The Music Man (Musical)

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Musical dates
Title: The Music Man
Original language: English
Music: Meredith Willson
Book: Meredith Willson , Franklin Lacey
Lyrics: Meredith Willson
Premiere: December 19, 1957
Place of premiere: Majestic Theater

The Music Man is a musical with the music, lyrics and a book by Meredith Willson . The book was based on Willson's 1948 memoir, And There I Stood with My Piccolo, with the assistance of playwright Franklin Lacey. Willson began work on this project as early as 1949 at the suggestion of Frank Loesser .

It premiered on December 19, 1957 at the Majestic Theater , New York City , and was very successful with 1,375 performances. The musical was produced by Kermit Bloomgarden in collaboration with Herbert Greene and Frank Loesser's production company. Directed by Morton DaCosta , the choreography by Onna White ; Robert Preston was seen in the role of Harold Hill .

The Music Man was first performed in London's West End on March 16, 1961 at the Adelphi Theater . The German-language premiere took place on March 16, 1963 in the Bremen Theater. The translation is by Hanns Bernhardt, Peter Zadek and Hans Peter Doll.

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The piece pays homage to provincial America at the beginning of the 20th century. The Midwest , and especially the US state of Iowa , was presented in stereotypical form for New York City viewers.

The title character Harold is a deceitful traveling salesman who persuades the inhabitants of small rural towns with a moral and educational finger that they need a boys' band. As soon as this idea is generally discussed, he offers to organize and also lead one. To do this, he orders musical instruments and uniforms and sells them at a considerable profit. As soon as he has cashed in, however, he disappears because he can neither play an instrument nor give music lessons himself.

With this scam he quartered himself in River City, Iowa. Soon he comes into conflict with the mayor because he has transparently denounced the pool and billiard parlor as a place of neglect for young people. His suggestion to form a boys' band met with growing support and met only the skepticism of the local librarian, who thought Harold was a greyhound. This ensures her his increased attention and he succeeds in making her in love with him. Now the music exercises are starting and the mayor has to acknowledge that nobody wants to hear his concerns; even his wife was persuaded by Harold to take over the leadership of the ladies dance committee.

However, when another traveling salesman and old competitor Harold comes into town and tries to educate people about his fraudulent practices, the situation comes to a head. Harold threatens to be chased out of town on tarred and feathered roads and is arrested while trying to escape. When he is confronted in the community hall, the librarian stands up for him and causes a change in mood: The small townspeople realize that - although Harold has made empty promises about music lessons - he has created a new sense of community. What began as a tribunal turns into an exuberant music parade.

The music

Since the plot is built around a brass band, brass music plays a significant role. Willson's compositions range from marching music to barbershop singing to Broadway ballads. All pieces are designed with irony and puns, in which the contrast between the provincial inhabitants and the cosmopolitan, cunning Harold is played out, who also uses his persuasion skills in the form of musical word acrobatics. Robert Preston, who had neither sung nor danced before, performed his parts in chanting.

Well-known music numbers

  • Seventy-Six Trombones
  • Till There Was You
  • Shipoopi

Awards

Film adaptations

literature

  • Don B. Wilmeth, CWE Bigsby (Ed.): The Cambridge History of American Theater: 3, Post-World War II to the 1990s . Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000, ISBN 0-521-66959-6 .
  • Thomas Siedhoff: The manual of the musical. 1st edition. Schott, Mainz 2007, ISBN 978-3-7957-0154-3 .

Web links