The Music Man : Show Development and Promotion

[jo]

First one off -- an interview with the irrepressible Sutton Foster


www.purewow.com/news/sutton-foster-music-man-hugh-jackman?utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Sutton Foster Dishes About Motherhood, ‘The Music Man’ and Kissing Hugh Jackman


By Rachel Bowie | Dec. 17, 2019 | 10:00 PM


Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images


It was the theater announcement heard ’round the world: Sutton Foster—who previously graced the stage in shows like Anything Goes and Violet—would be making her return to Broadway to play Marian the Librarian in The Music Man opposite Mr. Theater himself: Hugh Jackman.

PureWow had the chance to chat exclusively with Foster via her partnership with Lactaid (which she swears by as a lactose-free real milk alternative), so we had to ask: What was her reaction to hearing the news that she’d be sharing the stage with Jackman?


“Well, there was this one moment where I woke up in the middle of the night and was thinking to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to have to kiss Hugh Jackman!’” she laughs. “I never thought that would happen in my life!”

Still, the part she’s most looking forward to is simply being in the same room as someone she respects so much. “Hugh is the real deal. I love that he loves theater, and I love that he’s made this an essential part of his career. That’s something I admire a lot,” she says.


Aside from working with Jackman, there’s another aspect of The Music Man that Foster is excited about. “This is the first time I’m doing a Broadway show with my daughter [Emily, 2] alive. I can’t wait to introduce her to the magic of theater and bring her backstage to meet all the people, especially her Uncle Hugh!” Foster jokes.

The irony? Long before she was cast in The Music Man, Foster’s husband, Ted Griffin, had been serenading his daughter at bedtime with one of the show’s most iconic tunes. “My husband isn’t a singer, but every night as he puts our daughter to bed, he sings ‘Goodnight My Someone.’ So, now it’s our goodnight song to the point that Emily tries to sing along too.”

But does Foster join in, especially now that she’s cast in the show? “Yeah, I’m still learning the lyrics though. I think I’ve already messed them up,” she laughs.

Given that the show doesn’t open on Broadway until September 2020, we’d say Foster has time to brush up. Bottom line: We can’t wait.

She always seems like a ray of sunshine! Hope her Marian is feisty and irrepressible! And a good kissin' partner to Hugh Harold Hill


Jo

[jo]

It looks like they're starting the publicity program --


www.broadway.com/videos/159795/get-ready-for-a-broadway-treat-with-a-capital-t-learn-about-the-music-man-starring-hugh-jackman-and-sutton-foster/

[hughmanity]

Unfortunately the comments section of the video has turned into another place for Beetlejuicers to sound off.  Fortunately, a few replies try to set them straight.

Dec 23, 2019 14:00:15 GMT -5 jo said:

It looks like they're starting the publicity program --


www.broadway.com/videos/159795/get-ready-for-a-broadway-treat-with-a-capital-t-learn-about-the-music-man-starring-hugh-jackman-and-sutton-foster/

[jo]

More on Sutton Foster's professional track record --

datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/sutton-foster-showcases-her-talents-for-one-night-new-years-eve-show-in-sf?fbclid=IwAR1c0qXlsJZBp-g0Uj_vK5Xf1sjEomXiMa_L8vJo64rmmbDh2_bmA_0SeKQ

Excerpts --

The small screen and small stage hasn’t entirely stolen Foster. She’s scheduled to go back to Broadway this fall co-starring as Marian in a revival of “The Music Man,” with Hugh Jackman as Professor Harold Hill. Rehearsals start this summer.

“I’m excited to dive into it, honor the show and also remain curious and open about what it could be,” she says.

Will we see a backstory to Marian's character?


Jo

[jo]

Just an impression --

The casting of the revival is almost an antithesis of the casting for the movie adaptation --

*Robert Preston, is not exactly movie-star handsome, but once he starts talking - his way of talking and a beguiling manner starts the ball rolling. With Hugh Jackman, he doesn't even have to talk - you look at him and we all fall under his spell … And when he portrays a character - hero or villain - not to forget a dance prowess that is as good as any Broadway chorus boy ( they're usually the best) -- and you have a more complete package!

