THE MUSIC MAN 🎵

[mamaleh]

And I'll bet he's never let you forget all he did for you.

Ellen

[jo]

Suspension of disbelief! You have to convince your mind that having that childlike innocence is what makes theatre thrilling!

In The Greatest Showman, young Phineas and young Charity were probably of the same age. But when they grew up and got married and had children, some cynics questioned how an almost 50-year old Jackman and a late '30s Williams can portray them.


But did they seem too far apart in age? Physically-looking, they seemed to be of the same age - maybe largely because Hugh did not look his age - especially his build.


Besides, in THE MUSIC MAN, focus onstage will be on the real-life showman - as many theatre fans say, most people will come just for HUGH!


Jo

[jo]

Kiss Me Kate is selling tickets only up to June 2, 2019 at the moment.

[jo]

I found this -- Barbara Cook sings two songs from THE MUSIC MAN in 1960. The show opened on Broadway in December 1957.

[jo]

This was taped in 2000 --

Barbara Cook talks about how the show The Music Man was created (opened on Broadway in December 1957) --




Listen to how she describes why Robert Preston was chosen for the role. Hugh will have to fill that bill...and I am sure he will be even more than that


Btw, I did see Robert Preston in his last Broadway appearance, if I am not mistaken, in "I DO, I DO" with Mary Martin.

Hope Hugh gets to see this video.


Jo

[jo]

A while ago, we might have come across this article on Barbara Cook and why she loves Hugh!

www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/barbara-cook-forever-carrying-a-tune/2011/11/29/gIQA3E1oKO_story.html?utm_term=.4eaed2da8b77

Barbara Cook, forever carrying a tune

By Peter Marks
December 2, 2011

NEW YORK — Here’s a Barbara Cook fun fact: She’s gaga for Hugh Jackman. As in crazy, over-the-moon, can’t-get-enough-of-him enraptured. “When he did ‘Oz,’ I saw it 16 times in New York,” she confesses, recalling Jackman’s Tony-winning turn in the 2003 musical “The Boy From Oz.” She notes that when she was visiting Sydney, she made a bunch of additional pilgrimages to the show there: “Six times in four days,” she boasts.


“Seeing Hugh is like going to church,” Cook explains, sitting in her homey Upper West Side apartment, chockablock with Native American and African pottery — another of her passions. “Because he is such a spiritual person. There’s no way you’d know this about him, but he’s one of the most profoundly good people I’ve ever known. He has a perfectly fine voice, but it’s about his willingness to show us who he is that is so moving. He allows himself to be so vulnerable.”

Cook has launched into a Jackman testimonial — hey, who’s winning the award here? — as she rhapsodizes about her good fortune in receiving the Kennedy Center Honors. She was hoping, she says, that Jackman would have been available to help fete her Sunday night, when the center tapes its annual, star-engorged tribute. Alas, Jackman sent word that he couldn’t leave his own show “Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway,” one of the fall’s hottest tickets.


Cook, who turned a gob-smacking 84 on Oct. 25, says she understood why he couldn’t make it, but she also wants to, ahem, clarify his appeal for her. “So many people say, ‘Oh, you’re in love with him!’ ” the singer observes. “I’m not in love with Hugh Jackman. ‘Oh, it’s because he’s so sexy!’ No, that’s not really it, either.

“Here’s the thing: What I try to tell students in master classes is what we want is them. It’s so hard to believe that what the world wants is the intrinsic you on the stage. And that’s what Hugh Jackman’s got, in spades. He’s incredibly present.”

The same, of course, can be said for Cook. With her immaculate natural instrument and the ebulliently permeable sense of self she projects in her concerts, she’s the empress of “present.” “Everybody’s on her team,” says Jessica Molaskey, the musical-theater actress who with jazz guitarist-husband John Pizzarelli developed a cabaret act, for which Cook has been a mentor. “She’s an exquisite musician, and she just happens to have the most shimmering luster. Her voice has a quality that shimmers. And I haven’t seen it go away.”

Jackman, for his part, considers Cook “the greatest living example of acting through song.”

“Her technique is extraordinary, and she allows me to forget that I am an actor, and to just be a fan,” he says. “I first saw her giving a master class in Melbourne, and, to be honest, I consider every subsequent performance that I have seen her in as a master class.”


