"The Music Man" Rehearsals

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CXCRzaCFcRZ

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CXCOZ7Cvtzr

[jo]

[jo]

You have to look at the series of Instagram Stories in the Instagram account of The Music Man before they're gone! Hurry

[JH4HJ]

I showed this video (Hugh by marquee) to two friends who do not follow Hugh closely but have seen and enjoyed him on stage. The reactions I got were not what I expected. One said, "Goodness, he's gotten old" the other "He really doesn't look well." Kinda surprised me. Maybe I look at him more frequently (photos/here) so the change has been more gradual. Yes, he has changed since Boy From OZ - but haven't we all?

Thing two - Has any reason been given for the unusually long preview period for Music Man?
(Shades of Legs Diamond???)

[jo]

He's 53 now

And the dance-intensive rehearsals likely caused some weight loss.

But in the photo celebrating Deb's on Nov 30, Hugh looked peRfectly fine.






I have also speculated about the long preview period and --

*On the theatre board Broadwayworld - someone responded to my question to the effect that while it is rare, it is not unheard of. Also said that Rudin liked long preview periods ( no reason mentioned).

*I thought initially that the uncertainties caused by the pandemic might be a reason for an extended period in case of longish disruptions ( illness, temporary closure of Bway)

*Legs Diamond was a new show and the show wasn't jelling well during previews (the book, maybe the shoe-horning of songs as I thought it was more of a jukebox musical)?. The Music Man is a Tony-winning musical which beat WestSide Story for that honor. The Film adaptation was Oscar-nominated & highly regarded at the AFI (American Film Institute) level... and is now regarded as a classic musical. Its musical score was the very 1st Grammy winner for the Best Musical Theatre Album. It was also a Charts record-holder

So why take a long time before Opening Night?

Let me further speculate --

[jo]

Let me go back to the original article announcing the revival, via The Hollywood reporter--

Hollywood Hugh Jackman to Lead Broadway Revival of ‘The Music Man’ (Exclusive)

Hugh Jackman will take on his first Broadway musical role in 16 years when he heads the cast of a major 2020 revival of 'The Music Man.'


BY DAVID ROONEY


MARCH 13, 2019 6:00AM
Hugh Jackman to Lead Broadway Revival

Get ready for 76 trombones and a box office stampede.

Hugh Jackman will take on his first Broadway musical role in 16 years when he heads the cast of a major 2020 revival of The Music Man, producer Scott Rudin confirmed Wednesday. Jackman teased the announcement Tuesday with a promotional image from the production on his Twitter feed, sparking wide speculation across theater sites.

The actor will play “Professor” Harold Hill, the charismatic con man who comes to the small Iowa town of River City posing as a boys’ marching band organizer and intends to abscond with the cash he collects for musical instruments and uniforms. Prim librarian Marian sees through his scam and plans to expose him, but romantic complications ensue.

“The first musical I was ever part of was the phenomenal The Music Man,” said Jackman in a statement. “The year was 1983, and I was at Knox Grammar School in Sydney, Australia. I was one of the traveling salesmen, and I think I can actually (almost) remember that unforgettable opening number! That was probably the moment when the magic of theater was born in me.”

“The idea of bringing The Music Man back to Broadway has been lurking in the back of my brain for a long time, maybe even for 35 years,” continued Jackman. “When Scott Rudin called me with that very idea, I was floored. To finally be doing this is a huge thrill.”

“There is just no way to accurately describe the level of excitement I feel about the opportunity to present Hugh in what I think is the best role ever written for an actor in all of Broadway musical theater,” added Rudin.

Unique among 21st century marquee names in his ability to straddle big-screen action franchises and old-fashioned song-and-dance roles onstage, Jackman has proved himself to be among the most reliable guarantees of blockbuster ticket sales since his Tony-winning 2003 Broadway debut in the Peter Allen bio-musical, The Boy From Oz.

