The Music Man : In Performance!

[mamaleh]

Feb 6, 2022 13:12:34 GMT -5 ruby said:

There are a few moments in this production where Hugh’s facial expression tell elaborate stories. He coveys transitioning emotions so effectively.

One in particular is a quick scene downstage like A Steady Rain where he sits with Winthrop. Front row right gets to watch within a couple feet of him but even those mid theatre will not miss the nuances play across Hugh’s face as realizations register in the moment. It’s where Hugh acts with film subtleties but it won’t be lost on the mezzanine.

I noticed that especially when I sat on the right side, close to down front. As he realizes the relationship between Winthrop and him may be taking a new turn, you can clearly see the thought processes going on in Harold Hill's mind. It's a nuanced and touching scene.

Ellen

[ruby]

Feb 13, 2022 1:43:03 GMT -5 mamaleh said:

Feb 6, 2022 13:12:34 GMT -5 ruby said:

There are a few moments in this production where Hugh’s facial expression tell elaborate stories. He coveys transitioning emotions so effectively.

One in particular is a quick scene downstage like A Steady Rain where he sits with Winthrop. Front row right gets to watch within a couple feet of him but even those mid theatre will not miss the nuances play across Hugh’s face as realizations register in the moment. It’s where Hugh acts with film subtleties but it won’t be lost on the mezzanine.

I noticed that especially when I sat on the right side, close to down front. As he realizes the relationship between Winthrop and him may be taking a new turn, you can clearly see the thought processes going on in Harold Hill's mind. It's a nuanced and touching scene.

Ellen

Complemented Hugh on that exact acting moment recently. Pages of dialogue unneeded for him to covey so many thought and emotions.

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CZ5nedALd2D

Keep swiping.

[JH4HJ]

What happened to Winthrop's lisp? Did the critics mention this? Has there been any discussion (on B'way chat boards, etc.) about why his speech impediment was changed to a stutter for this production?

For those who have seen the show - how is this noticeable? What dialog was altered - like the lead in to Gary Indiana, where it's mentioned that Harold taught him a song with hardly any Ss in it?

How does the young actor carry it off?

[mamaleh]

You can relax. Winthrop’s speech impediment is still clearly a lisp. I don’t know how those certain critics thought he had a stutter because it’s clearly not the case. “Gary, Indiana” remains true to Winthrop’s lisp, as does his contribution to “The Wells Fargo Wagon.”

Ellen

[JH4HJ]

Feb 14, 2022 15:54:39 GMT -5 mamaleh said:

You can relax. Winthrop’s speech impediment is still clearly a lisp. I don’t know how those certain critics thought he had a stutter because it’s clearly not the case. “Gary, Indiana” remains true to Winthrop’s lisp, as does his contribution to “The Wells Fargo Wagon.”

Ellen

Thanks, Ellen. Was I mistaken? Could have sworn more than one review mentioned a stutter. Anyway, I'm pleased that they did not "tweak" that particular idiosyncrasy of the show.

[mamaleh]

No, you weren't mistaken, Valerie. A couple of reviewers got that speech impediment wrong, which is pretty difficult to do when that particular characteristic is emphasized in a good bit of dialogue and two songs. It makes me wonder if they actually saw the show or did they have someone take notes for them, hmmm?

Ellen

[jo]

Michael Paulson is the Theatre reporter at NYTimes, not to be confused with (bitter) critic Jesse Green ;0

[jo]

He agrees with my reply

Michael Paulson liked your reply

A night at the theatre that brings so much joy, as @musicmanbway seems to be doing, is certainly a welcome event in a world made weary by the pandemic!
It couldn't have arrived on Broadway at a better time. Sadly...what some critics ignored!

Hope he writes an article on the sentiments of those who have seen the show and expressed their approval of the sense of joy that the show brings out so well!

Jo

[jo]

A lucky guest on Opening Night!
(Posted on Facebook)

Steve Steinberg

Broadway is back and so am I!

Just home from the red-carpet Opening Night of The Music Man starring the ultimate song and dance man Hugh Jackman and his perfect partner Sutton Foster.

What a cast! What a team! What a night!

True to much of the magic and energy of the original 1958 Broadway production and the 1962 hit movie, this new production adds a wonderfully sweet charm and dance joy to make it all seem familiar yet new.

