Misplaced Pages

#232767

143-456: In 1957, the show became a hit on Broadway , winning five Tony Awards , including Best Musical, and running for 1,375 performances. The cast album won the first Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and spent 245 weeks on the Billboard charts. The show's success led to Broadway and West End revivals, a popular 1962 film adaptation and a 2003 television adaptation . The Music Man

286-612: A green card for his Canadian actor/singer/dancer girlfriend, Catherine Wreford , by appearing with her as the leads in a summer regional theatre production of The Music Man in Goldblum's hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . The political satire group the Capitol Steps parodies numerous songs from musicals, including The Music Man . To evoke turn of the 20th century Main Street USA at some of its theme parks around

429-472: A 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. "curtain". The afternoon " matinée " performances are at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays and at 3:00 p.m. on Sundays. This makes for an eight-performance week. On this schedule, most shows do not play on Monday and the shows and theatres are said to be "dark" on that day. The actors and the crew in these shows tend to regard Sunday evening through Monday evening as their weekend. The Tony award presentation ceremony

572-686: A Chinese translation of the musical was staged at Beijing 's Central Opera Theater. New York City Opera staged a revival from February to April 1988, directed by Arthur Masella and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge , starring Bob Gunton as Hill, with Muriel Costa-Greenspon as Eulalie and James Billings as Marcellus. A US tour, directed and choreographed by Michael Kidd , ended at City Center, where it played for three-weeks in June 1980. The cast included Dick Van Dyke as Hill, Meg Bussert as Marian, Christian Slater as Winthrop, Carol Arthur as Mrs. Paroo, and Iggie Wolfington (who played Marcellus in

715-839: A Theater Advisory Council, which included Papp. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City , Broadway theaters closed on March 12, 2020, shuttering 16 shows that were playing or were in the process of opening. The Broadway League shutdown was extended first to April, then to May, then June, then September 2020 and January 2021, and later to June 1, 2021. Then-governor Andrew Cuomo announced that most sectors of New York would have their restrictions lifted on May 19, 2021, but he stated that Broadway theatres would not be able to immediately resume performances on this date due to logistical reasons. In May 2021, Cuomo announced that Broadway theaters would be allowed to reopen on September 14, and

858-449: A booming economy and abundant creative talent kept Broadway hopping. To this day, the shows of the 1950s form the core of the musical theatre repertory." Kenrick notes that "the late 1960s marked a time of cultural upheaval. All those changes would prove painful for many, including those behind the scenes, as well as those in the audience." Of the 1970s, Kenrick writes: "Just when it seemed that traditional book musicals were back in style,

1001-663: A cast. There are still, however, performers who are primarily stage actors, spending most of their time "on the boards", and appearing in screen roles only secondarily. As Patrick Healy of The New York Times noted: Broadway once had many homegrown stars who committed to working on a show for a year, as Nathan Lane has for The Addams Family . In 2010, some theater heavyweights like Mr. Lane were not even nominated; instead, several Tony Awards were given for productions that were always intended to be short-timers on Broadway, given that many of their film-star performers had to move on to other commitments. According to Mark Shenton, "One of

1144-434: A challenge to the stage. At first, films were silent and presented only limited competition. By the end of the 1920s, films like The Jazz Singer were presented with synchronized sound, and critics wondered if cinema would replace live theatre altogether. While live vaudeville could not compete with these inexpensive films that featured vaudeville stars and major comedians of the day, other theatres survived. The musicals of

1287-654: A change of producers, almost forty songs (twenty-two were cut), and more than forty drafts, the original Broadway production was produced by Kermit Bloomgarden , directed by Morton DaCosta and choreographed by Onna White . The Music Man opened on December 19, 1957, at the Majestic Theatre . It played at the Majestic for nearly three years before transferring to The Broadway Theatre and completing its 1,375 performance run there on April 15, 1961. The original cast included Robert Preston (who reprised his role in

1430-540: A company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg, Virginia , and opened with The Merchant of Venice and The Anatomist . The company moved to New York in 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like Damon and Phillida . During the Revolutionary War , theatre was suspended in New York City. But after

1573-565: A discount of 20 to 50%. The TKTS booths are located in Times Square , in Lower Manhattan , and at Lincoln Center . This service is run by Theatre Development Fund . Many Broadway theatres also offer special student rates, same-day "rush" or "lottery" tickets, or standing-room tickets to help ensure that their theatres are as full—and their grosses as high—as possible. According to The Broadway League , total Broadway attendance

SECTION 10

#1732783826233

1716-494: A dozen Broadway productions between 1925 and 1968. Most famously, she created the role of 'Mrs. Paroo' in the original production of the musical The Music Man , which she reprised in the movie adaptation . In the early 1950s, her career was interrupted as a result of Hollywood blacklisting , leading to her departure from The Honeymooners . Pert L. Kelton was born in 1907 in Great Falls, Montana. Her mother, Sue Kelton,

1859-906: A few exceptions, compared with London runs, until World War I . A few very successful British musicals continued to achieve great success in New York, including Florodora in 1900–01. In the early years of the twentieth century, translations of popular late-nineteenth century continental operettas were joined by the "Princess Theatre" shows of the 1910s, by writers such as P. G. Wodehouse , Guy Bolton , and Harry B. Smith . Victor Herbert , whose work included some intimate musical plays with modern settings as well as his string of famous operettas ( The Fortune Teller (1898), Babes in Toyland (1903), Mlle. Modiste (1905), The Red Mill (1906), and Naughty Marietta (1910)). Beginning with The Red Mill , Broadway shows installed electric signs outside

2002-471: A few minutes before his train leaves, but stops to flirt with Marian. She delays him so he won't have time to deliver the evidence, eventually kissing him. As the train whistle blows, she pushes him away. Charlie angrily tells Marian that Harold has a girl in "every county in Illinois, and he's taken it from every one of them – and that's 102 counties !" Harold arrives, and after he reminds her of

2145-546: A fraud. The townspeople begin an agitated search for Harold. Winthrop is heartbroken and tells Harold that he wishes Harold had never come to River City. But Marian tells Winthrop that she believes everything Harold ever said, for it did come true in the way every kid in town talked and acted that summer. She and Winthrop urge Harold to get away. He chooses to stay and tells Marian that he never really fell in love until he met her ("Till There Was You" [Reprise]). The constable then handcuffs Harold and leads him away. Mayor Shinn leads

2288-483: A garden to the south, with a wishing well that may have inspired the song " There's a Small Hotel " from the musical On Your Toes (1936). It also housed a speakeasy in the basement. A sign above the hotel entrance reads "Joyously Enter Here". It was later the home of the California Television Society. When away from rehearsing and performing, Kelton enjoyed art as a pastime and became

2431-532: A larger theatre. Other productions are first developed through workshops and then out-of-town tryouts before transferring to Broadway. Merrily We Roll Along famously skipped an out-of-town tryout and attempted to do an in-town tryout—actually preview performances —on Broadway before its official opening, with disastrous results. After, or even during, successful runs in Broadway theatres, producers often remount their productions with new casts and crew for

2574-496: A lisping kid but you get hit with some magic anyhow. Imagine if the lisping kid were somebody we know – some character in the story." Willson suddenly realized that this youngster could be the child with the disability. In the finished book, Winthrop Paroo is almost silent and hesitates to speak because of a lisp, but unexpectedly bursts into song when the Wells Fargo wagon arrives with his new cornet. After years of development,