The actor has appeared three times since on Broadway in limited engagements in the plays A Steady Rain (2009) and The River (2014) and the concert showcase Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway (2011), generating combined grosses of $83.4 million.

With premium pricing having significantly pumped box office earning potential in the five years since the most recent of those productions, a Jackman-led revival of a canonical property like the 1957 Meredith Willson musical promises to be massive, particularly given that the actor has signed on for a full year.

A leading New York stage star who has been absent from Broadway for the last few years is believed to be on board to play Marian and will be confirmed in the coming weeks.



Adding further luster to the production is the reassembly of the core creative team from Rudin’s lavish 2017 revival of Hello, Dolly! That smash hit starred Bette Midler and earned a whopping $128.2 million in New York, before heading out on a national tour that is proving popular across the country.




Director Jerry Zaks will again handle the reins, with Warren Carlyle on board as choreographer, Santo Loquasto designing sets and costumes, Natasha Katz on lighting, Scott Lehrer on sound and David Chase on dance arrangements. Joining the team will be distinguished music veterans Jonathan Tunick, doing orchestrations, and Patrick Vaccariello as music director, a role he filled on both The Boy From Oz and Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway.




“These are great American works of art that deserve to be put on stage with as much love as you can give them,” Rudin told The Hollywood Reporter. “What I learned on Dolly was that there is an enormous hunger for them from the theatergoing audience. But the hunger I think is to see these Golden Age musicals done in a Golden Age way.”


“When you take on one of the 10 or so great, beloved titles, you’re trying to do the urtext version of it,” he continued. “That’s what I think we did with Dolly and what we’re going to do here. We’re going to do it in a way that no one has ever seen it before. It’s going to be big and beautiful and super-luxe and gorgeous and incredibly romantic, and very much in the world of why the show has lasted for 60 years.”





Jackman’s footprint in musicals goes far beyond his Broadway appearances. In his early career days in Australia, he starred on stage in Sunset Boulevard and Beauty and the Beast, before landing the part of Curly in an acclaimed 1998 National Theatre revival of Oklahoma! in London. He headlined a 2002 Carnegie Hall concert staging of Carousel, opposite Audra McDonald, and starred in the big-screen musicals Les Miserables and The Greatest Showman. He has hosted the Tony Awards four times, winning an Emmy in 2005 for one of those emcee turns.

In May this year, Jackman will kick off a world arena tour titled The Man. The Music. The Show., backed by a live orchestra and performing songs from across his career. On the big screen, he will next be seen in Bad Education, with Allison Janney and Ray Romano.

Rudin said Jackman thought long and hard on the right musical-theater project to bring him back to Broadway, and the conversation that led to this project has been going on for about three years.



The Music Man is often ranked among the greatest Broadway musicals of all time. In his first attempt to write for the stage, Willson penned the book, music and lyrics for the show, which was six years in development. It premiered on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre in 1957, winning six Tony Awards, including best musical, and running for more than three years.


“When we did Dolly, my desire was to put 1964 onstage,” said Rudin. “That’s what we want to do here. We want basically to put onstage an experience that is our version of what we believe people felt when they walked in to the Majestic to see The Music Man in 1957, which is that blow-the-roof-off-the-theater, blow-the-doors-off-their-hinges musical-theater hysteria that only a handful of shows have ever generated. That’s the job.”



Robert Preston originated the part of Harold Hill, starring opposite Barbara Cook, and went on to reprise the role in the 1962 movie version with Shirley Jones. Matthew Broderick played Hill in a 2003 TV remake, while other notable performers who have tackled the role on stage over the years include Forrest Tucker, Van Johnson, Bert Parks, Dick Van Dyke, Bob Gunton and, in the most recent Broadway revival that ran from April 2000 to Dec. 2001, Craig Bierko, Robert Sean Leonard and Eric McCormack.

Like Jackman, Rudin also has connections to the show that go way back. The Broadway premiere was a huge hit for influential producer Kermit Bloomgarden, in whose offices Rudin got his start in the theater business at age 14.