Though the Honors more often than not go these days to artists of both achievement and a certain magnitude of celebrity, Cook’s overdue selection is not one being relied on to boost the telecast’s ratings. She’s from an even more rarefied circle of recipients, those who earn a coveted seat in the president’s box based essentially on their art alone. Having begun her career as an ingenue in Broadway musicals, she gravitated during a rocky midlife to a second act as an interpreter of show tunes and other standards — the concert and cabaret existence for which she’s now more widely recognized. Such an eternally fresh, expressive exemplar of the form is she that when the Kennedy Center decided to establish in 2007 an ongoing series of evenings featuring the nation’s best cabaret singers, it asked Cook to serve as its talent scout and curator.

Her durability, too, is a little bit freakish. How is it that a woman who made her Broadway debut in 1951 (in a flop called “Flahooley”) and is the resonant soprano on the original vinyl recordings of “The Music Man,” “Candide” and “She Loves Me” can in 2011 still be a supple source of musicality? Cook attributes her longevity to first-rate training: “In 1953, I got with the teacher who built my voice, Bob Kobin,” she says, sitting in her living room overlooking Riverside Park, seeming relaxed in black slacks and black turtleneck.

He instilled in her a comprehension that if properly used, the voice would last. “He used to say the vocal cords are among the strongest things in your body,” Cook says, adding that she’s a firm nonbeliever in wrapping the throat in scarves and all that pampering stuff. It’s learning how to manipulate the muscle that counts. “You can forget about hot tea and lemon, too,” she says, with a dismissive wave.

Anyone who’s seen Cook in concert would feel an immediate kinship with this disarmingly forthcoming woman in her art-filled home: She’s identical in temperament to the person on the stage who dips into the songbooks of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Duke Ellington and Irving Berlin. The candor with which she talks about herself — about the psychological cruelty she endured in her mother’s Atlanta home, her early struggle with the meaning of success and a subsequent descent into alcoholism — is of a piece with the entertainer who approaches her performances as acts of accessibility.

She’s open, too, about the opportunities missed, especially as they regard broadening her renown. (After two screen tests, she lost the part of Marian the Librarian in the movie version of “The Music Man” to Shirley Jones and since then has had a virtually nonexistent film career.) “It’s not that I wouldn’t have liked it,” Cook says, “but I think I’ve wanted to keep my life simple, and that has not always worked out in my favor. I would have been wiser to have fought more for TV and film.”

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Peter Marks
Peter Marks joined The Washington Post as its chief theater critic in 2002. Previously, he worked for nine years at the New York Times, on the culture, metropolitan and national desks, and spent about four years as its off-Broadway drama critic. Follow

[mamaleh]

Mar 17, 2019 9:24:15 GMT -5 jo said:

This was taped in 2000 --

Barbara Cook talks about how the show The Music Man was created (opened on Broadway in December 1957) --




Listen to how she describes why Robert Preston was chosen for the role. Hugh will have to fill that bill...and I am sure he will be even more than that


Btw, I did see Robert Preston in his last Broadway appearance, if I am not mistaken, in "I DO, I DO" with Mary Martin.

Hope Hugh gets to see this video.


Jo

Actually, Robert Preston did two more Broadway shows: a revival of the comedy SLY FOX based on the classic VOLPONE; and in 1974 the very lamentably short-lived-but-turned-cult-favorite musical MACK AND MABEL, in which he played early movies pioneer Mack Sennett. His big understated love song to costar Bernadette Peters was “I Won’t Send Roses,” one of my favorites. I was thrilled to hear Hugh sing it so beautifully at one performance of his one-man show tryout in Toronto. Unfortunately, that was just a one-time thing.

Ellen

[carouselkathy]

Wonderful interview with Barbara! I've already watched it three times.

[jo]

From the Hollywood Reporter announcement article --

The revival will begin previews Sept. 9, 2020, ahead of an Oct. 22 official opening at a Shubert theatre to be announced, along with additional casting.

That is a very long preview period! More than forty days ( 42) before Opening Night!

Presumably, there will be no out-of-town tryouts...and all hitches particularly on the technically-difficult parts ( song and dance numbers, especially those with big ensembles, with lavish production sets) to be ironed out during this period? I am assuming that the musical score will stay more or less the same? Maybe there were songs originally included in the 1957 inaugural run which they might test for this time? Were there new songs in the movie version which might be considered for this stage revival? And will they allow new songs written by new songwriters?

