TV, with a capital T, arrives in Broadway's River City

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

•	'The Music Man' 6 tonight ABC

Living in the fast-talking city world, Meredith Willson spun tales about his Iowa boyhood. Then he molded this musical about a slick huckster ready to dupe a town.

Now, after three Broadway productions and a movie, a fresh version of "The Music Man" reaches ABC tonight.

People are "very much in the mood for ... its Americana and its emotion," says producer Craig Zadan.

This version is crafted by people who grew up in New York City, including star Matthew Broderick.

"I listened to the record a lot," he says. "My father (actor James Broderick) was a huge fan so I was very aware of the music from the time I was teeny."

Director Jeff Bleckner and choreographer Kathleen Marshall are both New Yorkers.

"It's Norman Rockwell," Bleckner says of Willson's world. "It's the image of America — small towns, sewing bees, all the little things."

Still, it's meant to be slightly off-center. "It's an idealized America," Marshall says.

Willson grew up in Mason City, a northern Iowa city that now has 29,000 people.

His friend Frank Loesser (who composed "Guys and Dolls") urged him to write a musical based on those days.

The result — after eight years and 30 drafts — was a 1957 Broadway hit.

It soared with such songs as "Seventy-Six Trombones," "Trouble," "Gary, Indiana" and the sweet "Til There Was You."

Willson set it in 1912, which Bleckner finds logical.

"It was the last hurrah of the traveling salesmen who were sort of culture-bringers," he said. "These men were coming to these towns with new things, new ideas."

Willson's Harold Hill was mostly talk. He sold instruments and uniforms with the promise to mold a band. Instead, he would take the money and run.

But that was before he met Marian, the River City librarian, and her brother, Winthrop.

"It's a pretty universal story," Broderick says. "A faker comes around and meets the girl and gets his foot caught in the door."

Willson saw the strengths and weaknesses of both sides.

He loved River City, but he also mocked it. He saw Hill — scams and all — as an energizing force.

"It's a town come to life," Marshall says.

For this version, the job was to recreate River City.

"We wanted to ... reconceive it more naturalistically, less cartoony," Zadan says.

The splashy colors of many "Music Man" productions were toned down. Sets were built in Toronto, capturing the library, school and a soda shop.

For the outside views, the filmmakers found two small towns within an hour of Toronto.

"You find a street full of houses built early in the 20th century," Bleckner says. "We didn't have to make many changes."

There, he witnessed firsthand what happens when something new comes to a small town.

"We were the big event. Everyone came out to see us."

That's the impact Harold Hill has on River City — bringing fresh life. In a way, it's the effect of filming a musical, so it can be seen far from New York.

"Growing up in Oklahoma, it was very hard for me to get to Broadway to see shows," says Kristin Chenoweth, who plays Marian.

"That's one of the main reasons I wanted to do" this film.

Musicals had faded from television, before Zadan and Neil Meron produced "Gypsy," "Annie" and "Cinderella."

Now more are within reach. A fresh reproduction of "Kiss Me, Kate" reaches PBS this month (on Feb. 26). "Chicago," also produced by Zadan and Meron, is an award-winning movie.

"Something about musicals takes you to another level," says Marshall (whose brother, Rob, directed "Chicago"). "It gets you to a high that you can't get with any other media."