“I was obsessed with The Music Man when I was a kid,” said Rudin. “I would ask him endless questions about it and spend months and months poring through his files for every single document I could find that related to The Music Man. A ton of what I learned about being a producer I learned from Kermit, and in a way, for me personally, this is kind of a valentine to him.”

The revival will begin previews Sept. 9, 2020, ahead of an Oct. 22 official opening at a Shubert theater to be announced, along with additional casting. Group ticket sales begin on June 9 this year, with single tickets available starting Sept. 15.

It looks like the artistic & creative vision mentioned by Rudin is the template still being followed.

*Same group of creatives! Not too many know that the orchestrator J Tunick has an EGOT! The Orchestra will have twenty-four members ( a very large size, by current standards)

*Hugh, Sutton & the other major support cast are all Tony Awardees. Excellent actors & triple-threats! The total cast count is forty-six - that could fill 2-3 musicals! Btw, have you noticed that "Zaneeta" will be played by a budding ballerina of note - maybe her character will be made more interesting, more romantic?

*It seems there will be much greater emphasis on dance! When Hugh was filming reminiscence, they held an almost month-long workshop, with Sutton et al, to test innovations in the dance numbers. rudin was there! That was where they discovered Max Clayton who danced the part for Hugh ( now he is the Standby for Hugh). When Hugh came back from reminiscence filming, right before the pandemic emerged, he and Sutton were in a weeklong workshop. In June 2021 we saw that clip of him doing a long tap-dance routine.

*re the musical score - it seems that there were some foRty songs originally-written ...and a lot were dropped . I think they said they want to explore them.

*the sets -- we saw a stolen shot of the countryside when the show opens. When someone commented that they don't recall seeing that in any production or of the city depicted as river City, someone said that it was part of the book which inspired the musical or the book of the musical itself. Going in a big way for authenticity.


*Now that rudin is no longer around, who is overseeing the whole project?

In one of the photos of the entire cast & creatives, an odd man out ( he looked like a very confident businessman) was standing on the left. That was former angel producer now TMM lead producer Barry Diller! Btw, in the past when he was in the business, he was the former President/CEO of FOX and then PARAMOUNT Studios -so he does know a thing or 2 about showbiz. Btw, he and his wife Diane Von Furstenberg donated USD 250 million to create the new NYC Park called Little Island on the Hudson river ( west Manhattan). recently, each TMM cast member got a big box of goodies ( to eat) sent by him - so he is showing that he cares even in small ways. After all, the morale level & inspiration of the cast will partly depend on how they are treated... The other angel producer is Diller co-billionaire David Geffen.

Btw, 2 other (new) producers are involved - Exec Producer Kate Horton & her British production company (FictionHouse, which she co-heads with prestigious Brit actor Dominic Cook). Kate has worked with rudin on other collaborations on straight plays (IIRC).

Willson & someone are the original creators ( music and book) but maybe if Zaks needs to have guidance in some slight book changes, Horton & Fictionhouse (Cook) can give great advice on dramaturgy, if not on the musical side? Maybe even add a little bit of sophistication so people do not diss it as a tired old musical!



Maybe they need a long time to see how any changes or elevation of the production numbers to unexpected spectacular quality will jell. The original creative vision is to do the urtext version, the original version that won the Tony in 1957...and they may be trying their best to do that!

Above are mostly speculative on my part

[jo]

In practical terms, I don't know if the long previews are partly to accommodate Jerry Zaks schedule who is also directing DOUBTFIrE. Maybe Zaks had already committed to Doubtfire when rudin approached him for The Music Man ( btw, Zaks has won four Tonys, for Directing, including Hello,Dolly!). Doubtfire is now in previews and his attention is now divided between the 2 shows. Once Doubtfire opens, Zaks will likely be mostly fulltime on The Music Man.

Just a guess?