2717-532: A meeting in the high school gym to decide what to do with Harold, asking, "Where's the band? Where's the band? " Marian defends Harold. Tommy enters as a drum major, followed by the boys in uniform with their instruments. Marian urges Harold to lead the River City Boys' Band in Beethoven 's Minuet in G . Despite the boys' limited musical ability, the parents in the audience are nonetheless enraptured by

2860-559: A moment, she forgets her decorum and dances with Harold and the teenagers. Harold kisses her; when she tries to slap him, she accidentally hits Tommy instead. With Tommy's help, Harold signs up all the boys in town to be in his band, including Winthrop. Mrs. Paroo likes Harold and tries to find out why Marian is not interested. Marian describes her ideal man ("My White Knight", rewritten for the film version as "Being in Love"). She sets out to give Mayor Shinn evidence against Harold that she found in

3003-526: A more experimental, challenging, and intimate performance than is possible in the larger Broadway theatres. Some Broadway shows, however, such as the musicals Hair , Little Shop of Horrors , Spring Awakening , Next to Normal , Rent , Avenue Q , In the Heights , Fun Home , A Chorus Line , Dear Evan Hansen , and Hamilton , began their runs Off-Broadway and later transferred to Broadway, seeking to replicate their intimate experience in

SECTION 20

#1732783826233

3146-539: A negative COVID-19 test (PCR within 72 hours or antigen within six hours of the performance start time). Beginning November 8, those ages 5–11 also had the option to provide proof of at least one vaccination shot. Effective December 14, in accordance with NYC's vaccination mandate, guests ages 5–11 were required to have at least one vaccination shot until January 29, 2022, where they had to be fully vaccinated. The vaccine mandate lasted until April 30, and attendees were also required to wear face masks until July 1. During

3289-1152: A new age of American playwright with the emergence of Eugene O'Neill , whose plays Beyond the Horizon , Anna Christie , The Hairy Ape , Strange Interlude , and Mourning Becomes Electra proved that there was an audience for serious drama on Broadway, and O'Neill's success paved the way for major dramatists like Elmer Rice , Maxwell Anderson , Robert E. Sherwood , Clifford Odets , Tennessee Williams , and Arthur Miller , as well as writers of comedy like George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart . Classical revivals also proved popular with Broadway theatre-goers, notably John Barrymore in Hamlet and Richard III , John Gielgud in Hamlet , The Importance of Being Earnest and Much Ado About Nothing , Walter Hampden and José Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac , Paul Robeson and Ferrer in Othello , Maurice Evans in Richard II and

3432-467: A number of media, including television, films and popular music. The Music Man has been parodied in a number of TV shows, including The Simpsons episode " Marge vs. the Monorail ", written by Conan O'Brien . At some point during the second Broadway revival, O'Brien was approached about playing the role of Harold Hill for a brief run, but he ultimately could not fit it into his schedule. He says, on

3575-573: A parody of the song "Trouble" to convince patrons of a restaurant not to eat the salmon. Several Music Man songs were used in Ally McBeal , for example in the season 2 episode "Sex, Lies and Politics" in which lawyer John Cage spurs the jury into singing "Ya Got Trouble" with him. Season 2 Episode 15 (2012), "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000", of the TV show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic , makes numerous allusions to The Music Man , including

3718-488: A partially paralyzed boy, Jim Paroo, whom the townspeople wanted to consign to an institution for children with disabilities. The plot revolved around Harold Hill finding a musical instrument that the boy could play: a triangle . In some drafts, Jim was also nonverbal . Willson had an epiphany while reflecting on the "Wells Fargo Wagon" song, in which a lisping youngster sang one of the verses. "Here's this kid who isn't even identified," recalled Willson in his 1957 memoir. "Just

3861-414: A piano lesson to a little girl named Amaryllis while arguing with her widowed mother about her high "standards where men are concerned"; she mentions the man who followed her home ("Piano Lesson/If You Don't Mind My Saying So"). Marian's self-conscious 10-year-old brother Winthrop arrives home. Amaryllis, who secretly likes Winthrop but teases him about his lisp, asks Marian to whom she should say goodnight on

4004-500: A rate acceptable to the producers, they may continue to run in the expectation that, eventually, they will pay back their initial costs and become profitable. In some borderline situations, producers may ask that royalties be temporarily reduced or waived, or even that performers—with the permission of their unions—take reduced salaries, to prevent a show from closing. Theatre owners, who are not generally profit participants in most productions, may waive or reduce rents, or even lend money to

4147-481: A rhythmic lark like The Music Man , which is as American as apple pie and a Fourth of July oration.... The Music Man is a marvelous show, rooted in wholesome and comic tradition." Walter Kerr of the Herald Tribune glowingly described the opening scene of the musical: "It's the beat that does it. The overture of The Music Man drives off with a couple of good, shrill whistles and a heave-ho blast from half

4290-431: A run of 253 performances. The first theatre piece that conforms to the modern conception of a musical, adding dance and original music that helped to tell the story, is considered to be The Black Crook , which premiered in New York on September 12, 1866. The production was five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length, it ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. The same year, The Black Domino/Between You, Me and

4433-481: A show to keep it running. Some Broadway shows are produced by non-commercial organizations as part of a regular subscription season— Lincoln Center Theatre , Roundabout Theatre Company , Manhattan Theatre Club , and Second Stage Theater are the four non-profit theatre companies that currently have permanent Broadway venues. Some other productions are produced on Broadway with "limited engagement runs" for several reasons, including financial issues, prior engagements of

The Music Man - Misplaced Pages Continue

4576-944: A song based on "Ya Got Trouble". MSNBC 's Keith Olbermann has numerous times referred to Fox News TV host Glenn Beck as "Harold Hill" on the air. Robert Hanson stars in a community theater production of The Music Man in the Netflix original show Grace and Frankie . In the 1960 film The Apartment , Jack Lemmon 's character is given tickets to the show but is stood up at the Majestic Theatre. In Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), Michele sings "The Wells Fargo Wagon". The next year, in The Wedding Singer (1998), Robbie teaches Rosie to sing "'Til There Was You" for her 50th wedding anniversary. The 2006 mockumentary / documentary Pittsburgh centers on actor Jeff Goldblum as he attempts to secure

4719-542: A television special, and then Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer producer Jesse L. Lasky . After these and other unsuccessful attempts, Willson invited Franklin Lacey to help him edit and simplify the libretto. At this time, Willson considered eliminating a long piece of dialogue about the serious trouble facing River City parents. Willson realized it sounded like a lyric, and he transformed it into the patter song " Ya Got Trouble ". Willson wrote about his trials and tribulations in getting

4862-580: A venue for plays under the name Burton's Theatre. The Astor Opera House opened in 1847. A riot broke out in 1849 when the lower-class patrons of the Bowery Theatre objected to what they perceived as snobbery by the upper-class audiences at Astor Place: "After the Astor Place Riot of 1849, entertainment in New York City was divided along class lines: opera was chiefly for the upper-middle and upper classes, minstrel shows and melodramas for

