The Music Man : Promotions

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It was not originally written for a soprano

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nypost.com/2022/02/06/hugh-jackmans-the-music-man-returns-to-broadway/

Hugh Jackman’s ‘The Music Man’ returns to Broadway

By Cindy Adams
February 6, 2022




About time for some ‘Music’

Oy. Such hoo-hah being prepped for Thursday’s Broadway opening. “The Music Man.” The Winter Garden. Hasn’t been this much excitement since Biden got a syntax correct.

Originally, nearly 1,400 performances 65 years ago, Meredith Willson’s Best Musical about a con man in middle America’s River City stomped in with a parade and famous falldown fabulous hit “76 Trombones.” It grabbed five Tonys and was made into a 1962 film starring Robert Preston, Hermione Gingold, Buddy Hackett, Shirley Jones.

Now it’s Hugh Jackman, Sutton Foster, Jayne Houdyshell.

Jackman and I first met a load of years ago. It was 2000. He’d just begun twinkling as a big name. Standing in a theater lobby he told me how stardom actually began for him: “Before I made it, I worked kids’ parties as a clown. I still can remember a 6-year-old screaming, ‘He’s not a clown, he’s just a man.’

“What I did was, I resorted to smashing eggs on my head and letting 15 boys jump all over me. It was the hardest $50 I ever earned.”




"The Music Man" will return to the Winter Garden on Broadway.

That was then. This is now. And Thursday 4:45 p.m., a high school band marches up Broadway.

At 5 p.m., there’s a red carpet.

6 p.m., curtain. 8:45 p.m., bows.

Maybe by 11:30 those in the standing ovation

for Jackman — the adored star not the mistreated clown —

will finally sit down.

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www.bing.com/images/blob?bcid=SxSFXtGo4csD9YzwvgeA62ZssBQG.....z8




Ad for The Music Man in NYTimes.

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Still from the NYTimes feature --

Chris
Northamptonshire United Kingdom
Feb. 4
I travelled from the UK to see this show. Wow, it was truly fabulous and well worth the effort and expense to get there. The Hugh and Sutton combo are just phenomenal. I can highly recommend the book "But he doesn't know the Territory" by Meredith Willson about the show - this production team has obviously read it and taken it to heart. Meredith Wilson was not after "a voice" for the part of the Harold Hill he was after a fine actor and hoped that he would be able to sing and move as well. I think that that sums up Mr Jackman perfectly. I am sure that Mr Willson would love the end result here.

15 RecommendedShare

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http://instagram.com/p/CZuxwrhvsyP

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http://instagram.com/p/CZvlT_aOUCq

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Even the costumes are all set

Keep swiping!

http://instagram.com/p/CZu3H5dPtne

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All the Stars mentioned by Jefferson Mays starred in celebrated Broadway shows at the Winter Garden --

*Barbra Streisand - Funny Girl
*Chita Rivera - West Side StoRy
*Angela Lansbury- Mame
*Alexis Smith - Follies
*Betty Buckley - Cats

History of past productions at the Winter Garden (per their website) --

The Winter Garden has traditionally been home to revues and musicals.The Passing Show (the Shubert answer to Ziegfeld’s Follies) and almost every Al Jolson musical played here. After Ziegfeld’s death, editions of his Follies played the theatre in 1934, 1936, 1943 and 1947 and featured artists such as Fanny Brice, Bobby Clark, Bob Hope, Eve Arden, Gypsy Rose Lee, Josephine Baker, and Willie Howard.

Mary Martin starred in Peter Pan (1954), followed by the premier of West Side Story (1957) with Chita Rivera, Carol Lawrence, and a creative team that included Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Laurents, and Jerome Robbins. The 1960s also witnessed a number of hits. Leading the list were The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1960); Funny Girl (1964), which made Barbra Streisand a major star; and Mame (1966) with Angela Lansbury.