Every role seems filled with scene stealers, most with years of experience and some brand new. Jackman and Foster, of course, create their own force fields every time they step on stage as the eternal con man Professor Harold Hill and the wary Marian the Librarian; Jefferson Mays and Jane Houdyshell are a comic hoot as River City’s Mayor and his culture-besotted wife Eulalie, and Shuler Hensley and Marie Mullen round out the sextet of Broadway Tony award winners tearing up the stage as right-hand con man Ewart Dunlop and pushy mama Mrs. Paroo.

In his Broadway debut, pintsize Benjamin Pajak scored big as Marian’s shy, lisping brother Winthrop Paroo, a role that Ron Howard made famous in the film. Round out the cast with supporting players that demand attention as traveling salesmen, singing councilmen, gossiping townsfolk and school kids aplenty, and you have a huge ensemble perfectly selected.

Classic musical numbers are added to with inventive dance moves and clock-like choreography by Warren Carlyle (the Marian the Librarian number is a knockout), wrapped in delightful scenery that harkens back to the early days of Broadway (I want that miniature Wells Fargo wagon and horse for my Lionel train set!) by Santo Loquasto and held together with the firm but warm hand of Jerry Zaks; Tony winners all three.

The Music Man is a sure thing – fine family fare with $50 million in advance ticket sales. And in the ultimate twist, Hugh Jackman’s con man Hill is met with an appreciative Covid-masked audience of at least 1500, looking for all the world like a convention of bank robbers!

Lol - looking like bank robbers!

A great merchandise idea -- would be the miniature Wells Fargo wagon

No more of the boring t-shirt/sweats/caps/keychains, please.

They do/did have the strawboaters, but I heard it is not always available.

Jo

[jo]

[jo]

Look at this new reaction --

http://instagr.am/p/CaGoUeXM_qi

Heartfelt!

What are the naysayers against??

Jo

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CaId0gjvsZj

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CZzZkvfMKRL

[jo]

Mother and daughter are both published authors. Glad Hugh chose their message of the show as a celebration of the arts!

[jo]

This has been shared before -- but is now more interesting because the show is now running on Broadway.
Much of this trivia are found in the book "But He Doesn't Know The Territory" by Meredith Willson.

www.spiritofrivercity.com/musicmantrivia.html

Did you know....?

*The original name of The Music Man was The Silver Triangle. Producers Cy Feuer and Ernie Martin told Willson he needed a better title. Then they were the ones that came up with The Music Man.

*Frank Loesser, the creator of Guys and Dolls, beginning in 1949, encouraged Meredith to write a musical about his childhood home, Mason City. He continued to mentor Meredith, co-producing The Music Man, and publishing the songs from the show under the company, Frank Music. Frank Music is now owned by Paul McCartney.

*The character Tommy Djilas’ last name came from a New York City Bulgarian delicatessen worker Willson knew.

*The character Marcellus Washburn—Harold Hill’s sidekick—was the name of the manager of the Mason City B.F. Goodrich tire store in 1918.

*Eulalie Shinn’s (the wife of Mayor Shin) first name came from a high school classmate of Willson’s named Eulalie Johnson.

*Rosalie Willson put Meredith Willson through the dreaded five-finger exercises on the piano. This was recreated in The Music Man with Marian Paroo teaching her student Amaryllis.

*As a kid in the winter, Willson and his friends would grab onto the runners of the Wells Fargo Wagon to hitch rides.

*At first, in The Music Man’s book, there was a spastic boy in a wheelchair, the son of a janitor, whose daily challenges were part of the story. Finally, under pressure from producers Cy Feuer and Ernie Martin, it was Martin who said the kid would steal every scene he was in, and later, the director, Morton da Costa, dropped this boy, substituting Winthrop Paroo, who had a lisp. Winthrop was based on a kid Meredith knew from his childhood in Mason City, named Charlie Haverdegraine, who had a lisp and played harmonica very well. Meredith thought his lisp helped him play the harmonica so well, so he asked Charlie to teach him how to lisp.

*The barbershop quartet in The Music Man was based on a barbershop quartet in Mason City that Meredith knew, called "The Rusty Hinges". Meredith himself was in a barbershop quartet group.

*Actors that were considered for the lead in the original The Music Man (before Robert Preston landed the role) included Van Heflin, Jackie Gleason, Danny Kaye, Lloyd Bridges, Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Ray Bolger, Bert Parks, Art Carney, Jason Robards, Milton Berle, Laurence Olivier, Alec Guinness, James Cagney, James Whitemore, Any Griffith and Phil Harris.