5005-555: A veteran itinerant stage actress who longs for a settled domestic life but soon realizes that that lifestyle is actually ill-suited for her personality. In her last years, Kelton was strongly identified with Spic and Span because of commercials for the product. Pert Kelton was part owner of the Warner-Kelton Hotel, built in the late 1920s, at 6326 Lexington Avenue in Los Angeles. Kelton and her parents resided in

5148-475: Is an internationally prominent tourist attraction in New York City . According to The Broadway League , shows on Broadway sold approximately US$ 1.54 billion worth of tickets in both the 2022-2023 and the 2023–2024 seasons. Both seasons featured theater attendance of approximately 12.3 million each. Most Broadway shows are musicals . Historian Martin Shefter argues that "Broadway musicals, culminating in

5291-472: Is dark and moody, determined not to have too much fun with a story about a con artist who wins in the end despite his misdeeds. At others, it's ... painfully corny". Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter gave the production a lukewarm review, calling Jackman "neither a great singer nor a particularly accomplished dancer" and commenting that Foster's "voice doesn’t have the crystalline beauty of such predecessors as Barbara Cook and Shirley Jones , and many of

5434-631: Is discussed as one whose sales skills make him immune from such changes ("Rock Island"). Charlie says that Hill is a con man who promises to form boys' marching bands, then skips town after taking payments for instruments and uniforms. Upon the train's arrival in River City, Iowa, a passenger leaves the train with a suitcase labeled "Professor Harold Hill". After townspeople of River City describe their reserved, "chip-on-the-shoulder attitude" (" Iowa Stubborn "), Harold sees his old friend and shill , Marcellus Washburn, who has "gone legit" and now lives in

5577-481: Is frequently produced by both professional and amateur theater companies and is a popular choice for high school and college productions. Meredith Willson was inspired by his boyhood in Mason City, Iowa , to write and compose his first musical, The Music Man . Willson began developing this theme in his 1948 memoir, And There I Stood With My Piccolo. He first approached producers Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin for

5720-436: Is lampooned, along with two counterpoint song pairs from Irving Berlin musicals, in the 1959 musical Little Mary Sunshine , where three counterpoint songs are combined: "Playing Croquet," "Swinging" and "How Do You Do?" "Goodnight, My Someone" is the same tune, in waltz time, as the march-tempo "Seventy-six Trombones". In the 1962 movie, the 1980 and 2000 revivals, and some amateur and regional productions, "Gary, Indiana"

5863-543: Is sung in Act 1 by Harold (1962 movie) and Mrs. Paroo (between "Marian the Librarian" and "My White Knight"), with Winthrop singing a reprise of it in Act 2 (with Mrs. Paroo and Marian Paroo in 2000). The Music Man is set in the fictional town of River City, Iowa, in 1912. The town is based in large part on Willson's birthplace, Mason City, Iowa , and many of the musical's characters are based on people that Willson observed in

The Music Man - Misplaced Pages Continue

6006-520: Is usually held on a Sunday evening in June to fit this schedule. In recent years, some shows have moved their Tuesday show time an hour earlier to 7:00 pm. The rationale for this move was that since fewer tourists take in shows midweek, Tuesday attendance depends more on local patrons. The earlier curtain makes it possible for suburban patrons to get home by a reasonable hour after the show. Some shows, especially those produced by Disney , change their performance schedules fairly frequently depending on

6149-725: The Daily News pronounced The Music Man "one of the few great musical comedies of the last 26 years", stating that Of Thee I Sing (1931) "set a standard for fun and invention which has seldom been reached. Its equal arrived in 1950 – Guys and Dolls – and I would say that The Music Man ranks with these two". In the Journal-American , John McClain deemed the show "a whopping hit. This salute by Meredith Willson to his native Iowa will make even Oklahoma! look to its laurels". The Music Man ' s popularity has led to its being mentioned, quoted, parodied or pastiched in

6292-754: The New York Daily Mirror wrote that the producer "made a 10-strike in landing Robert Preston for the title role", stating that Preston "paces the piece dynamically, acts ingratiatingly, sings as if he'd been doing it all his life, and offers steps that would score on the cards of dance judges". Frank Aston of the New York World-Telegram and Sun declared "It deserves to run at least a decade", especially praising Barbara Cook's performance as Marian: "If all our stack-tenders looked, sang, danced, and acted like Miss Barbara, this nation's book learning would be overwhelming". John Chapman of

6435-459: The 1962 screen adaptation ) as Harold Hill, Barbara Cook as Marian, Eddie Hodges as Winthrop, Pert Kelton as Mrs. Paroo, Iggie Wolfington as Marcellus Washburn and David Burns as Mayor Shinn. Preston left the show in January 1959 and was replaced by Eddie Albert for 18 months. In June 1960 Preston returned for two weeks until his successor Bert Parks could replace him. Parks finished

6578-610: The American Theatre Wing , a service organization. While the League and the theatrical unions are sometimes at loggerheads during those periods when new contracts are being negotiated, they also cooperate on many projects and events designed to promote professional theatre in New York. Of the four non-profit theatre companies with Broadway theatres, all four ( Lincoln Center Theater , Manhattan Theatre Club , Roundabout Theatre Company , and Second Stage Theatre ) belong to

6721-463: The Buffalo Bills . Robert Preston claimed that he got the role of Harold Hill despite his limited singing range because, when he went to audition, they were having the men sing "Trouble". The producers felt it would be the most difficult song to sing, but with his acting background, it was the easiest for Preston. Originally titled The Silver Triangle , early versions of the story focused on

6864-665: The Indiana State Educational Journal , but they are interrupted by the arrival of the Wells Fargo wagon , which delivers the band instruments ("The Wells Fargo Wagon"). When Winthrop is so happy about his new cornet , and totally abandons his shyness and self-consciousness, Marian begins to see Harold in a new light. She tears the incriminating page out of the Journal before giving the book to Mayor Shinn. The ladies rehearse their classical dance in

7007-580: The League of Resident Theatres and have contracts with the theatrical unions which are negotiated separately from the other Broadway theatre and producers. ( Disney also negotiates apart from the League, as did Livent before it closed down its operations.) The majority of Broadway theatres are owned or managed by three organizations: the Shubert Organization , a for-profit arm of the non-profit Shubert Foundation, which owns seventeen theatres;

7150-503: The Nederlander Organization , which controls nine theatres; and ATG Entertainment , which owns seven Broadway houses. Both musicals and straight plays on Broadway often rely on casting well-known performers in leading roles to draw larger audiences or bring in new audience members to the theatre. Actors from film and television are frequently cast for the revivals of Broadway shows or are used to replace actors leaving

7293-476: The Roaring Twenties , borrowing from vaudeville, music hall , and other light entertainment, tended to ignore plot in favor of emphasizing star actors and actresses, big dance routines, and popular songs. Florenz Ziegfeld produced annual spectacular song-and-dance revues on Broadway featuring extravagant sets and elaborate costumes, but there was little to tie the various numbers together. Typical of

SECTION 50

#1732783826233

7436-818: The Tivoli Theatre in Sydney from December 13, 1960, to February 4, 1961. The first UK production opened at Bristol Hippodrome , transferring to London's West End at the Adelphi Theatre on March 16, 1961, starring Van Johnson , Patricia Lambert, C. Denier Warren , Ruth Kettlewell and Dennis Waterman . It ran for 395 performances at the Adelphi. A two-week revival at New York City Center ran in June 1965, directed by Gus Schirmer Jr. and starring Bert Parks as Harold. Doro Merande and Sandy Duncan played, respectively, Eulalie and Zaneeta Shinn. In 1987,