In the 1970s, both popular and cutting-edge productions played at the Winter Garden. Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s Follies (1971) harkened back to the theatre’s early history as home to a follies-type revue. Gypsy (1974) was revived with Angela Lansbury, Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman offered Pacific Overtures (1976), and Gilda Radner came to Broadway in Gilda Radner — Live from New York (1979). 42nd Street (1980) opened at the playhouse before moving to the Majestic. In 1982 Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats premiered and ran until September 2000, the second longest-running show in Broadway history. Mamma Mia!, based on the songs of ABBA, debuted in 2001 and remained here until 2013 before moving to the Broadhurst Theatre. More recently the Winter Garden was home to Rocky the Musical (2014), Wolf Hall (2015) and Andrew Lloyd Webber's School of Rock (2015).

Lol - no mention of Beetlejuice

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Jefferson Mays mentioned "not known for growing shrubbery" at the Winter Garden.

Well, in the past, they did have overhanging vines in the theatre

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Feb 9, 2022 1:52:58 GMT -5 jo said:

Jefferson Mays mentioned "not known for growing shrubbery" at the Winter Garden.

Well, in the past, they did have overhanging vines in the theatre

Look at all the leg room & the aisle space. Check out how they elevate the seats going to the back.

This was the kind of atmosphere where the ladies, dressed in evening frocks & jewels, saw shows with their handsomely-dressed husbands or escorts ( not in the same meaning as today )

Would have been nice if they asked the Opening Night audience to be fully dressed as in the past!

I wouldn't have minded myself


Jo

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Thanks to JL --




It looks like there will be a VOGUE feature on Hugh Jackman.

Lol - I thought Anna Wintour has missed on Hugh as THE MUSIC MAN

Hugh has performed at Anna's chairing of the Met Ball at the Costume Institute (TBFO time)
They have sat together- watching Roger Federer play tennis. In one Vogue feature, Hugh and Roger were seen with Deb & Mirka at the Met Ball of the Costume Institute
Hugh has helped push Anna's NYC Fashion Week

In all these years, VOGUE has always played favorites with Hugh Jackman!

*The Boy From Oz
*Australia ( full multi-page spread)
*A Steady Rain ( my avatar, ahem!)
*Back on Broadway
*Les Miserables (full multi-page spread)
*The River
*The Greatest Showman
*Cover story of Men's Vogue

Wow - overseen by the Hamish Bowles for VOGUE! Hope it is a big feature. At his age, Hugh is still fashion model-slim!

Will it be in the March issue ( usually released in February)? The March issue is the 2nd largest edition of VOGUE ( after the September issue).

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http://instagram.com/p/CZwYvUAOMTv

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DANCE MAGAZINE




What It Took for Warren Carlyle to Teach Hugh Jackman to Tap Dance in The Music Man

Leigh Scheps
February 9, 2022

Teaching Hugh Jackman how to tap dance was a gift Warren Carlyle never knew he needed in the pandemic. Three mornings a week, the two would get COVID tested, wear masks and practice in a rented studio space that only they held the key to.

“It was a lifeline for me personally because I sat in this apartment for two years, and without those three days I think I would have lost my mind,” the Tony Award–winning choreographer told Dance Magazine over Zoom. They started the dance lessons for Broadway’s latest revival of The Music Man right after the shutdown in March 2020, and kept at it until rehearsals for the show began last fall. Jackman only missed a few weeks, when he was filming the movie The Son.

Jackman, returning to Broadway for the fifth time, stars as the iconic fast-talking salesman swindler Harold Hill opposite Sutton Foster’s Marian Paroo, an uptight librarian who teaches piano lessons in town. The classic musical about organizing a boys’ marching band officially opens February 10 at the Winter Garden Theatre after being delayed nearly a year due to the pandemic.