Jo

[jo]

As the show draws near towards previews, there have been arguments, pros and cons, on the social value of this classic musical. Another article on why the musical has become a classic despite its seeming simplicity.

www.bard.org/study-guides/making-yesterday-worth-remembering

MAKING YESTERDAY WORTH REMEMBERING

BY LAWRENCE HENLEY
At more than fifty years of age, The Music Man has withstood the test of time by anyone’s measure. Despite its lack of glamour or a serious theme, the show belongs on any credible top-ten list of most beloved Broadway musicals from the pre-1970s era (Broadway’s “classical period,” if you will). Even with today’s propensity for expletives and violence in entertainment, the inordinately wholesome The Music Man remains a ticket-sales colossus. It has been through multiple revivals, two film versions, and endless television references and parodies. Undeniably, the show is a theatrical staple found in all sectors of American theatre: Regional? Local? Educational? Community? Eventually, they all produce The Music Man.



Why is a huge cross-section of theatre audiences so perpetually endeared to this musical? Is it because The Music Man takes us back to a more carefree, forgotten world of passenger trains, shady footbridges, barbershop quartets, fragrant picnic parks, ice cream socials, and the patriotic marching music of John Phillip Sousa? Could it be the flawless, hopelessly upbeat and richly textured score? What about the amazing rat-a-tat-tat rapid-fire lyrics, or the liberal use of musical devices such as contrapuntal combo-melodies and syncopated rhythms? Or, perhaps, it’s the wonderful “lost-to-history” references to turn-of-the-last-century products like Bevo (an early “near-beer”), Cubebs (“medicinal” cigarettes), Sen-Sen (a masking agent for “tell-tale” breath), and Cap’n Billy’s Whiz Bang (a racy post-World War I comic book)? And, is it possible to go into Disneyland and avoid hearing Iowa Stubborn, Wells Fargo Wagon, and Lida Rose (rhetorical question there, it is not possible)?




All of these can be considered as we sort through the great composers of the best pre-Hair era musicals. It’s completely unsurprising to find the names Sondheim, Berlin, Rodgers, Hammerstein, Hart, Lerner, Loewe, and Loesser on such lists, but alongside these please add the name Willson. “Willson,” you say? “With two L’s?” Well, I grant you, the unlikely story of how a clean-shaven, bespectacled piccolo player from unremarkable Mason City, Iowa found himself in this elite company requires explanation.

The reality, of course, is that the late Meredith Willson (1902–1987) was more than a small-town musician who hit the jackpot on Broadway (1957’s The Music Man and 1964’s The Unsinkable Molly Brown). Willson was born in 1902, and the sights, sounds, and people of his “River City” and small town Iowa would remain with him all his life. In The Music Man, 1912 Mason City has been frozen in time, and through his genius that world becomes real for generation after generation. All of the places and faces we love in The Music Man sprang forth from Willson’s wistful memories of the “hailstone and Sarsaparilla belt.”

After the marching band days of his Iowa youth, Willson at seventeen journeyed to New York for classical training at the Damrosch Institute (Juilliard), becoming principal flute and piccolo in the great Sousa’s own band, and then for the New York Philharmonic under the legendary Leopold Stokowski. In his spare time, Willson began to “moonlight” as a bandleader, composer, and arranger in the bourgeoning new mass media of radio, television, and film. Eventually, he became a celebrity through variety shows and commercials. Later, when Willson and his second wife, Rini, moved to Hollywood, his fame was sufficient to author a top-selling 1948 autobiography, And There I Stood with My Piccolo.




In their New York days, “Mere” (as he was known to friends) and Rini both loved Broadway shows, and Mrs. Willson would consistently chisel at her husband to write one. Eventually, he acquiesced, encouraged by networking with fellow songwriters like Frank Loesser. He knew how much cash the creator of a hit musical could generate over time. The gifted but salaried composer figured that, if he could snare himself a Broadway hit, financial independence would be his.