*On the other hand, Shirley Jones is a looker with a sweet soprano - a beautiful Marian ( but a bit too schoolmarm-ish). Sutton is such a bubbly personality, her charm shines through once she speaks and her face lights up with her impish and hoyden-ish persona! And she is not dance queen on Broadway for nothing

So, I am confident that we won't see a carbon copy of the originals - but there will be added delight in the revival. One thing, though -- Preston and Jones could never have matched the dancing prowess of the Jackman-Foster pas de deux!!


Jo

[jo]

Jan 5, 2020 18:16:07 GMT -5 jo said:

From an interview with Sutton last August --

Have you met with Hugh Jackman yet?

In January this year I was with the team and sang through all the material. I didn’t know if I could do it. So it was a really interesting process of coming to it. I thought the same way when I got Reno Sweeney. It felt scary and terrifying. But then the more I think about it, the more I read the script, I was like, ‘Oh no, she’s feisty, she’s outspoken.” There’s so much going on with Marian I’m really looking forward. She’s complicated. I’m excited to be able to play her.

We’re actually going to be doing a couple labs, like a lab in September and then there’s another lab in February. I’m thrilled the team wants to go back into the show. My approach always is—I did this with Anything Goes, too—is, yes, this is obviously a show that has so much history, but I like to approach it as if it’s never been done before. Because the shoes are too big to fill. I can’t step into Barbara Cook, Shirley Jones. So how do I find my way into this? I’m excited, I’m terrified but excited.

So, we know what Hugh will be doing after he completes filming REMINISCENCE this month

The September lab took about a month, without Hugh but with Sutton. I wonder if Warren Carlyle has recovered fully from his appendectomy procedure? Or will the lab be less of the dance ( featured in the September lab) but more on exploring the other aspects of the musical?


Jo

[jo]

I wonder what kind of memorabilia they are planning for The Music Man - I ask because these things are usually so tempting ( even for #tmtmts, we wanted to get as many as possible) and need some $$ to be set aside for them

I already have 3 hoodies (BackOnBroadway/TheRiver/#tmtmts) at the moment - lol - for a country whose regular temperatures hover around 30*-35* Centigrade at noon!

Maybe a small trombone replica as a Christmas tree ornament ?

Sept 15, 2019 18:30:07 GMT -5 jo said:

Found this interesting set of ( maybe not) trivia about the musical The Music Man.

Who knows -- they might even re-introduce some of the original ideas for the new Broadway revival?

This website is actually dedicated to another and related musical ( The Spirit of River City, but it includes a
TRIVIA FROM THE MUSIC MAN section is the most interesting.


www.spiritofrivercity.com/musicmantrivia.html

Did you know....?


>
>
>





In Meredith’s book "And There I Stood with My Piccolo", he spoke of "The Spirit of ’76". Perhaps this was the origin of the number of trombones in the famous song. The painting of "The Spirit of ‘76" includes a fife player. A fife is essentially a piccolo which was Meredith’s main instrument. In the early 1950’s, Meredith did an orchestration of Frank Loesser’s "Ballad of Rodger Young"—with 76 musicians in the orchestra.
<
<
<

That never dawned on me ( maybe because I am not an American) -- but " 76 Trombones" is a regular piece for marching bands everywhere … and people may not be aware of what it may be paying tribute to!


Jo

[jo]

[mamaleh]

Just received an email from Telecharge saying that the Winter Garden has been officially announced as the theater venue for THE MUSIC MAN and tickets will be sent out in the new few weeks.

Ellen

[jo]

Yay - we are going to the Winter Garden Theatre for our date with Prof Harold Hill

Copy of Email --

Dear Telecharge Customer,

Dear Telecharge Customer, THE MUSIC MAN has officially been announced for the WINTER GARDEN THEATRE, 1634 Broadway (between 50th and 51st Streets).

You will receive your tickets in the next few weeks. If you have any questions, email Telecharge Customer Service at [e-mail] and include your order number.

View the Winter Garden seating chart by clicking on the link below.

www.telecharge.com/Images/Product/Winter-Garden-Seating-Chart-Music-Man-Broadway-010320.gif

We hope you’re excited to see this show.

Telecharge Customer Service
212-239-6210 / 800-543-4835 (9am-9pm EST)
[e-mail]

[jo]

Nice to see the NEW TELECHARGE PAGE

www.telecharge.com/eventoverview.aspx?cityName=NY%20City%20Area&productId=12924


With this update --

The Music Man Tickets & Information
Winter Garden Theatre
1634 Broadway
Between West 50th and 51st Streets
New York NY 10019 View on map

[jo]

They have opened up the entire seating chart for Orchestra and Mezzanine. There are now seats that did not use to be available - in case you haven't gotten tickets yet.


