New Bio of Meredith Willson

[mamaleh2]

Posted: 9/30/22 at 8:53pm

The scholarly author of a new biography of Meredith Willson calls the current revival of THE MUSIC MAN “flawless” and “pure joy,” in line with what seems to be the prevailing opinion of audiences at the Winter Garden.
https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/rialto/past/2022/musicman.html

 

 

[jo]

Posted: 9/30/22 at 10:40pm

It is likely that the current revival was more in keeping with the original intentions of Willson's composition. The characterizations and the town story.

Also, had those early notes on the production ( which I found through an ATC post and posted here on BWW... but "miraculously" went missing on the internet) describing the character of Harold Hill ( which we thought fitted the Hugh Jackman interpretation more) suggests there were options that were considered before settling on how Preston interpreted it (it was made to fit his persona). Interesting too in Willson's book itself that it was mentioned that his first choice for the role was Danny Kaye.

It is unfortunate that the current critics failed to recognize that there were other story possibilities. They simply compared the revival with the original staging. The changes would have opened more artistic possibilities for future productions on a professional and on an amateur level.

But given how this revival has scored at the box office, maybe that is the true reward to the new concepts and characterizations.

Updated On: 10/1/22 at 10:40 PM