Through his memoir and broadcast fame, Willson landed on the radar screen of two of Broadway’s hottest producers, Cy Feuer and Ernie Martin. Blazing hot from Guys and Dolls, the duo would eventually follow their smash with Can-Can, The Boy Friend, and How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. Via Willson’s book, Cy and Ernie had zeroed in on a potential theme for a new hit show: a lighthearted throwback to a simpler time full of brass bands, candy kitchens, and 4th of July Americana.

After giving The Music Man its name (the original title was The Silver Triangle), Cy and Ernie eventually lost interest in the project. During their four-year collaboration (1951-55) Willson’s music flourished, yet the development of the show’s book proved exceedingly tough. By 1955, Willson had written enough music to fill two musicals, but after two-dozen rewrites the story still wasn’t concise. Nonetheless, through Feuer and Martin, he gleaned invaluable insight on how to birth a hit musical.

Feuer and Martin asked Willson to work with them on a new project, which he “Iowa stubbornly” rejected. Betting all of his marbles on The Music Man, he tapped a colleague, Franklin Lacey, to help streamline the cumbersome book. Undaunted, Willson rang up Most Happy Fella producers Kermit Bloomgarden and Herb Greene who were immediately enchanted by Willson’s audition. They offered to produce it on the spot. Music Man finally opened on December 19, 1957 at the Majestic Theatre. An instant critical and financial smash (eight Tony Awards), it ran through April 15, 1961 for a colossal total of 1,375 performances.




With today’s epic stories and overwhelming technology on Broadway, it seems a real reach to think of Meredith Willson’s work as groundbreaking and innovative, but from a musical standpoint it really was.

Introducing The Music Man’s signature tune as a lilting waltz sung by the female lead (Goodnight, My Someone), he wasted almost no time in resurrecting that same great melody as a show-stopping march, this time sung by the male lead (Seventy-Six Trombones). Then, later, he reprised both tunes in the same song while reversing the roles! Willson also used the device of rhymed verse (sans melody) that mimicked an accelerating and decelerating train (Rock Island). Then, he inserted groundbreaking stage rap (Ya Got Trouble). The medley Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You interwove two superb melodies and several voices in counterpoint (Marian the Librarian with The Buffalo Bills barbershop quartet). He then repeated this technique with the novelty Pickalittle/Talkalittle blended with the drinking standard Good Night Ladies.




The show’s famed love ballad (Till’ There Was You) earned Willson more money than all of the show’s royalties combined after being recorded by The Beatles. The Fab Four wanted something in their repertoire that would appeal to parents and critics. They performed Till’ There Was You as the second song in their historic American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show and also for Queen Elizabeth II in 1963’s Royal Variety Show. Today, Sir Paul McCartney owns the publishing and performance rights to Meredith Willson’s music catalog.

Equally crucial to The Music Man are Willson’s unforgettable characters: the winsome Marian Paroo, an inscrutable intellectual who doubles as a lonely piano teacher; Winthrop, Marian’s sad, adorable and linguistically-challenged kid brother; the buffoonish Mayor Shinn and his pompous wife, Eulalie MacKecknie Shinn; Charlie Cowell, the hard-tack anvil salesman hell bent on revenge; and, above all, Professor Harold Hill, the ultimate flim-flam man who, in the end, is rehabilitated by Marian’s love and tenderness.





It would be criminal for any discussion of The Music Man to omit mention of two legendary individual performances. Tribute must be paid to the late, great Robert Preston (Harold Hill) and also to Barbara Cook (Marian), still thought of by many as Broadway’s ultimate female voice.

Robert Preston Meservey (1918-1987) was a gifted Hollywood heavy relegated to countless B-grade Westerns and detective shows. Tired of “Tinseltown,” Preston moved to New York, seeking a better platform for his considerable stage talents. Willson, despondent after striking out in L.A. with movie stars Danny Kaye, Dan Dailey and Gene Kelly, turned to Director Morton “Tec” DaCosta. Tec’s sage advice was to fly back to New York and hear Preston’s callback audition, the show-stopping Ya Got Trouble. Within seconds, he proved to be Professor Hill personified. Preston’s electrifying stage and film performances in The Music Man were unforgettable, and it remains difficult for anyone who saw them to conceive of anyone else playing the role.