This is the seating chart in general for The Winter Garden for The Music Man, for Orchestra and Mezzanine.


www.telecharge.com/Broadway/The-Music-Man/Seating-Chart


If you want to check ticket availability, pls proceed to the specific date on the calendar.

Jo

[jo]

From BWW --

OlBlueEyes
Send PM
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:5/31/10
Hugh Jackman in The Music Man
#778

Posted: 1/6/20 at 6:14pm
Call_me_jorge said: "I believe this from a workshop that took place recently and it seems like Max Clayton filled in for Hugh. Max is primarily a dancer, which makes me wonder if they are really beefing up Harold Hills choreography for this production. I hope Max continues with the show in the ensemble.

http://instagram.com/p/B3kKYsajfQq

It's almost poignant that there is a prominent "LIKE" of that photo of Sutton and Max by Laura Osnes. She has never made it a secret that Marian was her dream role and this would have been her dream production. She had only a few hours of hopeful expectation before her agent burst the bubble.

She is friends with Sutton from Anything Goes and I'm sure will only wish her the best.

Is it believed that Sutton was Hugh's personal choice? Remembering that impromptu dance between the two during the Tony awards a few years back.

Sutton doesn't seem like a great fit for the role if you compare her to Barbara Cook, Shirley Jones, and certainly not Kristin Chenoweth, who was the best thing about the 2003 television remake with Matthew Broderick. And she hasn't really made a living out of singing romantic ballads like "Til There Was You."

But it's just impossible to imagine Sutton coming up short. If she doesn't quite fit the role as the others have played it, then she will tweak the role until it fits her.

I don't suppose that they will work in any tap.

[jo]

In that photo, that looks like Rudin and Carlyle reflected in the mirror as seeming with their backs to the camera ( upper right hand side) - talking to Jerry Zaks?

This was the group which was involved in the September 2019 lab workshop ( there is another one coming up in February). I am assuming that there might be some major changes in the choreography given Warren Carlyle's involvement and the dance prowess of Sutton Foster and the emerging dance prowess of The Greatest Showman ( aka The Music Man)

http://instagram.com/p/B3iTZDuprPo

[jo]

As expected -- the BJuice fans are assaulting The Music Man again on social media, with the news of its official theatre being named!

[njr]

Jan 6, 2020 11:49:49 GMT -5 jo said:

They have opened up the entire seating chart for Orchestra and Mezzanine. There are now seats that did not use to be available - in case you haven't gotten tickets yet.


This is the seating chart in general for The Winter Garden for The Music Man, for Orchestra and Mezzanine.


www.telecharge.com/Broadway/The-Music-Man/Seating-Chart


If you want to check ticket availability, pls proceed to the specific date on the calendar.

Jo

I was looking at a couple dates in April, but no seating chart popped up to pick a seat. Does this mean that show is sold out for those nights?

Nancy

[jo]

Maybe try again.

I checked a couple of dates ( April 1 & 4) and the seating charts were available to choose from. Maybe at the time you looked at the chart, they were still updating the site?

Jo

[jo]

As of now - Telecharge is selling tickets up to April 25, 2021.

Jo

[jo]

You might find this info from someone who will be a repeat patron of the show useful -- from BWW :

Jarethan
Send PM
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:2/10/11
Hugh Jackman in The Music Man
#787

Posted: 1/7/20 at 4:21pm
I am SOOOOOO glad that I read this thread today. I did not know until 2 minutes ago that they officially announced the WG and put the side seats on sale. While the side seats get to be pretty awful, I was able to get B30, C30 and D30 for $99 each. B28, C28 and D28 are $229, so I feel like I got the bargain of the season. There are still 6 / 7 seats further to the side, so I am thinking that they cant be that bad. Time will tell, but I am very happy today.

