Book, Music and Lyrics by Meredith Willson
Story by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey
Professor Harold Hill has developed a reputation among traveling salesmen and none of it good. In order to sell his band instruments and uniforms he promises to form a local student band. After he gets paid it's away - and - no band. He is concentrating this time on River City, Iowa. To focus attention on the need for a boys' band he attacks the town's new pool hall as a sign of depravity creeping into the community. His argument is convincing, but it turns out the pool hall is owned by Mayor Shinn who orders the school board to check out Harold's credentials.
When they approach him he turns them into a barber-shop quartet and disappears. An old friend has warned him about Marian, the town librarian and music teacher. To Harold this is an old problem, but his advances are met with a brick wall. Later at the Fourth of July celebration Harold takes advantage of a disrupting prank to move in and sell his band idea. The Mayor continues to push for proper credentials, but Harold is slippery. Marian's research pays off, but she withholds the evidence when she discovers Harold is helping her brother, Winthrop, to cure his speech impediment,. With the exception of the Mayor, the town is now under Harold's spell. Even Marian is coming around. The band instruments have arrived, but it takes a little longer for the uniforms and instruction books.
Future band members have been busily working on Harold's "Think System" of musicianship, and Harold has just met Marian at the footbridge. She confesses that she has known he was a fake since the third day he was in town. Now it's Harold who is off balance. The uniforms arrive but so does Charlie Cowell, the anvil salesman, Harold's arch enemy. Marian tries to prevent Charlie from getting to the Mayor, but is unsuccessful. She wants to warn Harold, but Charlie reaches him first. He still has time to run, but can't. He's hooked on Marian.
The angry town, hearing that he's a fake, drags Harold to the ice cream social where everyone has gathered. The talk is ugly, but Marian speaks out in his defense. She's a good salesman herself, but there's a pay-off. The band arrives in assorted, unaltered, uniforms. Harold is handed a baton. "Think, men, think" is his command. At the drop of his arm comes the "Minuet in G" as it has never been "played" before. But each struggling note is music to each parent's ears. Harold has his band at last - and a truly loving librarian besides.
| Description | Photo |
Contributed By |
| Here's a photo for the 1980 production of Music Man. Pictured are Adam Albina (who played Tommy Djilas) and Mary Cacolice (who was a dancer). The cinderella story behind the scenes is that Adam and Mary fell in love on the set of Music Man in 1980 and married in 1987! |  |
---Adam Albina |
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| Memories | Contributed By |
| What I remember most from this show, besides the extremely clever sets and great performances, is Chris Stone interpreteting Sara Paul singing "Goodnight my Someone" in very suspect "sign-language" on "goof night." He called this "Music for the Deaf." | ---Lee Whelchel |