Per IBDB -- for the "Hello,Dolly!" recent revival, also produced by Scott Rubin and revived by essentially the same creative team :

View More Images
Shubert Theatre, (4/20/2017 - 8/25/2018)

First Preview:
Mar 15, 2017
Total Previews:
34
Opening Date:
Apr 20, 2017


Closing Date:
Aug 25, 2018
Total Performances:
550

I'm a little scared of how the ticket pricing ( Telecharge?) will shape up. I understand that during the most expensive weekend to see a Broadway show ( week between Christmas Day and New Year's), official ticket prices for front-row seats went up to $ 998, before fees

I wonder if ticket prices were lower during the preview period compared to the regular run?


Jo

[jo]

To visualize what's in store --

here are some clips from the movie version.


A Harold Hill number --



This is one of the showstopper numbers!




Let's see how Hugh compares to the opening number in the movie version --

[jo]

And the ultimate showstopper!

[jo]

76 Trombones, in the finale number in the movie version showcasing the cast --

[jo]

And the romantic number TILL THERE WAS YOU --

[jo]

There seems to be a little difference with the musical score from the film version --

Songs[edit]
Warner Bros. Records issued the soundtrack album in both stereophonic and monaural versions.
Source:AllMusic


Main Title/Rock Island – Orchestra, The Traveling Salesmen

Iowa Stubborn – The Ensemble

"Ya Got Trouble" – Robert Preston, The Ensemble

Piano Lesson / If You Don't Mind My Saying So – Shirley Jones, Pert Kelton

Goodnight, My Someone – Shirley Jones

Ya Got Trouble/Seventy-Six Trombones – Robert Preston, The Ensemble

Sincere – Buffalo Bills

The Sadder But Wiser Girl – Robert Preston

Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little – Hermione Gingold, The Biddys

Marian The Librarian – Robert Preston

Being in Love – Shirley Jones

Gary, Indiana – Robert Preston

The Wells Fargo Wagon – The Ensemble

Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You? – Shirley Jones, The Buffalo Bills

Gary, Indiana (Reprise) – Ronny Howard

Shipoopi – Buddy Hackett, The Ensemble

Till There Was You – Shirley Jones

Goodnight, My Someone (Reprise) – Shirley Jones, Robert Preston

Seventy-Six Trombones (Reprise & Finale) – The Ensemble

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BvJhlDXH_hR

From Knox ( and sister school Ravenswood) to Broadway

You owe Gus for convincing you to be part of THE MUSIC MAN then

[jo]

Mar 18, 2019 7:10:33 GMT -5 jo said:

http://instagr.am/p/BvJhlDXH_hR

From Knox ( and sister school Ravenswood) to Broadway

You owe Gus for convincing you to be part of THE MUSIC MAN then

Why does he have that scrapbook which includes the Knox/Ravenswood 1983 High School Musical quite handy at his NYC place? He must have brought it back from his recent trip in Australia ( it must have come from the two schools because it seems to be featuring the yearly musicals presented by the brother/sister schools)? Ha - he certainly knew how to keep a secret


Jo

[carouselkathy]

I listened to the Original Broadway Cast Recording last night. I'm guessing that, like in the movie version, they will replace "My White Knight" with "Being in Love" (a better song, and more politically correct in today's climate. )

[jo]

Some theatre minds have narrow perspectives --

Someone posted this comment on BWW --

ChildofEarth said: "After Carousel and Oklahoma, you’d think they’d want to do something a little different with this property. Norm was great. I was hoping to see LMM, Daveed Diggs, Adam Jacobs, Darren Criss, or anyone with a little more edge for Harold. Or at least make Marian interesting. But alas..."

And I had to reply with this --

Or anyone with a little more edge for Harold --


Have you seen some of Hugh's film portrayals like Prisoners, The Prestige, or Logan? Or even Pan? Maybe even his interpretation of Valjean in the film adaptation of Les Miserables? And his portrayal of a slick con man in the little known Deception with Michelle Williams & Ewan MacGregor which was chilling? I don't even talk of his badass portrayals of Wolverine, save for Logan because that was more dramatic and dealt with his prickly relationship with unknown daughter Laura.

