paroo.

Revivals

The Music Man returned to Broadway in 1976, featuring Ian Richardson. Craig Bierko had the title role in another revival that played Broadway in the 1999-2000 season, directed by choreographer Susan Stroman. Eric McCormack of television's Will & Grace filled in for Bierko for a short time while on hiatus from the TV show. In 2001 Robert Sean Leonard took the leading role. A tour starred Barry Williams of Brady Bunch fame.

A 2003 made-for-television movie version starred Matthew Broderick.

Musical Numbers

Act One

1. Overture (Instrumental)

Scene One

1. Train Opening (Instrumental)
2. Rock Island (The Salesmen)

Scene Two

1. Iowa Stubborn (Ensemble)
2. Ya Got Trouble (Hill & Ensemble)
3. Trouble Playoff & Walking Music (Instrumental)

Scene Four

1. Piano Lesson & If You Don't Mind My Saying So (Marian & Mrs. Paroo)
2. Goodnight My Someone (Marian & Amaryllis)

Scene Five

1. Columbia, Gem of the Ocean (Ensemble)
2. Ya Got Trouble (Reprise), and
3. Seventy-Six Trombones (Hill & Ensemble)
4. Seventy-Six Trombones - Ballet (Instrumental)
5. Seventy-Six Trombones - Playoff (Instrumental)
6. Ice Cream/Sincere (Quartet)

Scene Six

1. Walking Music (Reprise) (Instrumental)
2. The Sadder But Wiser Girl (Hill & Marcellus)
3. Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little & Goodnight Ladies (Ladies, Hill & Quartet)

Scene Seven

1. Marian the Librarian (Hill)
2. Marian - Dance (Instrumental)
3. First Seventy-Six Trombones Crossover (Instrumental)

Scene Eight

1. Second Seventy-Six Trombones Crossover (Instrumental)

Scene Nine

1. Third Seventy-Six Trombones Crossover (Instrumental)

Scene Ten

1. My White Knight (Marian)

Scene Eleven

1. The Wells Fargo Wagon (Ensemble)
2. Finale-Act 1 (Instrumental)

Act Two

1. Entr'acte (Instrumental)

Scene One

1. Eulalie's Ballet (Instrumental)
2. It's You (Quartet)
3. Shipoopi (Marcellus)
4. Shipoopi Dance - Part 1 (Instrumental)
5. Shipoopi Dance - Part 2 (Instrumental)
6. Shipoopi Dance - Part 3 (Instrumental)
7. Shipoopi Dance - Playoff (Instrumental)
8. Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little (Reprise) (Ladies)

Scene Two

1. Lida Rose & Will I Ever Tell You? (Marian & Quartet)

Scene Three

1. Gary, Indiana (Hill)
2. Lida Rose (Reprise) (Quartet)
3. It's You - Ballet (Instrumental)

Scene Four

1. Till There Was You (Marian & Hill)
2. Goodnight & Seventy-Six Trombones (Double Reprise) (Marian & Hill)

Scene Five

1. Ice Cream Sociable (Instrumental)

Scene Six

1. Chase Music (Instrumental)
2. Till There Was You (Reprise) (Instrumental)

Scene Seven

1. Finale - Act 2 (Instrumental)
2. Curtain Call Music (Instrumental)
3. Exit Music (Instrumental)

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."
• The story is thought to take place in 1912. However, the song "Ya Got Trouble" contains a reference to Captain Billy's Whiz-Bang. This was a monthly humor magazine that began publication in October 1919.
• The melody of Marian’s song "Goodnight, My Someone" is a slow variation of Harold’s "Seventy-Six Trombones". This is revealed in the double reprise near the end of Act II.
• The Minuet in G, featured in the Act II Finale, is actually one of Mozart's earliest compositions.

Pop culture

• 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 ever covered.
• The Music Man was spoofed in The Simpsons episode "Marge vs. the Monorail."
• One of the songs in The Music Man is the source of the phrase "(We've got) trouble in River City".
• The song "Ya Got Trouble" was spoofed in the Boston Legal episode "Men To Boys".
• The song "Ya Got Trouble" was spoofed in the Veronica Mars episode "Look Who's Stalking".
• The song "Ya Got Trouble" was spoofed in the Everwood episode "Vegetative State". In the episode "Fear Itself", Dr. Abbott prefers watching the classic The Music Man to contemporary eye candy XXX. He refers to Robert Preston as being "cool". He also points out to 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". Also, "Shipoopi" was sung in an extended sequence in the later episode "The Patriot Games."

External links

• [Historical information on The Music Man]

 

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