The Music Man : THE MUSICAL SCORE

[jo]

Anita Bryant --

[jo]

In the movie & the original production, Harold Hill gets to sing only a few lines from 'TIL THERE WAS YOU towards the end of the show...

My #1 wish is for Hugh Jackman to sing the full ballad ( I love to hear him croon a ballad - like ALL THE LIVES from The Boy From Oz) in the new revival!

Fingers crossed!

🤞🤞🤞


Jo

[jo]

Sept 5, 2021 20:56:06 GMT -5 jo said:

Found this on one of the commentaries on a clip of the opening number, ROCK ISLAND!

"Of the three musicals he wrote, THE MUSIC MAN is the only one that
interests me, but the interest is intense. "Rock Island," the unique
opening number, is surely one of the most startling and galvanic
openings ever devised. It is performed on a railway car by a group of
1930s salesman, whose rhythmic chatter mimics the sound of the train
they're on while at the same time setting up the circumstances of the
play. For the first half of the number, there is no orchestral
accompaniment whatsoever, only the chug, whoosh and whistle of the train
along with conversation. The combination becomes verbal music - it is
in fact the forerunner of rap. The orchestra doesn't enter until the
mention of Harold Hill, the absent central character, which in effects
tells the audience to pay attention to the information of the words
rather than just their sound. The number echoed Oscar [Hammerstein's]
lesson, distilled and intensified, about the first song in a musical.
Once you heard "Rock Island," you could have sat through the telephone
book and had a good time. Luckily, you didn't have to. There are
secondary explosions of Willson's originality in "Piano Lesson" and
"Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little," and of course the broad spread of it in
"Trouble," but the splendor is in Rock Island, not River City. THE
MUSIC MAN was an enormous success, some of which has been attributed to
its American family values, some to the charm of its star Robert
Preston, some to the presence of children and Americana, but I attribute
it to its opening number." - Stephen Sondheim commenting on Meredith
Willson's perspicacity as a lyricist in "Look I Made A Hat," 2011

[jo]

You're going to love this one --

especially towards the end!

[jo]

I have been looking at clips of songs from TMM, especially 76 Trombones -- and reading the comments.

A lot from young people who said they either learned it in school or being able to participate as one of the salesmen or being in the band. Also, many memories of parents, grandparents who would whistle or sing parts of the songs always - so the household affectionately labels them as great family memories.

So much affection --

Did you see the clip of the 70yr old whose kids gave her tickets to TMM as birthday present and she could not get over it!

Hope the health issue improves a lot so many people can see the revival!


Jo

[jo]

I knew this march long before I knew its title, let alone where it came from.
Here it is played as the famous Dutch Violonist & Conductor Andre Rieu is welcomed by a massive European concert crowd!

Look at the crowd recognize the song and show their appreciation of the march as they welcome Andre!





A comment on YouTube --

TEAMERICA
6 days ago
Wow! I had no idea this song would be so well received in Europe. Or was it just because Andre and the orchestra were finally taking the stage?
It IS a catchy tune and goes way back with me to 1957 when I and my family attended the Premier of "The Music Man" in Denver, Colorado. We enjoyed the movie so much, we remained in our seats and got to watch it again. We were singing all the songs in the car on the way back home.
Back then, Ronnie Howard was our hero as well as Professor Harold Hill and Marian The Librarian. Those were the days. .