The Music Man Tickets

About the Show:

At its 1957 Broadway debut, The Music Man became a smash hit and went on to play for a stunning 1,375 performances over more than three years. Critics were as excited as audiences; it won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, despite stiff competition from West Side Story, and the cast recording won the first Grammy for Best Original Cast Album. The massive success of the show spawned a 1962 motion picture adaptation (along with a 2003 made-for-television remake) as well as several revivals and a production in London's West End. Stage legend Barbara Cook, then just a rising star fresh from the less-than-successful Candide, took home a Tony Award for her portrayal of Marian Paroo. Other notable cast members have included Dick Van Dyke, Christian Slater, and Eric McCormack.

As American as baseball and apple pie, The Music Man is the story of a quiet Midwestern town being shaken up by music and growing stronger because of it. Aspects of its story have been referenced and parodied in television shows such as The Simpsons (the famous monorail episode) and Family Guy (Peter performs the song "Shipoopi" with the New England Patriots) and movies such as The Wedding Singer (Robbie teaches the elderly Rosie to sing "Til There Was You" for her 50th anniversary). Other songs like "Seventy-Six Trombones," "Piano Lesson," and "Goodnight, My Someone" are similarly etched into the musical theatre canon and American pop culture. Get your Music Man tickets today and enjoy this American treasure.

Plot Synopsis:

In 1912, a train leaves Rock Island, Illinois. Aboard are several traveling salesmen, including Charlie Cowell, who begins to tell of a con-man, "Professor" Harold Hill, who travels from town to town convincing parents that he can teach their children to play music. Then, once the instruments and band uniforms arrive and are paid for, he leaves town with the money before he is revealed as a fraud. Once the train arrives in River City, Iowa, a man stands up and exits the train, carrying a suitcase labeled "Professor Harold Hill."

Once in town, Harold finds that his old friend Marcellus lives there. He shows Harold around and tells him of the reserved nature of the town's residents. When a pool table is delivered, Harold begins his scheme by convincing the town's parents that it will cause their children to get themselves into trouble. Marcellus also tells Harold that the only one in town who knows anything about music is Marion Paroo, the librarian and piano teacher. Infatuated, he flirts with her on her way home, but she ignores him. Once home, Marian begins her lesson with a young girl named Amaryllis until her brother Winthrop returns home. Amaryllis teases Winthrop because of his lisp, but secretly has a crush on him.

The next day, on the 4th of July, Mayor Shinn emcees the morning's events in the high school gym until a young hooligan named Tommy Djilas sets off a firecracker. Suddenly, Harold announces that he will eliminate the corruption of the town's youth (supposedly caused by the pool table) by forming a boys' band. When the mayor and his associates ask to see Harold's credentials, he distracts them by leading them in a barbershop quartet. As Harold talks to the town's ladies about forming a dance group, they start telling him fictitious gossip about Marian and they stress their disgust with the "dirty" books she advocates, including the work of Chaucer and Balzac.

The next day, after another failed attempt at wooing Marian, Harold signs up all the town's boys for the band, including Winthrop. Marian finds some incriminating evidence against Harold in a book at the library, but before she can present it to the mayor, she sees how much Winthrop's new cornet has brought him out of his shell and rips the page out of the book.

In preparation for the upcoming ice cream social, the entire town is practicing their new music and dance numbers in the school gym. After Harold pulls Marian into the fun, the other ladies invite her into their dance troupe, and they even tell her that, at the advice of "Professor" Hill, they have read all of her favorite books and now love them. That night, at the Paroo home, Winthrop tells Marian about his day with Harold until the travelling salesman Charlie Cowell arrives trying to discredit Harold. Marian distracts him by flirting until he is forced to abandon his plan to catch his train. On his way out, he tells Marian that Harold finds a girl in every town he visits.

When Harold arrives and reminds Marian of all the rumors that have flown around about her, she chooses to ignore Charlie's statements. When a tender moment is interrupted by the arrival of the band uniforms, Marcellus encourages Harold to skip town, but he can not bring himself to leave Marian. When he returns to her, she tells him she has known he was a fraud, but she gives him the incriminating page and plans to meet him later.

At the social, Charlie Cowell arrives, having just missed his train, and blows Harold's cover, causing the townspeople to turn against him. When Winthrop hears the news, he is disappointed, but Marian assures him that Harold really is a good man. Once Marian finds Harold, she tells him to leave town to save himself, but he says he loves her and cannot leave her, and he is led away in handcuffs.

At a town meeting at the school, the citizens are angrily asking where there promised band is until the teenagers enter playing a song. Marian urges Harold to lead the band and the parents see how much he has impacted their children's lives for the better. Agreeing unanimously, the townspeople forgive Harold, releasing him into Marian's open arms. Order The Music Man tickets today to experience this classic story live.

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Awards:

• 1958 Tony Awards: 8 nominations, 5 wins
• 2000 Tony Awards: 8 nominations
• 2000 Drama Desk Awards: 8 nominations
• and many more...

Creative Team