7579-875: The Winter Garden Theatre . The production starred Hugh Jackman as Harold and Sutton Foster as Marian with Jefferson Mays as the Mayor, Jayne Houdyshell as Mrs. Shinn, Shuler Hensley as Marcellus, Marie Mullen as Mrs. Paroo, Benjamin Pajak as Winthrop, Remy Auberjonois as Charlie Cowell, Phillip Boykin as Olin Britt and Eddie Korbich as Jacey Squires. It was produced by Kate Horton, Barry Diller , Evan McGill , and David Geffen and directed by Jerry Zaks , with choreography by Warren Carlyle . It features sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto , lighting by Brian MacDevitt , and sound by Scott Lehrer. The production

7722-573: The notes ". He explains that this is what he calls "The Think System", and he arranges to call on Marian to discuss it. The town ladies ask Marian to join their dance committee, since she was "so dear dancing the Shipoopi" with Professor Hill ("Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little" [Reprise]). They have reversed their opinions about her books, and they eagerly tell her that "the Professor told us to read those books, and we simply adored them all!" That night,

7865-409: The 1920s were lighthearted productions such as Sally ; Lady Be Good ; Sunny ; No, No, Nanette ; Harlem ; Oh, Kay! ; and Funny Face . Their books may have been forgettable, but they produced enduring standards from George Gershwin , Cole Porter , Jerome Kern , Vincent Youmans , and Rodgers and Hart , among others, and Noël Coward , Sigmund Romberg , and Rudolf Friml continued in

8008-621: The 1939 film Whispering Enemies , she redirected her career, returning again to theatre and to performing increasingly on radio and later on the rapidly expanding medium of television. She did not return to the "big screen" until 1962, when she was cast as Mrs. Paroo in The Music Man . By April 1940, Pert had left California and was living in New York City again, sharing a $ 65-per-month apartment in Manhattan on West 55th Street with three other women, two of whom were employed as dancers in

8151-642: The 1950s to participate in the event, including leading the "Big Parade", and the stars of the film version participated in the event in 1962. Broadway theatre Broadway theatre , or Broadway , is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional theaters , each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway , in Midtown Manhattan , New York City . Broadway and London 's West End together represent

8294-471: The 1957 production) as Mayor Shinn. A Broadway revival, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman , opened on April 27, 2000, at the Neil Simon Theatre , where it ran for 699 performances and 22 previews. The cast included Craig Bierko (making his Broadway debut) as Hill and Rebecca Luker as Marian. Robert Sean Leonard and Eric McCormack portrayed Hill later in the run. The production

8437-605: The 2000 stage revival prompted a 2003 television film starring Matthew Broderick as Hill and Kristin Chenoweth as Marian, with Victor Garber as Mayor Shinn, Debra Monk as Mrs. Paroo and Molly Shannon as Mrs. Shinn. Though West Side Story had opened nearly three months earlier, The Music Man captured audiences, critics and five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The New York Times theatre critic Brooks Atkinson wrote in his review "If Mark Twain could have collaborated with Vachel Lindsay , they might have devised

8580-564: The Beatles' recordings of "Till There Was You" than it did from the musical's original production. A cast recording featuring the 2022 revival cast was recorded at Manhattan Center and was released on December 9, 2022 by Accidental Jacket Entertainment, produced by Robert Sher, Brian Gillet and Huck Walton. Preston starred in the 1962 film adaptation , with Shirley Jones as Marian, Buddy Hackett as Marcellus, Hermione Gingold as Mrs. Shinn and Ron Howard as Winthrop. The success of

8723-536: The Broadway national tour, which travels to theatres in major cities across the country. Sometimes when a show closes on Broadway, the entire production, with most if not all of the original cast intact, is relaunched as a touring company, hence the name "Broadway national tour". Some shows may even have several touring companies out at a time, whether the show is still running in New York or not, with many companies "sitting down" in other major cities for their own extended runs. For Broadway national tours of top-tier cities,

SECTION 60

#1732783826233

8866-619: The Broadway orchestra is governed by an agreement with the musicians' union (Local 802, American Federation of Musicians) and The Broadway League. For example, the agreement specifies the minimum size of the orchestra at the Minskoff Theatre to be eighteen, while at the Music Box Theatre it is nine. Most Broadway shows are commercial productions intended to make a profit for the producers and investors ("backers" or "angels"), and therefore have open-ended runs (duration that

9009-440: The Broadway run while Preston was busy with the screen version. Paul Ford was a replacement for David Burns as Mayor Shinn, later reprising the role in the film version. Howard Bay designed the sets. Don Walker orchestrated the score. The musical won five Tony Awards , including Best Musical, winning in the same year that West Side Story was nominated for the award. Preston, Cook and Burns also won. Liza Redfield became

9152-738: The COVID-19 shutdown, the Shubert Organization, the Nederlander Organization, and Jujamcyn had pledged to increase racial and cultural diversity in their theaters, including naming at least one theater for a Black theatrical personality. The August Wilson Theatre , owned by Jujamcyn, had been renamed after Black playwright August Wilson in 2005. The Shuberts announced in March 2022 that the Cort Theatre , which

9295-574: The Cakewalk (1898), and the highly successful In Dahomey (1902). Hundreds of musical comedies were staged on Broadway in the 1890s and early 1900s made up of songs written in New York's Tin Pan Alley involving composers such as Gus Edwards , John Walter Bratton , and George M. Cohan ( Little Johnny Jones (1904), 45 Minutes From Broadway (1906), and George Washington Jr. (1906)). Still, New York runs continued to be relatively short, with

9438-459: The DVD commentary track for the aforementioned Simpsons episode, that it was the hardest choice he's ever had to make professionally, because The Music Man is one of his favorites. O'Brien did, however, as host of the 2006 Emmy Awards , sing a parody version of "Ya Got Trouble" in his opening monologue targeting NBC and their slide in the ratings. The television program Family Guy has parodied

9581-456: The Erlanger syndicate. During this time, the play Lightnin' by Winchell Smith and Frank Bacon became the first Broadway show to reach 700 performances. From then, it would go on to become the first show to reach 1,000 performances. Lightnin' was the longest-running Broadway show until being overtaken in performance totals by Abie's Irish Rose in 1925. The motion picture mounted

9724-457: The League confirmed that performances would begin to resume in the fall season. Springsteen on Broadway became the first full-length show to resume performances, opening on June 26, 2021, to 1,721 vaccinated patrons at the St. James Theatre . Pass Over then had its first preview on August 4, and opened on August 22, 2021, becoming the first new play to open. Hadestown and Waitress were

9867-538: The Opera at the Majestic Theatre became the longest-running Broadway musical, with 7,486 performances, overtaking Cats . The Phantom of the Opera closed on Broadway on April 16, 2023, soon after celebrating its 35th anniversary, after a total of 13,981 performances. Attending a Broadway show is a common tourist activity in New York. The TKTS booths sell same-day tickets (and in certain cases, next-day matinee tickets) for many Broadway and Off-Broadway shows at

