I hope you’re enjoying
your summer! I know I have been! It’s been a wonderful time to visit family,
catch up with friends, read just for fun, and, of course, relax!
Last night, I had a great
opportunity to attend the musical, The Music Man, just one of the many events of a local music festival. For
this production, two famous Broadway actors and musicians performed the leading
roles. Santino Fontana is known for his role of Prince Hans in Frozen, Prince
Charming in Cinderella, as well as television
roles in My Craxy Ex-Girlfriend and Shades of Blue. His wife, Jessica Fontana has also starred on
Broadway in the title role of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, as well as in Baby,
It’s You, Pipe Dream, and Once Upon a
Mattress. For this production, Santino
and Jessica performed the main roles of Harold Hill and Marian Paroo. When I first heard about them coming to my area, I was so excited! It was so great to hear them both perform together, with such beautiful voices! They did a phenomenal job!
Although the event was not
exactly how I imagined it would be, it was a lovely evening with only the main
songs and dances performed, with wonderful, live narration and directed by Jack
Cummings III (Transport Group Theatre Company).
This concert was originally produced by in New York City in 2014. The narration interspersed important events
of the story of The Music Man, along
with historical information about Meredith Willson’s work. I thoroughly enjoyed this production and the
story of The Music Man. I love watching and attending musicals,
however, I have never had a chance to watch this particular one until last
evening. The story was engaging, the
music enthralling, and the background intriguing. I
definitely suggest you check this musical out for yourself.
Here are some fun facts about
The Music Man:
Synopsis: Harold Hill is a traveling con man, who tries
to convince the locals of River City, Iowa, to start a band by purchasing uniforms
and instruments from him. His original plan is to leave town as soon as he can
pocket the money. But librarian Marian Paroo suspects Harold is a fraud, although
the rest of town is excited about the band. Harold begins to develop feelings
for Marian and faces a difficult decision about skipping town.
The original name
of the musical was The Silver Triangle,
until producers Feuer and Martin told Willson that he needed a new name and
suggested The Music Man.
Fact: Meredith Willson is a man, born Robert Meredith
Willson in 1902 in Mason City, Iowa. He
is an American playwright and author, best known for writing the book, lyrics,
and music of the Broadway hit The Music
Man.
The Music Man
takes place in River City, Iowa, which is based on his home city, Mason City,
Iowa. The movie had its world premiere
there.
In The Music Man, Meredith Willson named
most of his characters after his real friends and family. For example, Harold Hill got his name from
Meredith’s childhood friend, Harold Keidle.
Harold, Meredith, and Cedric (Meredith’s brother) joined a musical group
called “The Jones Brothers.” Also the
librarian Marian Paroo was based on his piano teacher and mother, Rosalie
(Rose), also inspiring the song “Lida Rose.”
The Music Man first
opened on Broadway in 1957, with a movie produced in 1962, starring Robert
Preston and Shirley Joes. More recently,
The Music Man was released in 2003, with
Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth.
The original
production of The Music Man won 9
Tony awards, beating West Side Story for the honor of Best Musical.
If you’re interested, you
can check out this great musical at your local library or with these video
links.
