The Music Man
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.
"Professor"
Harold Hill travels from town to town, taking pre-paid orders for
musical instruments and uniforms, claiming that he will teach youngsters to play and form a town
band. After arriving in
River City,
Iowa, Hill's scam is complicated when he becomes attracted to Marian Paroo, the local
librarian, who recognizes him as the fraud he is. Although she recognizes his scheme, Marian falls
in love with Harold Hill. Thanks to the determination of a rival salesman, Hill is exposed and apprehended, but he stays to face the consequences. The band performs, and the parents are so proud and excited to hear their children play that they believe in Hill again, and he settles down with Marian.
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 and
Kristin Chenoweth.
Act 1
#Overture (Instrumental)Scene One#Train Opening (Instrumental)#Rock Island (The Salesmen)Scene Two#Iowa Stubborn (Ensemble)#Ya Got Trouble (Hill & Ensemble)#Trouble Playoff & Walking Music (Instrumental)Scene Four#Piano Lesson & If You Don't Mind My Saying So (Marian & Mrs. Paroo)#Goodnight My Someone (Marian & Amaryllis)Scene Five#Columbia, Gem of the Ocean (Ensemble)#Ya Got Trouble (Reprise), and#
Seventy-Six Trombones (Hill & Ensemble)#Seventy-Six Trombones - Ballet (Instrumental)#Seventy-Six Trombones - Playoff (Instrumental)#Ice Cream/Sincere (Quartet)Scene Six#Walking Music (Reprise) (Instrumental)#The Sadder But Wiser Girl (Hill & Marcellus)#Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little & Goodnight Ladies (Ladies, Hill & Quartet)Scene Seven#Marian the Librarian (Hill)#Marian - Dance (Instrumental)#First Seventy-Six Trombones Crossover (Instrumental)Scene Eight#Second Seventy-Six Trombones Crossover (Instrumental)Scene Nine#Third Seventy-Six Trombones Crossover (Instrumental)Scene Ten#My White Knight (Marian)Scene Eleven#The Wells Fargo Wagon (Ensemble)#Finale-Act 1 (Instrumental)
Act 2
#Entr'acte (Instrumental)Scene One#Eulalie's Ballet (Instrumental)#It's You (Quartet)#Shipoopi (Marcellus)#Shipoopi Dance - Part 1 (Instrumental)#Shipoopi Dance - Part 2 (Instrumental)#Shipoopi Dance - Part 3 (Instrumental)#Shipoopi Dance - Playoff (Instrumental)#Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little (Reprise) (Ladies)Scene Two#Lida Rose & Will I Ever Tell You? (Marian & Quartet)Scene Three#Gary, Indiana (Hill)#Lida Rose (Reprise) (Quartet)#It's You - Ballet (Instrumental)Scene Four#
Till There Was You (Marian & Hill)#Goodnight & Seventy-Six Trombones (Double Reprise) (Marian & Hill)Scene Five#Ice Cream Sociable (Instrumental)Scene Six#Chase Music (Instrumental)#Till There Was You (Reprise) (Instrumental)Scene Seven#Finale - Act 2 (Instrumental)#Curtain Call Music (Instrumental)#Exit Music (Instrumental)
* 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 "Goodnight, My Someone" follows the same chord structure as Harold's "Seventy-Six Trombones". This is revealed in the double reprise in Act II scene 4, in which the two seamlessly
medley their respective
motifs (and eventually trade off!).
*The Minuet in G, featured in the Act II Finale, was composed by
Beethoven.
* 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.
* One of the songs in
The Music Man is the source of the phrase "(We've got) trouble in River City".
*
The Music Man was spoofed in
The Simpsons episode "
Marge vs. the Monorail."
* The song "Ya Got Trouble" was spoofed 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". Also, "Shipoopi" was sung in an extended sequence in the later episode "
The Patriot Games."
* Several Music Man songs were used in
Ally McBeal.
*
Historical information on The Music Man