10010-535: The Post was the first show to call itself a "musical comedy". Tony Pastor opened the first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881, where Lillian Russell performed. Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 ( The Mulligan Guard Picnic ) and 1890, with book and lyrics by Harrigan and music by his father-in-law David Braham . These musical comedies featured characters and situations taken from

10153-477: The Sociable. With his schemes for the boys' band and Marian proceeding even better than planned, Harold confidently sings "Seventy-Six Trombones". As he overhears Marian singing "Goodnight My Someone", Harold suddenly realizes that he is in love with Marian; he and Marian sing a snatch of each other's songs. Meanwhile, Charlie Cowell, who has missed his train, arrives at the ice cream social and denounces Harold as

10296-462: The U.S. entertainment industry. Kelton sued the publication for libel, but later dropped the suit. In his book The Forgotten Network , David Weinstein wrote Kelton remained on Cavalcade of Stars through the final season of the series (1951–1952), and suggests that it may have been because Jackie Gleason had resisted attempts at having her dropped. In the 1960s, Kelton was invited back to Gleason's CBS show to play Alice's mother in an episode of

10439-710: The United States with her family, Kelton was enrolled in private schools for her early formal education and for extensive training in dance, voice, and drama. By age 12, after appearing for a while with her parents as "The Three Keltons", she began appearing as a solo act or "single" in vaudeville; and by age 17 she was performing on Broadway, initially as a cast member in Jerome Kern 's 1925 musical comedy Sunny , starring Marilyn Miller . Kelton and her parents had moved to California to work in Hollywood films by

10582-492: The authors and also in numerous unlicensed productions). They were imitated in New York by American productions such as Reginald Dekoven 's Robin Hood (1891) and John Philip Sousa 's El Capitan (1896), along with operas, ballets, and other British and European hits. Charles H. Hoyt 's A Trip to Chinatown (1891) became Broadway's long-run champion when it surpassed Adonis and its 603 total performances in 1893, holding

10725-435: The beginning of the nineteenth century, the area that now comprises the Theater District was owned by a handful of families and comprised a few farms. In 1836, Mayor Cornelius Lawrence opened 42nd Street and invited Manhattanites to "enjoy the pure clean air." Close to 60 years later, theatrical entrepreneur Oscar Hammerstein I built the iconic Victoria Theater on West 42nd Street. Broadway's first "long-run" musical

10868-536: The best lines, surprisingly wicked and amusing observations that would never be allowed in an American film after the Hollywood Production Code was adopted. Nevertheless, in 1933 her performance in Bed of Roses was widely praised by critics in leading newspapers and trade papers . Kelton for the remainder of the 1930s performed in over 20 more feature films and shorts . After her appearance in

11011-476: The biggest changes to the commercial theatrical landscape—on both sides of the Atlantic—over the past decade or so is that sightings of big star names turning out to do plays has [sic] gone up; but the runs they are prepared to commit to has gone down. Time was that a producer would require a minimum commitment from his star of six months, and perhaps a year; now, the 13-week run is the norm." The minimum size of

11154-550: The bill was not passed. The Save the Theatres campaign then turned their efforts to supporting the establishment of the Theater District as a registered historic district . In December 1983, Save the Theatres prepared "The Broadway Theater District, a Preservation Development and Management Plan", and demanded that each theater in the district receive landmark designation. Mayor Ed Koch ultimately reacted by creating

11297-524: The brass in the pit, with the heartier trombonists lurching to their feet in a blare of enthusiasm. The curtain sails up to disclose the most energetic engine on the Rock Island Railroad (circa 1912) hurtling across the proscenium with real smoke pouring out of its smokestack and real steam rolling along the rails". Kerr called Preston "indefatigable: he's got zest and gusto and a great big grin for another slam-bang march tune". Robert Coleman of

11440-422: The decade ended with critics and audiences giving mixed signals." Ken Bloom observed that "The 1960s and 1970s saw a worsening of the area [Times Square] and a drop in the number of legitimate shows produced on Broadway." By way of comparison, in the 1950 to 1951 season (May to May) 94 productions opened on Broadway; in the 1969 to 1970 season (June to May) there were 59 productions (fifteen were revivals). In

11583-679: The effort. At Papp's behest, in July 1982, a bill was introduced in the 97th Congress , entitled "H.R.6885, A bill to designate the Broadway/Times Square Theatre District in the City of New York as a national historic site". The legislation would have provided certain U.S. government resources and assistance to help the city preserve the district. Faced with strong opposition and lobbying by Mayor Ed Koch's Administration and corporate Manhattan development interests,

11726-479: The entire Broadway production is transplanted almost entirely intact and may run for many months (or years) at each stop. For example, the first U.S. tour of The Phantom of the Opera required 26 53-foot-long (16.1 m) semi-trailers to transport all its sets, equipment, and costumes, and it took almost 10 days to properly unload all those trucks and install everything into a theater. Pert Kelton Pert L. Kelton (October 14, 1907 – October 30, 1968)

11869-487: The entire year of 1939, a total time of employment far less than the weeks worked by her roommates over the same period. Once Kelton had resettled in New York during the early 1940s, she began to work in theatre again, and she became a familiar voice on radio as well, performing on programs such as Easy Aces , It's Always Albert , The Stu Erwin Show , and on the 1941 soap opera We Are Always Young . Later, In 1949, she did

12012-517: The evening star, since she doesn't have a sweetheart. Marian tells her to just say goodnight to her "someone" ("Goodnight, My Someone"). The next day, bumbling Mayor Shinn and his overbearing wife Eulalie MacKecknie Shinn lead the festivities for Independence Day at the high school gym (" Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean ") but are interrupted by a firecracker set off by troublemaker Tommy Djilas. Harold takes

12155-456: The everyday life of New York's lower classes and represented a significant step forward from vaudeville and burlesque, towards a more literate form. They starred high-quality professional singers ( Lillian Russell , Vivienne Segal , and Fay Templeton ), instead of the amateurs, often sex workers, who had starred in earlier musical forms. As transportation improved, poverty in New York diminished, and street lighting made for safer travel at night,

12298-524: The film sings to a rowdy, appreciative crowd in an energetic dive , using a curious New York accent to good comedic effect, with Beery and Raft arguing afterwards over her attentions. In Gregory LaCava 's 1933 pre-Code comedy Bed of Roses , Kelton plays Minnie, a witty prostitute who is a partner in crime with Lorry, portrayed by Constance Bennett . The two women in the plot are fond of getting admiring men helplessly drunk before robbing them, at least until getting caught and tossed into jail. Kelton has all

12441-467: The first musicals to resume performances on September 2, 2021. The 74th Tony Awards were also postponed; the Tony nominations were announced on October 15, 2020, and took place on September 26, 2021. On July 30, 2021, it was announced that all Broadway theaters required attendees to provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination . The rule applied to guests ages 12+. Those under age 12 were required to provide

12584-601: The first woman to be the full-time conductor of a Broadway pit orchestra when she assumed the role of music director for the original production's final year of performances beginning in May 1960. The long-running American tour began in 1958, starring Forrest Tucker as Hill and Joan Weldon as Marian. The first Australian production ran from March 5, 1960, to July 30, 1960, at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne, and at

