The Music Man and . . . Marxism?

Having been in a production of The Music Man, I'm inclined to say that my position is a little biased. Having to sing "76 Trombones" over and over and over again with a cast that on the whole isn't *that* musically inclined can take its toll on a person. And yet, while watching it, I couldn't help but start to softly sing along with some of the tunes, and all night long when I got home I had "Till There Was You" stuck on repeat in my head.

What, really, is there to like about The Music Man, or just musicals in general? Stripped of the oh-so-realistic song and dance numbers, we've got a swindler who comes into a small town, gets everyone's money for a band he won't teach, seduces the only person in town he knows will out him, and at the end when he's exposed . . . he still has his money! I mean, okay, he did bring the Buffalo Bills - I mean, the schooboard together, and he finally made the spitting Ronny How- sorry, I mean Winthrop talk, and I guess he did get Marian to come out of her shell and go the footbridge (the hussy!), and he did give that hoodlum Tommy a purpose in life (to get it on with the mayor's daughter through the use of his big conductor's stick), and also generally uplifted the spirits of all the River City-ziens . . . but does that really make him a good guy? Well, apparently so. At least thats what Hollywood would have us believe.

Now, re-insert the song and dance numbers and it transforms this story into one great big, laughable, hug-fest. It's okay that the citizens of River City are had by Harold Hill, because man! has he got style! He's not really a swindler, he's just . . . charming and over-enthusiastic. Of course, all the trouble in town can be fixed by a marching band! Why didn't I think of that before?

There's only one explaination: false conciousness. Movie producers (and, by extension, any financial backer) want to distract the masses. All of the bad things that Harold HIll does are tinted rose-colored by the glare of the spectacle. We can forgive him, because he really is charming. You *want* to believe what he says (casting on his part, was excellent). Song and dance make light of the naughtiness. The audacity of what Harold Hill is doing is undermined by the general happiness of all the songs.

Two main messages recieved are "hey, forget about your problems, look at all the shiny pretty things here!" and "bad things can happen to good people, but they can all be fixed by breaking out into song - it could happen to you, too!" Theres really a lot of crap going on in the world, and musicals are a nice, *effective* way of presenting the problems as solvable. Are there any musicals that don't end happily? Really, are there? Don't get me wrong, I adore musicals, and I would even put myself through The Music Man again. They just don't have much other purpose than being a happy distraction.

On Musicals

SUBJECT: The Music Man

Stephen Sondheim's work, particularly the award-winning Sunday in the Park with George, continues to draw admiration from the critical and scholarly community as well as the public.

The intellectual and aesthetic value of an American classic - which continues to make its rounds of community theatres and high school stages, as well as a recent, successful Broadway revival - might not seem as self-evident. After all, Meredith Willson's The Music Man can seem like an unreflective paean to parochial small-town American life, not unlike Our Town. The Broadway revival certainly counted on nostalgia to draw its audience (like so many Broadway revivals!), and it's becoming impossible to even see the film any more without having to penetrate so many folds of Hollywood's self-reminiscent wrapping. (When I was growing up, the film would be shown on TV every year around the 4th of July - an annual television event, like The Wizard of Oz and It's a Wonderful Life.)

So what do you make of this musical? Is it substantive, or fluff? Is its strength in its ability to entertain and engage an audience? Does it aspire to any higher goal than simply telling a story with a moral? Is there poignancy in this play? Or is it a vehicle for catchy songs? What is this musical for? Why do it? Why see it?

Consider (for your meditations, if you like, and certainly for class discussion) whether this show is typical of the American Broadway musical, and how. More to the point, consider whether there is anything worthwhile to be had in watching "Seventy-Six Trombones," or in talking about it. I suspect there is ... what do you think?