Despite the fact that some may view The Music Man as nothing more than a happy show loaded with novelty and nostalgia, its legacy has proven that it is much more than that. Audiences, critics, producers, performers, music educators, Iowans, and ex-Beatles alike continue to embrace it. Is it possible that Meredith Willson was using the “Think System” on all of us?

[jo]

This is an aside --

I was flipping channels and guess who came into view - Mrs. Barry Diller, also known as famous fashion figure Diane Von Furstenberg. She was being interviewed on the Bloomberg business channel. If you have ever worn a wraparound dress, which has 2 sides overlapping at the waist and usually tied at the waist, with a flattering V-Neck - she designed/invented that dress decades ago. Flattering style, suits young to mature.

Btw, known for their philantrophy projects - she initiated the HighLine Park, she & husband donated the Little Island Park construction. New project has already raised USD 100 Million for a project re the Statue of Liberty.

I bet she will be at Opening Night

Jo

[njr]

Interesting article:

blog.stageagent.com/understudy-standby-swing/

Nancy

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CXEWGXiuqNt

[jo]

DOUBTFIRE will officially open December 5 ...

Does that mean that for the next two weeks Jerry Zaks's 100 Percent attention will now be focused on The Music Man, before it opens for previews?

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CXEJjnhM0M1

"Kate" is Kate Horton, the Exec Producer of the show.

[jo]

[jo]

That neatly ties in with this billing page --

Dec 3, 2021 7:26:07 GMT -5 jo said:

Open Page (Benjamin Pajak's Instagram Page). Benjamin plays Winthrop.

www.instagram.com/bpajak24/?hl=en


Then Open this page --

http://instagr.am/p/CWwDWOApqQk

Open the Page

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CXCQHS-vi-o

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CXMF3zXLKHk

I wonder how much of the original script may be allowed to be changed?

[jo]

Nothing like seeing The Great White Way at night!!


"They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway
They say there's always magic in the air"

http://instagram.com/p/CXL373sLHL6

[jo]

How many were singing along

http://instagram.com/p/CXPIsACvOzw

[jo]

[jo]

Wow! Double WOW!!

Warren Carlyle gives sneak peeks on the show to Cindy Adams!

‘The Music Man’ dances back to Broadway
December 9, 2021 TruthUSA 0 Comments
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Cindy Adams

It’s Hugh Jackman with Sutton Foster in Broadway’s revival of “The Music Man.” Choreographer Warren Carlyle’s twirling so fast that he’s had just one 6 to 7 p.m. dinner hour for months.

“During the pandemic I worked best I could. And I walked my puggle dog. A lot. Since his feet are shorter he’s now very glad I’m back at my job and leaving him alone.

“Hugh loves this show, which originally opened 1957 and he did it in high school. It’s so American. So Fourth of July patriotic. Look, I’m British but now an American citizen. I’ve been in the United States since 2007. I love this country. The show’s all American and you can take kids to see it.

“This is a huge dancing role. It needs ice baths. We train three days a week but Hugh’s been prepping a year and a half. Big financial investment show like this could really take maybe seven years to develop. He won a Tony for his last Broadway musical, ‘The Boy From Oz,’ 18 years ago. For this one, we follow the original script except for its famous number ‘76 Trombones.’ That’s new music, new orchestrations and a nine-minute dance sequence.

“I routined it with a jar of pennies on my dining table. Straight line. Thirty dancers. Then a triangle. Then diagonal line. At rehearsals I used pennies for the marching band. My survival’s two naps daily. One, morning; one, afternoon; bed 7 p.m. Look, Hugh and I are friends 25 years. We’ve had two years to think about this.

“Only problem? The kids. I never worked with kids before. Like the Olympics they were jumping all over. To solve the problem I finally banned their mothers and chaperones way away.”

“The Music Man” will make its music at the Winter ­Garden.

Wow again!

Jo

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]