12727-798: The highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world . While the Broadway thoroughfare is eponymous with the district, it is closely identified with Times Square . Only three theaters are located on Broadway itself: Broadway Theatre , Palace Theatre , and Winter Garden Theatre . The rest are located on the numbered cross streets, extending from the Nederlander Theatre one block south of Times Square on West 41st Street, north along either side of Broadway to 53rd Street , and Vivian Beaumont Theater , at Lincoln Center on West 65th Street. While exceptions exist,

12870-550: The hotel during the late 1920s until at least 1930. (A February 20, 1928, article in the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) incorrectly identifies the hotel as the Walton-Kelton Hotel.) The hotel catered to actors, poets, and musicians, such as Cary Grant , Orry Kelly , Rodgers and Hart , Monroe Salisbury , Sadakichi Hartmann , and later, Elizabeth Short . The building had a small outdoor theater, in

13013-417: The hour-long musical version of The Honeymooners (also known as The Color Honeymooners ), with Sheila MacRae as a fetching young Alice. In 1963, Kelton appeared on The Twilight Zone , playing the overbearing mother of Robert Duvall in the episode " Miniature ." The next year she guest-starred on the popular family sitcom My Three Sons . In this episode "Stage Door Bub", Kelton portrays Thelma Wilson,

13156-498: The image-conscious realm of entertainment, "shaved" a few years off her age when answering census questions at that time. Her documented lack of consistent employment during the previous year may be indicative too of the professional pressures she was experiencing after her film career in Hollywood began to wane in the late 1930s. According to the United States Census of 1940, Kelton was employed for only six weeks during

13299-653: The latter half of 1927. Her first credited movie role there was as Rosie in First National Pictures ' 1929 release Sally , based on the Broadway hit by the same name. The federal census of 1930 showed that Kelton was living in Los Angeles at the Warner-Kelton Hotel – later called the Hotel Brevoort (and Tropical Gardens) – sharing room 666. That same census identifies all three of the Keltons as employed actors in "motion pictures". Kelton

13442-414: The library building to the town but left all the books to Marian. They warn Harold that she advocates "dirty books" by " Chaucer , Rabelais and Balzac " ("Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little"). The school board arrives to review Harold's credentials, but he leads them in song and slips away (" Goodnight, Ladies "). The next day, Harold walks into the library to woo Marian in earnest ("Marian the Librarian"). For

13585-411: The mayor's eldest daughter, with Tommy, and persuades Tommy to work as his assistant. After another rejection by Marian, Harold is determined to win her ("The Sadder But Wiser Girl"). The town ladies are very excited about the band and the ladies' dance committee that Harold plans to form. He mentions Marian, and they imply (falsely, it turns out) that she had an affair with a now-deceased miser, who willed

13728-485: The middle-class, variety shows in concert saloons for men of the working class and the slumming middle-class." The plays of William Shakespeare were frequently performed on the Broadway stage during the period, most notably by American actor Edwin Booth who was internationally known for his performance as Hamlet . Booth played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1865 (with

13871-414: The musical at least three times. In the episode " Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows ", Lois chastises Brian's high standards in a spoof of "Piano Lesson". In another episode, " Patriot Games ", Peter showboats after scoring a touchdown by leading a stadium full of people in a rendition of " Shipoopi ", complete with choreography from the film. In Episode 22 of Boston Legal , "Men to Boys", Alan Shore sings

14014-536: The musical. "Till There Was You" was covered by Anita Bryant in 1959 as a single for Carlton Records , reaching No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 . The Beatles covered "Till There Was You" on their 1963 album With the Beatles (issued on Meet the Beatles! in the United States). Rosemary Willson later told The New York Times that her husband's estate had received more money from the royalties of

14157-420: The next sixteen years. However, smaller vaudeville and variety houses proliferated, and Off-Broadway was well established by the end of the nineteenth century. A Trip to Coontown (1898) was the first musical comedy entirely produced and performed by African Americans in a Broadway theatre (inspired largely by the routines of the minstrel shows ), followed by the ragtime -tinged Clorindy: The Origin of

14300-557: The number of potential patrons for the growing number of theatres increased enormously. Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences, leading to better profits and improved production values. As in England, during the latter half of the century, the theatre began to be cleaned up, with less prostitution hindering the attendance of the theatre by women. Gilbert and Sullivan 's family-friendly comic opera hits, beginning with H.M.S. Pinafore in 1878, were imported to New York (by

14443-598: The original sketches, generally running about 10 to 20 minutes, shorter than the later one-season half-hour series episodes and 1960s hour-long musical versions. However, she was abruptly dropped from her role due to being blacklisted and was replaced by Audrey Meadows . Rather than acknowledge that she was blacklisted, her producers explained that her departure was based on alleged heart problems. Kelton and her husband had been listed in Red Channels , an early 1950s publication of alleged communists or fellow travelers in

14586-556: The performers, or temporary availability of a theatre between the end of one production and the beginning of another. However, some shows with planned limited engagement runs may, after critical acclaim or box office success, extend their engagements or convert to open-ended runs. This was the case with 2007's August: Osage County , 2009's God of Carnage , 2012's Newsies , and 2022's Take Me Out . Historically, musicals on Broadway tend to have longer runs than "straight" (i.e., non-musical) plays. On January 9, 2006, The Phantom of

14729-468: The plays of George Bernard Shaw , and Katharine Cornell in such plays as Romeo and Juliet , Antony and Cleopatra , and Candida . In 1930, Theatre Guild 's production of Roar, China! was Broadway's first play with a majority Asian cast. As World War II approached, a dozen Broadway dramas addressed the rise of Nazism in Europe and the issue of American non-intervention. The most successful

14872-423: The production plays), meaning that the length of their presentation is not set beforehand, but depends on critical response, word of mouth, and the effectiveness of the show's advertising, all of which determine ticket sales. Investing in a commercial production carries a varied degree of financial risk. Shows need not make a profit immediately; should they make their "nut" (weekly operating expenses), or lose money at

15015-645: The productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein , became enormously influential forms of American popular culture " and contributed to making New York City the cultural capital of the world . New York City's first significant theatre was established in the mid-18th century, around 1750, when actor-managers Walter Murray and Thomas Kean established a resident theatre company at the Theatre on Nassau Street in Lower Manhattan , which held about 280 people. They presented William Shakespeare 's plays and ballad operas such as The Beggar's Opera . In 1752, William Hallam sent

15158-509: The ranks... and I'm not resigning without my commission". He returns to Marian, who tells him that she's known since three days after he arrived that he is a fraud. (Harold earlier claimed to have graduated from the Gary Conservatory in 1905, but Gary, Indiana, was not founded until 1906.) Because she loves him, she gives him the incriminating page out of the Indiana State Educational Journal . She leaves, promising to see him later at

15301-531: The run ending just a few months before Booth's brother John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln ), and would later revive the role at his own Booth's Theatre (which was managed for a time by his brother Junius Brutus Booth Jr. ). Other renowned Shakespeareans who appeared in New York in this era were Henry Irving , Tommaso Salvini , Fanny Davenport , and Charles Fechter . Theatre in New York moved from Downtown gradually to Midtown Manhattan , beginning around 1850, seeking less expensive real estate. At

