Seeking the Roots of The Music Man

While Meredith Willson is best remembered for his first musical The Music Man, he was fifty-five years old when it opened on Broadway in 1957. It is not generally known that he had already enjoyed a highly successful career before then, nor is the impact of his previous career on The Music Man fully understood. This chapter explores his activities as a performer in the John Sousa band and New York Philharmonic, as a radio conductor and host, as a Hollywood arranger and composer, as a pop song writer, as a novelist, music educator, and writer of memoirs, to show how the eclecticism of his musical taste and expertise led to his greatest work.

Singing through Evil Times

Undaunted by the problems with Molly Brown, Willson plunged ahead with his next musical, Here’s Love. This chapter explores how Willson’s attempts to adapt the classic film Miracle on 34th Street into a stage musical presented a new challenge for him (it was his first literary adaptation) and also uses new archival documents to reveal the backstage tensions that blighted the production. The chapter shows how the original director Norman Jewison was replaced by the producer, Stuart Ostrow, who worked hard to turn the musical into a modest success, but the results were unimpressive compared to Willson’s previous shows. The chapter examines how the adaptation changes the gender dynamics between the two lead characters to its detriment, yet aspects of Willson’s adaptive innovations were arguably an improvement on the film.

Composing the Score for a Musical about Music

Chapter 3 uses both Willson’s published comments about his philosophy of writing musicals and his previously unseen archive of music manuscripts to chart the development of the score of The Music Man. There are particular case studies on “Marian the Librarian” and “My White Knight,” revealing in detail how Willson crafted his musical numbers. Many of the songs dropped from the score, and their impact on the narrative of the show, are also discussed at length.

From The Silver Triangle to The Music Man

Chapter 2 uses a wealth of newly uncovered archival material to show the long gestation of the script of The Music Man from 1951 to 1957. Of note, it shows Willson’s interest in writing a musical about disability, as well as his struggles to create a convincing romantic plot. The first draft script is described and analyzed in detail, to highlight how different it was from the Broadway version. Various other topics and characters are examined; for example, the chapter looks at how the character of Marian was related to the Shinns in some drafts, while Eulalie’s character was substantially toned down, having been the villain in some early versions. The chapter also sheds light on the vital role played by Franklin Lacey as co-book writer: late in the day, Lacey became involved and substantially tightened the book. The chapter also briefly outlines other aspects of the show’s genesis.

After The Music Man

It was difficult for Willson to choose a follow-up to The Music Man because it was such a big hit. This chapter charts his struggles with his second musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown, including the problems with the show’s director, Dore Schary, which are revealed through newly uncovered production documents. The musical is based on the real life exploits of Molly Brown, who survived the sinking of the Titanic, and was a modest success upon its debut on Broadway. The chapter also briefly explores the 1964 MGM film adaptation starring Debbie Reynolds.

1491

Chapter 7 harnesses a huge number of new archival documents to reveal the story behind Meredith Willson’s ill-fated final musical 1491. In writing a flattering musical about Christopher Columbus, Willson was out of step with the civil rights movement, and both personal problems (including the death of his wife) and collaborative issues (with the producer) meant that his final musical never even made it to Broadway. The chapter discusses the extant songs, critiques the many drafts of the book, and charts the show’s progress to the stage with several collaborators. In a final section, the chapter also examines Willson’s aborted attempts to write several other shows including Dennis the Menace.

Marching Still Right Today

Chapter 4 takes up the story of how The Music Man eventually reached the stage in a successful pre-Broadway tryout in Philadelphia before arriving in New York in December 1957. It also explores the show’s afterlife, including the screen versions and revivals, as well as uncovering stories such as Liza Redfield’s historic appointment as the first woman to become the permanent musical director of a Broadway production, during the show’s initial run. Special consideration is given to the 1962 movie version, exploiting previously unseen correspondence and pointing out how the apparently faithful adaptation actually has numerous significant changes from its stage incarnation.

Introduction

The period usually referred to as the Golden Age of the Broadway musical encompasses at least the 1940s and 1950s; for some writers it goes back to the premiere of Show Boat in 1927 and perhaps forward to Fiddler on the Roof in 1964. Whatever the terminal dates, surely most commentators would agree that it reached a particular peak from 1943 with the first Broadway collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, the record-breaking ...