[jo]

Interesting comment on the physical attributes of THE WINTER GARDEN and its suitability to the staging of The Music Man --

From BWW --

Excerpts from the post --

bdn223
Broadway Legend
joined:6/14/08
Next tenant for the Marquis?
#10

Posted: 1/7/20 at 11:37am


The issue Beetlejuice has when it comes to moving theaters is that the Winter Garden is one of the more uniquely shaped theaters on Broadway. The Winter Garden has the third widest stage of any of Broadways proscenium theaters (this excludes the Circle in the Square, as its in the round, and the Beaumont as its a thrust stage), but it also has the 5th shortest proscenium. Add to that the theater is the 10th largest theater in terms of capacity. In terms of a way to think about it as a metaphor think of Broadway theaters as a piece of paper, nearly all theaters are set up in a portrait design, but the Winter Garden, and the Gershwin are set up in landscape. This is also likely why Scott Rudin was not willing to move The Music Man, to a different theater despite being over a year out from its first preview when tickets went on a sale in September, and the negotiations between Warner Brothers Theater Group and him began in an attempt to allow Beetlejuice to stay at the Winter Garden.

Yes I know Mamma Mia moved to the Broadhurst, but Mamma Mia was not a tech heavy musical production. The production was essentially a unit set on a turn table, that was moved off stage during the finale, allowing for a deck/pier to rise out of the stage. Beetlejuice on the other hand has a full house built on the stage that is thrust forward and backward to make way for other sets including the attic, the facade of the house, the multiple locations netherworld, and the graveyard. Al of these sets were built to specifically frame the stage, unlike other productions such as a Tootsie, Mean Girls, The Book of Mormon, which have smaller set pieces move on and off stage to more so symbolize locations and its the backdrop thats instead used to frame the stage...

[jo]

I am not familiar with the term "a theatre being set up in landscape". The example that I have seen is supposed to be the Gerswhin, which has been hosting WICKED since the time of The Boy from Oz.

I found this piece of discussion ( maybe more for the esoteric aspects of theatre stage design) --

warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/iatl/sharing-practice/students/all-projects/matthewbent/matthew_bent_-_final_report.pdf


Excerpts --

As a way of clarifying my thoughts on how this new form of landscape performance might take shape, I drew out a table identifying the key differences between this new form and the traditional, naturalist, narrative theatre:


Naturalist theatre /// Landscape theatre

Progressive familiarity /// Continuous present
Observance /// Experience
Psychological characterisation /// Physical characterisation
Communication of self /// Communion of ideas and stories
Text-dominated/// Non-hierarchical
Aural // Aural and Visual
Everyday /// Theatrical

So, this new form had to engage spectators in the present moment: create scenes in which the piece reaches out to the audience to engage them in an experiential way so that the piece was not something observed passively from the comfort of the darkened auditorium. Rather than being dominated by text, actor psychology and the dialogue form of the naturalist theatre characters should have clear motivations, expressed both physically and vocally. There should be no hierarchy of elements to the production: all aspects, from the lighting and sound design to the set and the costume should be theatrical and engaging. There should be a direct relationship between the stage and auditorium, creating an atmosphere of communion, as with any efficacious religious or spiritual ritual.

Each scene would be an experiential event. The performance would have many languages: of gesture, colour, sound, light, space, as well as spoken texts filled with repetitions of themes and ideas.

Arghh - I have to recall what I thought of Wicked's theatrical design …

Too esoteric for me...


Jo

[njr]

Isn’t landscape just shaped like a rectangle where the base and top are the longest sides? Picture a TV screen or movie screen.

Nancy

[jo]

Ok - like camera choices -- "panoramic" to take in the entire landscape...and "portrait" to simply show a focused image.

Or like the options when watching a movie on TV - WIDE or FULL? Of course many people follow how the movie's aspect ratio was designed

That sounds more like it -- I wonder if it has anything to do with an attempt for the stage musical revival to be more like the film adaptation ( which of course has the advantage of a moving camera).

Will seats on the far side benefit better with a panoramic design? This is an issue that theatres with very wide mezzanines ( like WG) have to reckon with.

This could be one of the aspects that will give the audience a fresh look ( to include possibly a revised storyline with darker backstories, possibly new music taken from the developmental work on the original The Music Man, fresh and sharper choreography, modern aspects of production design and sound management, costumes, etc)... BJuice fans have questioned why a "tired" and "boring" musical need to be revived. Hmm... hope the long development work now being done for the revival will all bear these new fruits of theatrical excellence!

Jo

[njr]

Yes, widescreen is landscape (to me anyway!)

Nancy

[jo]

Finally, nice to see THE MUSIC MAN acknowledged as COMING SOON to the WinterGarden Theatre by The Shubert Organization!


shubert.nyc/theatres/winter-garden/