The Music Man

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The Music Man is a musical play written by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey; it premiered on Broadway in 1957.

"Professor" Harold Hill is a con man who sells musical instruments, pretending that he will teach youngsters to play them and form a town band. His plan to carry out the scam at River City, a small town in Iowa, is thwarted when he becomes attracted to Marion Paroo, the local librarian. When some of the town officials become suspicious of him, he forms them into a barbershop quartet; he gets round the ladies of the town by encouraging them to put on a concert; and he wins Marion over by his kindness towards her younger brother, Winthrop. Although she recognises his scheme, Marion falls in love with him and helps him to escape detection. Hill decides to stay in town and face the music.

The Music Man was revived in 1976 with Ian Richardson as Harold Hill.

The play has been adapted for film twice; first in 1962, starring Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold, Paul Ford, Charles Lane, and Ron Howard. This version was adapted by Marion Hargrove and directed by Morton DaCosta.

It won the Academy Award for Original Music Score and was nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color, Best Costume Design, Color, Best Film Editing, Best Picture and Best Sound.

The Music Man was adapted for the screen again in 2003, in a television movie starring Matthew Broderick, Kristin Chenoweth, and Victor Garber, directed by Jeff Bleckner.

The fictional city of River City in the musical The Music Man is loosely based on Mason City, Iowa.