The extra year gave Jackman more time to perfect his tap dancing for the rapturous finale that typically began every night of previews with a standing ovation for the musical’s two stars. Carlyle hadn’t initially thought to add a big tap number to a show that’s been around since 1957. But knowing Foster’s tapping talent and having an impressive working relationship with Jackman since they shared the stage in Oklahoma! back in 1998 (Carlyle was in the chorus of the West End production in which Jackman played Curly), he was confident the choreography would be a hit.



What bonded you and Hugh Jackman back when you did Oklahoma!?

For the last matinee, we did a gag where he took one of my dance sections in “The Farmer and the Cowman.” He wanted to play a joke on the company and surprise everyone. So for a number of weeks we rehearsed. We went to a studio at the Royal National Theatre, and I taught him my dance with all the split leaps in second, barrel turns and the double pirouette. The company fell on the floor because they couldn’t believe this wonderful actor and singer was now suddenly flying across the stage. He was superb. As we were working together, we fell into a natural rhythm. Over the years it’s still exactly like how it was 25 years ago. We have a very honest relationship. There’s no filter. I never have to mind my tongue around Hugh. I can always say “Not that foot,” or “That looks great,” or “Don’t do that,” or “Yes, do more of that.”

When did you have the conversation of having Hugh tap in the finale of Music Man?

It certainly wasn’t the first idea. When I knew I had the combination of Hugh and Sutton Foster, I wanted to give them a moment together where they could dance just the two of them and let it rip without the constraints of having to stay in character. Marian, who is uptight in nature, is not a character that is open and free and dances easily.


I think it’s in Sutton’s contract for every Broadway show that she must tap in it, ha. How did you approach Hugh about it?
He was like, “Let’s go!” He’s really up to trying anything. He really worked at it. There is no tap track. Those are live mics on those shoes, and he is hitting the floor with every single beat.

Over the years we’ve done a little bit of tap for his arena show The Man. The Music. The Show, and we did some at the Broadhurst for Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway, but it’s been sporadic at best. This is the most difficult stuff I’ve given him. It’s very, very fast.

What was it like coaching him for this?

We started with the basics. I don’t think I did any choreography for a bit. We did shuffles, flaps and rhythm training. It starts with the cramp roll. The finale has a military feel to it, so I started having him make four sounds: 1-2-3-4 toe-toe-heel-heel. And he did. And we just kept building. I let my feet go and just created. Then, I turned around and said, “Okay, this is what we’re doing.”

Broadway needs some big musical numbers right now. At what part of the process did you decide on extended dance breaks?
We have two beautiful, highly capable stars who can really dance. I started to look at the show through that lens and think of how I can tell the story of their relationship in “Shipoopi.” Harold Hill danced with everybody in the whole room. There’s one person in the room that has yet to speak. And of course it’s Marian. So Harold extends his arm.


“76 Trombones” was more organic than a decision of having a 10-minute dance break. It was more that I wanted Harold Hill to build the sections of an orchestra. I knew I had to start small. So I started with the piccolo—something light. Then I wanted something teenage-like. I went to the clarinets. Then, I needed a contrast in the sound. So I went to a tuba. I gave Zaneeta, who’s under the mayor’s thumb, the cymbal crashes to give her the loudest instrument.


Is your vision that the dancers are dancing out the instruments?

In my mind, so much of the show is faith. If you believe it or can hear it, you can do it. I had in my mind by the button of the number the audience should believe that those kids are holding trombones, piccolos and flutes.

Where did you draw inspiration for choreography throughout the show?
I’m somewhat period-correct. The animal dances of teens—the bear hug and the turkey trot—those kinds of eccentric dances feel ragtime to me. That’s where “Shipoopi” came from. There’s a beautiful set of DVDs called How To Dance Through Time, and there’s a really beautiful troupe of dancers who re-create dances of the ages that I’ve become fond of. For “76 Trombones” I had Jerome Robbins in my head. I wanted it to be resplendent, shiny and bright. The same rhythm that appears in “76” appears in the finale. So I take the drum rhythm and then expand on that theme, which gave me the intro to the finale.