A little more edge?!! Ha! Does he think Hugh is just a goody-goody type of musical guy

Jo

[jo]

At the TONYs with Craig Bierko as Harold Hill --





Interesting to note that this revival was directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. Ms. Stroman was the choreographer in the RNT Oklahoma!, with Warren Carlyle as her Dance Captain... and Hugh in the role of Curly.


Jo

[jo]

BWW message board is getting into an interesting discussion phase --

SweetLips22
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Posted: 3/19/19 at 2:20pm
JayElle said: Hope Rudin doesn't pick her.

Rudin won't pick anyone----Jackman will do the picking, Rudin will just agree.

JayElle
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Posted: 3/20/19 at 12:17am
Good to know Sweetlips. I thought the producer selected the cast. He seems to get his fingers into everything.

GavestonPS
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Posted: 3/20/19 at 1:49am
JayElle said: "Good to know Sweetlips. I thought the producer selected the cast. He seems to get his fingers into everything."



That's true in theory, but the theory only occasionally governs who gets the ultimate say. You might enjoy the chapter entitled "The Muscle" in William Goldman's essential book on Broadway in the mid-20th century, THE SEASON. (A couple of the chapters are out-of-date because the book was written before ticketing became computerized, for example; but most of it is still relevant fifty years after publication.)

The Muscle, as Goldman uses the term, is the party with the best track record and/or most forceful personality among the creative team. To paraphrase Goldman, The Muscle might be the star if the star is Ethel Merman or Mary Martin--UNLESS the director is Jerome Robbins (GYPSY) or Gower Champion (I DO! I DO!). The Muscle was definitely the producer if s/he was David Merrick (again, unless Champion was directing) or Hal Prince.

Goldman then goes on to caution us about productions where The Muscle is the costumer or the lyricist. His point was to object to critics who write something like "Joshua Logan forces Mary Martin into the most unflattering postures", saying one can be sure Miss Martin did nothing she did not bloody want to do. (This is NOT his example; I'm just making it up because I had eye surgery today; I'm fine, but I can't go reread the chapter at the moment.)

[jo]

I joined in that discussion -- and put in this rejoinder:

If I recall right --

When TheBoyFromOz was in early rehearsals or pre-rehearsals, the Gershwin Theatre became available and an offer was given to that production the choice to transfer there from the smaller-sized Imperial. They decided not to go ( instead it eventually went to Wicked) - who made the decision to stay at the Imperial? Not the producer ...or the director ...but Hugh Jackman! He thought the Imperial would suit him better in terms of the appropriateness to the show.

That struck me at that time because I thought it was always the producer, upon advice by the director, who made that decision. But it was Hugh who was supposed to have made the decision!


Jo

[jo]

Presumably it was Scott Rudin who did the courting...and given Hugh key prerogatives on how the forthcoming revival should shape up, assuming the creatives do their thing first and Hugh is given final say in certain aspects of the production ?


Jo

[jo]

This article seems to encapsulate why a musical like THE MUSIC MAN appeals universally and in a timeless manner.


www.paulsvalleydailydemocrat.com/community/gentle-timeless---memories-enriched/article_eac2b63d-4641-5935-be39-8f5fd1989f17.html

[mamaleh]

Just confirmed by Hugh’s Instagram today: Marian will be played by Sutton Foster.

http://instagram.com/p/BvblbgknpDy

Ellen

[jo]

Great news!


*Looks like excellent casting in many respects - Triple-threat talent/looks/age/Broadway gravitas!

*Sutton was the first Broadway actress to sing the role of Charity in the first workshop for The Greatest Showman! So, maybe she and Hugh have already tested their chemistry together.

*Since she is a great dancer and Hugh loves doing dance numbers - I have a feeling Warren is already planning exciting new dance numbers to bring a contemporary vibe to the revival!

*I am not bothered by some reservations about her not having the right soprano voice for the role. After all, Jenny Lind was supposed to be a soprano but we got the thrilling Never Enough ( not a soprano song)... in a more familiar pop sound! Maybe the range will be transposed to suit her voice better?

Hunter Foster will now approve ( of Hollywood actor Jackman cast in the role) - LOL!


Jo