*There’re a couple of scenes in "The Music Man" where Harold Hill keeps Tommy Djilas busy inventing a way for a piccolo player to be able to read music while playing. The way this played out in the show is identical to the real-life experience Meredith had himself as a young man with a Mr. Bushgens, who owned a harness shop in Mason City. In 1915 he fiddled with ways to make music readable to a piccolo player. One was an elaborate breastplate affair that tied in the back with several laces. Swooping out from the breastplate was a curved arm and soldered onto this a lyre to hold the music. Willson strapped it on and tried it at a rehearsal but as he marched it bobbed and the music came right out of the lyre. Then he tried an upright lyre on a wide leather buckle around the upper left biceps. But this cut off Meredith’s circulation and his left arm and fingers went numb.

*Along the way, Willson wrote 40 songs for The Music Man. 22 of them were cut. They include "You Don’t Have to Kiss Me Goodnight" (sung by Tommy to Zaneeta), a partner song for "My White Knight" harmonizing with "A Sadder but Wiser Girl". "Iowuh" that had a Native American beat. "Blessings" was written during the out-of-town run in Philadelphia, but was dropped. Also dropped were "I’ve Already Started to Try to Figure Out a Way to Work To Try to Get to You", "I Found a Horseshoe", "My Baby", "Tomorrow", "Chicago", and a salesman’s version of "Ya Got Trouble".

*The Willson originally wrote the tune for "Till There was You" in 1950, when it was entitled "Till I Met You".

*Rosalie’s mother’s name was Lida, as was Rosalie’s favorite sister, Lida, who lived in Topeka. The song "Lida Rose" was specifically inspired by his mother and aunt.

*Willson’s grandfather Alonzo established the first public library in Mason City. And his mother used to take him to the library on Saturday nights. Hence Marian the librarian.

*The song that the band is exhorted to play by Harold Hill in The Music Man is Minuet in G. This song was played by Meredith’s high school band. It was the only piece they could play all the way through without stopping.

*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.

*Mason City’s first high school band began in 1912, the year in which The Music Man takes place. Meredith played piccolo in this band. The band had 2 clarinets, 2 cornets, 1 euphonium, 1 tuba, 1 snare drum, 1 bass drum 1trombone and 1 alto sax.

*The name Marian came from Marion McGuire, a senior in Mason City High School in 1912, and a cellist in its orchestra.
The name "Harold" for Harold Hill came from Meredith’s childhood friend Harold Keidle, with whom he played in a trio called "The Jones Brothers". The trio included Meredith’s brother Cedric, who also later played in Sousa’s band.

*The Meredith Willson Residence Hall—an entire floor—opened at the Juilliard School, in October of 1990. Willson attended the school under its previous name of Damrosch School of Music.

*In 1955, Meredith Willson and Walt Disney founded The Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles (now expanded to include Big Sisters and still going strong.)

*The cast recording of "The Music Man" won the first Grammy Award ever issued, in 1959.

*In 1950, Meredith Willson wrote a fight song for the University of Iowa, which is still played to this day. In 1953, he wrote a fight song for Iowa State University that is still also still played. .

*In 1999, a commemorative stamp with Meredith’s picture on it was issued.

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CaNRFx1O1cq

[jo]

[jo]

The late legendary Al Hirschfeld gave the theatre world this caricature art of Robert Preston in THE MUSIC MAN --

[jo]

Hugh Jackman as Harold Hill has a big charismatic smile on his face!





Robert Preston is not smiling but smooth-talking.




That is the difference in the characterizations!

Hugh is the ingratiating, charming Hill ( hiding his motives behind that facade).

Bob is portrayed as the smooth-talker -- persuading the community with his razzle-dazzle words.


Whom will you say "Yes" to


Jo

[jo]

http://instagr.am/p/CZzZkvfMKRL

What else will that Wells Fargo Wagon ( the forerunner of Amazon ) bring ??





A cornet for Winthrop?

Other musical instruments for the other delighted kids?

A softening on the face of Marian

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CaUwYMCNxNW

New major promotion?

[jo]

In 2011, Hugh was back on Broadway...and we saw him perform the ROCK ISLAND Opening Number ( then a throwback to his own high school musical in Sydney, which fitted with the semi-autobiographical nature of Back on Broadway)...

Three years later - he hosted the Tonys and delighted the audience with a rap version, together with professional rap performers.




Little did he know that in December 2021, he would open for previews the show where it originated!

From Salesman #2 ...to #1 Salesman-Con Man !!

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CaU38FmFIwT

[jo]