There are so many talented kids in the show.

Poor casting director Bernie Telsey was exhausted and frustrated with me because we were rigorous about the quality of the dancers. I really wanted the show to dance. I really wanted the young adults to dance, too. We did a lot of auditions over a lot of years. Over the pandemic we lost some because they outgrew the parts they were hired for. I’ve looked at the show very differently because there are children in the room. It’s so joyous, so free and so beautiful because you’re seeing it through these 9-year-old eyes. I’m really proud of how hard they’ve worked.

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variety.com/2022/legit/news/broadway-music-man-subsidized-tickets-hugh-jackman-1235175736/

Hugh Jackman’s ‘The Music Man’ to Offer Subsidized Broadway Tickets for New York City Students (EXCLUSIVE)





By Rebecca Rubin


“The Music Man,” a musical revival featuring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, is one of the hottest tickets on Broadway.

For students in the New York City area, the price of admission will finally be affordable.

“The Music Man” producers Barry Diller, David Geffen and Kate Horton are making available 10,000 tickets priced at $20 to New York City students, their families and their teachers.


Created and spearheaded by the Music Man’s Black Theatre Coalition fellow Amy Marie Haven, the effort hopes to make Broadway more accessible to the masses. Reduced ticket prices were made possible through partnerships with the New York City Department of Education and a dozen local youth non-profits, including Artists Striving to End Poverty, Art Start, Arts For All, Arthur Miller Foundation, On Broadway Training Program, Young People’s Chorus of NYC, Education Through Music, Rosie’s Theatre Kids, R.Evolucion Latina and Broadway Bridges.




“For me, ‘The Music Man’ is all about transformation,” Haven said in a statement. “Theatre totally transformed my life. I was a displaced, low-income student that ultimately became an arts teacher/ nonprofit administrator because of accessible programming. With ‘The Music Man’s’ Audience Development Initiative, we are hoping to plant the seed for further transformation — investing in and cultivating our next generation of citizens and storytellers.”

Horton added, “As a long-term advocate of accessible ticketing and arts access schemes, I’m delighted to be launching our Audience Development Initiative, particularly given the struggles and difficulties faced by school communities over the past two years. Live events have a unique power to heal, and it is both our responsibility and privilege to provide access in this moment in particular, when it is so badly needed.”

This broad effort is comprised of four separate initiatives: The first is Teachers Night Out, in which “The Music Man” is inviting teachers from all five boroughs to attend for $20 on various Tuesdays throughout the run of the production. The second is Family Shows, which will allow students from traditionally under-resourced communities to bring their entire families to ‘The Music Man,’ with sets of four tickets being offered to each participating student. Each Wednesday night will be earmarked as a Family Show, accommodating 10 families per week. The third is a Classroom Ticket initiative, where approximately 3,500 tickets will be allotted annually, offering tickets to schools and education non-profits as part of a larger, integrated curriculum. The final push is Student Matinees, where two Wednesdays in September will be reserved for 600 students at each performance in honor of “back-to-school” month. The cast will sit for a Q&A immediately following the shows.

“Diverse audiences are the lifeblood and creative spark for theater,” said Hope Knight, Empire State development acting commissioner and president and CEO-designate. “‘The Music Man’s’ effort to make Broadway more affordable and accessible to deserving students, their families and their teachers not only provides meaningful educational opportunities, but ensures the future strength of New York’s vibrant entertainment industry.”



The new version of Meredith Wilson’s classic musical, about a con man’s attempt to pull a fast one on a naive midwestern town, features Jackman as Professor Harold Hill and Foster as Marian Paroo. After several COVID-related delays, the show began preview performances last December and officially opened in early 2022 at Winter Garden Theatre.

“‘The Music Man’ is a story about hope and that is something we all need right now. It is an honor to share this story with New York City teachers, students and their families,” said Rashad V. Chambers, associated producer of “The Music Man.”

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Shuler as Marcellus

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