15444-491: The school board tries to collect Harold's credentials again, but he gets them to sing again and slips away ("Lida Rose"). Marian, meanwhile, is sitting on her front porch thinking of Harold ("Will I Ever Tell You?"). Winthrop returns home after spending time with Harold and tells Marian and Mrs. Paroo about Harold's hometown ("Gary, Indiana"). As Marian waits alone for Harold, traveling salesman Charlie Cowell enters with evidence against Harold, hoping to tell Mayor Shinn. He only has

15587-494: The school gym while the school board practices their quartet ("It's You") for the ice cream social . Marcellus and the town's teenagers interrupt the ladies' practice, taking over the gym as they dance (" Shipoopi "). Harold grabs Marian to dance with her, and all the teenagers join in. At the end of the dance, the Mayor angrily denounces Tommy's relationship with his daughter. Regarding Winthrop's cornet, Marian later questions Harold about his claim that "you don't have to bother with

15730-473: The season. This is done in order to maximize access to their target audience. Most Broadway producers and theatre owners are members of The Broadway League (formerly "The League of American Theatres and Producers"), a trade organization that promotes Broadway theatre as a whole, negotiates contracts with the various theatrical unions and agreements with the guilds, and co-administers the Tony Awards with

15873-743: The show to Broadway in his book But He Doesn't Know the Territory . The character Marian Paroo was inspired by Marian Seeley of Provo, Utah , who met Willson during World War II , when Seeley was a medical records librarian. In the original production (and the film), the School Board was played by the 1950 International Quartet Champions of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA),

16016-652: The sight of their children playing music. Even Mayor Shinn is won over, and, as the townspeople cheer, Harold is released into Marian's arms ("Finale"). Notes: As this musical concerns a marching band , the orchestration for several of the numbers includes band instruments. "Lida Rose" and "Will I Ever Tell You", sung first separately and then simultaneously, are examples of Broadway counterpoint (songs with separate lyrics and separate melodies that harmonize and are designed to be sung together). Similarly, "Pickalittle" and "Good Night Ladies" are also sung first separately, and then in counterpoint. Willson's counterpoint

16159-544: The songs aren’t really suited for her". He concluded, however, that "the show ironically feels urgently timely." On the positive side, in Variety , Marilyn Stasio gave the production a rave review, praising all the performances, direction and designs, and calling it "vintage Broadway, but gussied up in grand, glorious style". It was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, but it did not win any. A special Theatre World Award for "Outstanding Ensemble"

16302-429: The stage and announces to the townspeople that he will prevent "sin and corruption" from the presence of the pool table by forming a boys' band ("Ya Got Trouble [reprise]/ Seventy-Six Trombones "). Mayor Shinn, who owns the billiard parlor, tells the bickering school board to get Harold's credentials, but Harold gets them to sing as a Barbershop Quartet to distract them ("Ice Cream/Sincere"). Harold also sets up Zaneeta,

16445-470: The stage for 657 performances. Chinatown itself was surpassed by the musical Irene (1919) in 1921 as the longest-running Broadway musical, and even earlier, in March 1920, by Lightnin' (1918) as the longest-running Broadway show. In 1896, theatre owners Marc Klaw and A. L. Erlanger formed the Theatrical Syndicate , which controlled almost every legitimate theatre in the U.S. for

16588-434: The term "Broadway theatre" is used predominantly to describe venues with seating capacities of at least 500 people. Smaller theaters in New York City are referred to as off-Broadway , regardless of location, while very small venues with fewer than 100 seats are called off-off-Broadway , a term that can also apply to non-commercial, avant-garde , or productions held outside of traditional theater venues. The Theater District

16731-423: The theatre and the third as a secretary. A federal census taker canvassing Manhattan that year concisely identified Kelton in his enumeration ledger as "Actress, Theatre & Movies" and recorded her given age as only 28, although in the spring of 1940 Kelton was actually 32 years old. If not a mistake in documentation, it is possible that Kelton herself, feeling the pressures to maintain a youthful profile within

16874-534: The theatres. Since colored bulbs burned out too quickly, white lights were used, and Broadway was nicknamed "The Great White Way". In August 1919, the Actors' Equity Association demanded a standard contract for all professional productions. After a strike shut down all the theatres, the producers were forced to agree. By the 1920s, the Shubert Brothers had risen to take over the majority of the theatres from

17017-481: The theatrical producer and director who established The Public Theater , led the "Save the Theatres" campaign. It was a not-for-profit group supported by the Actors Equity union to save the theater buildings in the neighborhood from demolition by monied Manhattan development interests. Papp provided resources, recruited a publicist and celebrated actors, and provided audio, lighting, and technical crews for

17160-461: The time, the average age of theatergoers was 40.4; nearly two-thirds of the audience were women; and 29% identified as a racial minority. The classification of theatres is governed by language in Actors' Equity Association contracts. To be eligible for a Tony, a production must be in a house with 500 seats or more and in the Theater District, which are the criteria that define Broadway theatre. Off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway shows often provide

17303-475: The time. For example, in making his pitch, Harold Hill lists popular musicians and composers: Gilmore , Pat Conway , Giuseppe Creatore , W.C. Handy and John Philip Sousa . Some of the cultural references are anachronistic: "Trouble" contains references to both Captain Billy's Whiz Bang , a monthly humor magazine that did not begin publication until October 1919, and the nonalcoholic " near-beer " Bevo , which

17446-509: The town. Marcellus tells Harold that the only person who might expose him is the only trained musician in town, Marian Paroo, the librarian who gives piano lessons. He also informs Hill that a new pool table was just delivered to the town's local billiard parlor so, to launch his scheme, Harold convinces River City parents of the "trouble" that can come from a pool table in the community (" Ya Got Trouble "). Harold follows Marian home, attempting to flirt with her, but she ignores him. Marian gives

17589-729: The town. The "river" in River City is probably the Mississippi River near Davenport, Iowa : the Rock Island conductor's announcing "River City, Iowa! Cigarettes illegal in this state" implies crossing the Mississippi from Rock Island, Illinois , into Iowa. The year 1912 was a time of relative innocence, as recalled in 1957 after two world wars, the Great Depression and the arrival of atomic weapons . The musical includes numerous references to popular culture of

17732-568: The twenties, there were 70–80 theaters, but by 1969, there were 36 left. During this time, many Broadway productions struggled due to low attendance rates, which resulted in perceived mediocrity among such plays. For this reason, the Theatre Development Fund was created with the purpose of assisting productions with high cultural value that likely would struggle without subsidization, by offering tickets to those plays to consumers at reduced prices. In early 1982, Joe Papp ,

17875-406: The untrue rumors he's heard about her, she convinces herself that Charlie invented everything he told her. They agree to meet at the footbridge, where Marian tells him the difference he's made in her life (" Till There Was You "). Marcellus interrupts and tells Harold that the uniforms have arrived. He urges Harold to take the money and run, but Harold refuses to leave, insisting, "I've come up through

18018-568: The vein of Victor Herbert. Live theatre has survived the invention of cinema. Leaving these comparatively frivolous entertainments behind and taking the drama a step forward, Show Boat premiered on December 27, 1927, at the Ziegfeld Theatre . It represented a complete integration of book and score, with dramatic themes, as told through the music, dialogue, setting, and movement, woven together more seamlessly than in previous musicals. It ran for 572 performances. The 1920s also spawned

