The Music Man’ is the wrong Broadway revival for this crucial moment — Page 3

MlleDaae said: "A bore of a musical about a local woman ostracized by her community until a grifter con man woos her ..there by making her acceptable again.

The town shuns her due to an untrue rumor that she was in love with an older man. The town accepts her again once she.. falls in love with an older ma -- wtf??

And don't forget the moral of the story - "Maybe we should just believe the con man and everything will work out".

Other than its use of diegetic sound, barbershop a cappella, and the song "Til There Was You".. I dislike this musical greatly."

You seem nice.

Owen22 said: "Harold Hill is no Donald Trump (as Music Man is no rah-rah loving ode to America). Both are grifters, yes. But love changes Harold Hill. I'm not sure Donald Trump is capable of love. Yet I've always found The Music Man to be political. I have always found The Music Man to be an indictment of America itself. And it's the reason I love it. The real hero of the piece is obviously Marian. Where the people of River City are completely glamoured by this man, she, being an intelligent person, a person who believes in, say, science (thus suspect), realizes what he is saying is completely ludicrous. Yet, she is so intelligent she can then also see how this con man is changing her town for the better. And she sees through his veneer of selfishness and can find the lovely man within. The rest of the town, is completely threatened by the illusion of fear and easily malleable because of it. And of course so easily self-deceived in the end! The Music Man is specifically the Revival we need for today!"

I'm not claiming The Music Man is pro-Trump. But I don't understand yelling at people who don't have an appetite for seeing a con man accepted back into the fold of polite society and given the heroic, romantic happy ending reward. It's a musical with a song called "Shipoopi"; I wasn't expecting deep profundity. But it does normalize and diminish the severity of bad actions the way status quo-embracing stories do.

That said, I'm not about to protest it. I think it's just personal taste whether this is a show you can watch right now but people aren't crazy for not being ready to embrace a show about a grifter. I'd feel similarly if they wanted to do another H2$ or Catch Me If You Can. I'm not offended, just not in the mood for it. I'd rather see Ragtime or Newsies or Caroline, or Change. And happily, I will be able to see the last one.

I personally would rather see Company,though I probably won't be able to. But anyone who wants to see The Music Man--go!!! Have fun! We all have different tastes and opinions. For example,I personally and privately prefer Katrina Lenk over Cardi B,unlike my co-workers. (Don't ask.) I just keep my mouth shut and collect my paycheck.

Jordan Catalano said: "sorry but that’s ridiculous. A “Ragtime” revival would be great but you ARE allowed to have both. Not every show needs to be a social commentary on the depressing events happening in this country."

well obviously yes we should get both of them i agree. i for one would love to see this revival. i just sort of understand where the writer of the article is coming from

LOL! She probably watched the show and thought the pick-a-little talk-a-little ladies were the most relatable characters in the whole thing.

Viva Purity Culture!

Yipes. It's a musical. Enjoy it, or don't.

Way too much overthinking with this topic.

DaveyG said: "This reporter is a hack. Her articles consistently play to the “woke” crowd and are often filled with factual errors. It’s maddening that she has such a large platform."

Trying to create controversy where there is none.

As an aside, I saw a production of THE MUSIC MAN at the Stratford Festival with an African American actor, Daren A. Herbert, as Harold Hill. He was phenominal. He made the show so much fun.