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Overview
Synopsis
There’s trouble in River City! When smooth-talking con man Harold Hill arrives in a small, tight-knit town in Iowa, he expects to dupe its residents with his elaborate moneymaking scheme: Despite his complete lack of musical literacy, he will convince everyone that he is a brilliant bandleader and recruit all the boys in town to form a band, pocketing the cash for instruments and uniforms. The problem? Some of the town members, especially the stern librarian, Marian Paroo, don’t quite buy Harold’s story. As Harold struggles to keep his scheme afloat, he also finds himself increasingly attached to the townspeople, who have all experienced a positive change since Harold came to town. Complicating matters even more, Harold is also falling head-over-heels for the beautiful Marian. As All-American as apple pie and as charming as can be, The Music Man is a crowd-pleasing show with a great number and range of roles that is well-suited to professional, community, and school productions alike.
Show Information
- Book
- Franklin Lacey , Meredith Willson
- Music
- Meredith Willson
- Lyrics
- Meredith Willson
- Category
- Musical
- Age Guidance
- Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
- Number of Acts
- 2
- First Produced
- 1957
- Genres
- Romance
- Settings
- Multiple Settings
- Time & Place
- 1912, rivery city, iowa
- Cast Size
- large
- Orchestra Size
- Large
- Dancing
- Heavy
- Licensor
- Music Theatre International
- Ideal For
- College/University, Community Theatre, High School, Large Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Religious Groups, Star Vehicle Female, Star Vehicle Male, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Adult, Young Adult, Mature Adult, Child, Late Teen, Early Teen Characters
Context
Inspired by his own small-town upbringing in Mason City, Iowa, Meredith Willson began developing the idea for his first musical, The Music Man, in 1948. It would be nearly another decade before the show opened on Broadway, but when it did--in December 1957--it enchanted audiences immediately with its All-American charm, catchy tunes, and loveable characters. The original Broadway production had a successful run at the 1958 Tony Awards, winning not only Best Musical but Best Actor and Actress
to read the context for The Music Man and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
Act One
It is the Fourth of July in 1912, and a train is leaving Rock Island, Illinois. A number of traveling salesmen aboard the train gossip about a con-man who goes by the name of “Professor” Harold Hill, and Charlie Cowell describes the man’s rather unique scam: Harold convinces parents that he can teach their children to play musical instruments in a band, and once he receives the money that is supposedly meant to pay for their uniforms and instruments, he skips town and repeats
to read the plot for The Music Man and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Female |
Soprano |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Bass-Baritone |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Alto |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor, Treble/Boy Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Bass |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Bass |
|
|
Ensemble |
Male |
Tenor, Baritone, Bass |
|
|
Ensemble |
Female |
Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto |
|
|
Ensemble |
Either Gender |
Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, Bass |
Songs
Act One
- Rock Island – Charlie Cowell and Traveling Salesmen
- Iowa Stubborn – Townspeople
- (Ya Got) Trouble – Harold Hill and Townspeople
- Piano Lesson – Marian Paroo, Mrs. Paroo, Amaryllis
- Goodnight, My Someone – Marian Paroo
- Seventy-Six Trombones – Harold Hill, Children of River City
- Sincere – Olin Britt, Oliver Hix, Ewart Dunlop, Jacey Squires
- The Sadder-But-Wiser Girl – Harold Hill, Marcellus Washburn
- Pickalittle (Talk-a-Little) – Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn, Maud Dunlop, Ethel Toffelmier, Alma Hix, Mrs. Squires and Pickalittle Ladies
- Goodnight, Ladies – Olin Britt, Oliver Hix, Ewart Dunlop, Jacey Squires
- Marian The Librarian – Harold Hill, Children of River City
- My White Knight – Marian Paroo
- The Wells Fargo Wagon – Gracie Shinn, Winthrop Paroo, Townspeople
Act Two
- It's You – Jacey Squires, Oliver Hix, Ewart Dunlop, Olin Britt, Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn, Maud Dunlop, Ethel Toffelmier, Alma Hix, Mrs. Squires
- Shipoopi – Marcellus Washburn, Harold Hill, Marian Paroo, Townspeople
- Pickalittle (Talk-a-Little) (reprise) – Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn, Maud Dunlop, Ethel Toffelmier, Alma Hix, Mrs. Squires and Pickalittle Ladies
- Lida Rose – Olin Britt, Oliver Hix, Ewart Dunlop, Jacey Squires
- Will I Ever Tell You – Marian Paroo
- Gary, Indiana – Winthrop, Mrs. Paroo, Marian Paroo
- It's You (reprise) – Townspeople, Children of River City
- Till There Was You – Marian Paroo, Harold Hill
- Seventy-six Trombones/Goodnight, My Someone (reprise) – Harold Hill, Marian Paroo
- Till There Was You (reprise) – Harold Hill
- Finale – Company
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
The sequence of steps and movements in dance, also the orchestrated and rehearsed movements for actors, based on the script.
References an era of book musicals written roughly between the 1940s and the 1960s.
A Broadway musical written and produced between 1943 and 1965.
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