18161-674: The voices of five different radio characters on The Milton Berle Show . She was also a regular cast member of The Henry Morgan Show ; and in the early 1950s, she performed the role of the tart maid Agnes in the Monty Woolley vehicle The Magnificent Montague , along with reprising her Berle show role of Martha Harrison, who never said anything but "Yeeessss!" Kelton appeared in Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt , first aired January 26, 1951, hosted by Henry Morgan , and with Kaye Ballard , Art Carney , and Arnold Stang . Kelton

18304-692: The war's end, theatre resumed in 1798, when the 2,000-seat Park Theatre was built on Chatham Street on present-day Park Row . A second major theatre, Bowery Theatre , opened in 1826, followed by others. By the 1840s, P.T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in Lower Manhattan. In 1829, at Broadway and Prince Street, Niblo's Garden opened and soon became one of New York's premier nightspots. The 3,000-seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non-musical entertainments. In 1844, Palmo's Opera House opened and presented opera for only four seasons before bankruptcy led to its rebranding as

18447-500: The world, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts uses songs from the show, including " 76 Trombones " and "Wells Fargo Wagon". Bill Hayes parodied "Rock Island" in a 1959 industrial musical Good News About Olds written by Max Hodge , with Oldsmobile product terminology serving as the "whatayatalk". The North Iowa Band Festival in Mason City, Iowa , is a yearly event celebrating music with a special emphasis on marching bands. Willson returned several times to his home town of Mason City during

18590-505: Was Lillian Hellman 's Watch on the Rhine , which opened in April 1941. After the lean years of the Great Depression , Broadway theatre had entered a golden age with the blockbuster hit Oklahoma! , in 1943, which ran for 2,212 performances. According to John Kenrick 's writings on Broadway musicals, "Every season saw new stage musicals send songs to the top of the charts. Public demand,

18733-539: Was 14.77 million in 2018–2019, compared to 13.79 million in 2017–2018. The average age of the Broadway audience in the 2017–18 theater season was 40, the lowest it had been in nearly two decades. By 2018, about 20% of Broadway tickets were sold to international visitors, although many visitors reported not being able to use their tickets. In 2022–2023, the first full season since the COVID-19 pandemic, Broadway theaters sold 12.3 million tickets, of which 35% were to local residents and 17% to international visitors. At

18876-644: Was a 50-performance hit called The Elves in 1857. In 1870, the heart of Broadway was in Union Square , and by the end of the century, many theatres were near Madison Square . Theatres arrived in the Times Square area in the early 1900s, and the Broadway theatres consolidated there after a large number were built around the square in the 1920s and 1930s. New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London, but Laura Keene 's "musical burletta" The Seven Sisters (1860) shattered previous New York records with

19019-504: Was a native of Canada; her father, Edward Kelton, a native of California. Kelton was reportedly named by her aunt, who suggested the name "Pert" to her mother after her favorite theatrical role, the character "Pert Barlow" in a play called Checkers . In 1910, while accompanying her parents and sister on an overseas tour of shows, she debuted on stage at the age of three in Cape Town , Union of South Africa . Upon her return to

19162-642: Was a young comedienne in A-list movies during the 1930s, often portraying the leading lady's wisecracking friend. She had a memorable turn in 1933 as dance hall singer "Trixie" in The Bowery alongside Wallace Beery , George Raft , Jackie Cooper , and Fay Wray . Directed by Raoul Walsh , the film is based on the story of Steve Brodie , the first man who reportedly jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge in 1886 and lived to brag about it. Kelton at one point in

19305-552: Was an American stage, movie, radio, and television actress. She was the original Alice Kramden in The Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason . During the 1930s, she was a prominent comedic supporting and leading actress in Hollywood films such as Gregory La Cava 's Bed of Roses with Constance Bennett and Raoul Walsh 's The Bowery with Wallace Beery and George Raft (both released in 1933). She performed in

19448-512: Was first brewed in 1916. In addition, Rafael Méndez (referred to by Hill as "O'Mendez," a great "Irish" trumpeter) was six years old in 1912. The first recording of " Till There Was You " was released before the original cast album version. Promotional copies of the 45 rpm single, Capitol P3847, were released on November 26, 1957, even before the Broadway production had premiered. Produced by Nelson Riddle , it featured his orchestra and 17-year-old vocalist Sue Raney . The original cast recording

19591-528: Was mixed: on the negative side, Jesse Green, in The New York Times , declared the revival, "flat" and "old-fashioned". He criticized Jackman's "smart but strangely inward performance" and felt that Foster's witty and front-facing performance was compromised by her vocal miscasting. Johnny Oleksinski of the New York Post described the production as a "let-down", writing, "Sometimes the show

19734-756: Was nominated for eight Tony Awards but did not win any. In 2008, there was a revival at the Chichester Festival Theatre , England, starring Brian Conley as Hill and Scarlett Strallen as Marian. In 2019, a semi-staged concert production at the Kennedy Center starred Norm Lewis as Harold, Jessie Mueller as Marian, Rosie O'Donnell as Mrs. Paroo, John Cariani as Marcellus, Veanne Cox as Eulalie, Mark Linn-Baker as Mayor Shinn (a role he reprised on Broadway in 2022), and David Pittu as Charlie. A Broadway revival began previews on December 20, 2021, and opened on February 10, 2022, at

19877-600: Was presented to the 21 cast members making their Broadway debuts in the revival. An official cast recording was released on September 23, 2022. In the fall 2022 fundraising for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS , The Music Man broke the Red Bucket fundraising record by raising $ 2,002,612 toward the charity. In the early summer of 1912, aboard a train leaving Rock Island , Illinois, Charlie Cowell and other traveling salesmen debate whether modern conveniences are making their profession more difficult. "Professor" Harold Hill

20020-600: Was released by Capitol Records on January 20, 1958, in stereophonic & monaural versions and held the #1 spot on the Billboard charts for twelve weeks, remaining on the charts for a total of 245 weeks. The cast album was awarded "Best Original Cast Album" at the first Grammy Awards ceremony in 1958 and was inducted in 1998 as a Grammy Hall of Fame Award winner. In 1959, jazz composer and arranger Jimmy Giuffre released Jimmy Giuffre and His Music Men Play The Music Man , consisting of jazz arrangements of tunes from

20163-420: Was set to open in 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic . It suspended performances from December 28, 2021, through January 5, 2022, after Jackman tested positive for COVID-19. The production closed on January 15, 2023. The production was a success at the box office, taking in $ 3.5 million in ticket sales during the week of March 22, 2022, more than any show since the pandemic began. Critical reaction

20306-546: Was the original Alice Kramden in The Honeymooners comedy sketches on the DuMont Television Network 's Cavalcade of Stars . These sketches formed the eventual basis for the 1955 sitcom The Honeymooners . Jackie Gleason starred as her husband Ralph Kramden, and Art Carney as their upstairs neighbor Ed Norton. Elaine Stritch played Trixie, the burlesque dancer wife of Norton, for one sketch before being replaced by Joyce Randolph . Kelton appeared in

20449-720: Was under renovation at the time, would be renamed after actor James Earl Jones . In June 2022, the Nederlanders announced that the Brooks Atkinson Theatre would be renamed after Lena Horne , The James Earl Jones Theatre was rededicated in September 2022, while the Lena Horne Theatre was rededicated that November. Although there are some exceptions, shows with open-ended runs generally have evening performances Tuesday through Saturday, with

#232767