Course Reader: Mandy's Thoughts on "The Music Man"
The OTHER required reading (or viewing rather) for the cast is The Music Man, the 1962 production starring Robert Preston and Shirley Jones (and lots of FANtastic character actors: Hermione Gingold, Pert Kelton, Paul Ford, Buddy Hackett, Mary Wickes and all those other hilarious ladies in the pack -- and little Ron Howard!). THIS movie has all of the joy and spectacle that I want from Let It Snow!, with some handy ways to sophisticate up our singing and dancing. AND, it's about someone's town. Bonus!
I know this movie reeeeeally well, but watching it again with Let It Snow! in my mind was still inspiring. One thing I really enjoyed was the way the acting, singing, and dancing all blend together: the songs all begin out of speech and slide into full-fledged song. (Well, except for "Shipoopi.") And there's dance everywhere, with all the movement highly choreographed. Teenagers chasing each other make a little dance out of it, though a song is nowhere near and they're in the background! Marian and Charley do a little back-and-forth tango when she's trying to distract him. All of Robert Preston's movements look like he could be dancing at every second -- though he's not really a very trained dancer during actual numbers, his every movement is deliberate. And all the characters are so strong and identifiable, they feel very physically real and alive, whether it's just the workaday plainness of the boys' mothers, or the sharp birdlike movements of the Pickalittle Talkalittle ladies, or the ridiculously over-grand posturing of the mayor's wife.
It's also interesting to see how environmental the songs are: they don't take place in Fantasy Musical Land of clouds and shadows, they take place where the people ARE. They dance around the statue in the town square ("Trouble"), on the courthouse steps ("Iowa Stubborn"), in the barn ("Sadder but Wiser Girl"), outside the hotel ("Pickalittle Talkalittle"), in the gymnasium ("Seventy-six Trombones"), in the library ("Marian the Librarian"). The situation in that location just becomes too strong to talk about, so they slide into singing and dancing. They remain who they are, and they're having the same conversation -- it just morphs into song. When they're done, the conversation is over!
And because the songs evolve out of conversation, the songs are *like* conversations, like the characters decide to play with one another. There's some "teaching" of songs and dances, and some back-and-forthing to guide the song along as it's being "made up" by the characters. In "Trouble," Harold Hill *gives* the choreography to the crowd and indicates what they should do when, and in "Sadder but Wiser Girl," he and Marcellus (Hackett) trade off dance steps in a little flirty dance.
The other people onstage, meanwhile, are all sucked into the dance too. They're all participating, even if it's unknowingly. Those who are in on the song often "play along" with the singer's words, like Marcellus pretending to be a girl in "Sadder but Wiser," or the kids pretending to be a marching band in "Seventy-six Trombones." Sometimes they're part of the song without really knowing it: Mrs. Paroo rocks her rocking chair in tempo with "Sweet and Low," but she's not really singing or even paying attention to the song. Marian, in "Marian the Librarian," is dancing along with the song by refusing Harold's advances -- though soon she gets absorbed into the dance and is soon leading it -- before she comes to her senses, that is.
(This is my favorite scene! Well, one of them.)
Because the whole town is often sucked into a musical number, it creates a tangible sense of community in the film. The individually identifiable characters are strong and varied, and definitely memorable (like the girl who "plays" the player piano), and we get just enough quirk from them to know who they are without too much extra. When they come together as a group, either in subgroups or as a whole town, we see them as a whole family: no matter how much they may argue and bicker, in some ways they're united. The delightful contrast between the curmudgeonly nature of some of the characters, and the earnestness with which they band together for a cause, is a feeling I'd like to absorb into our show.
Individual vs. group; singing melting into acting and dancing; songs arising from the situation; family members who argue but band together; call and response songs and dances; counterpoint songs from different points of view (Lida Rose meets Sweet and Low) - I could go on about more specific details (delightful names of people and places, glimpses of town rituals, etc) but those are pretty good points to start with, eh musicals fans?
I know this movie reeeeeally well, but watching it again with Let It Snow! in my mind was still inspiring. One thing I really enjoyed was the way the acting, singing, and dancing all blend together: the songs all begin out of speech and slide into full-fledged song. (Well, except for "Shipoopi.") And there's dance everywhere, with all the movement highly choreographed. Teenagers chasing each other make a little dance out of it, though a song is nowhere near and they're in the background! Marian and Charley do a little back-and-forth tango when she's trying to distract him. All of Robert Preston's movements look like he could be dancing at every second -- though he's not really a very trained dancer during actual numbers, his every movement is deliberate. And all the characters are so strong and identifiable, they feel very physically real and alive, whether it's just the workaday plainness of the boys' mothers, or the sharp birdlike movements of the Pickalittle Talkalittle ladies, or the ridiculously over-grand posturing of the mayor's wife.
It's also interesting to see how environmental the songs are: they don't take place in Fantasy Musical Land of clouds and shadows, they take place where the people ARE. They dance around the statue in the town square ("Trouble"), on the courthouse steps ("Iowa Stubborn"), in the barn ("Sadder but Wiser Girl"), outside the hotel ("Pickalittle Talkalittle"), in the gymnasium ("Seventy-six Trombones"), in the library ("Marian the Librarian"). The situation in that location just becomes too strong to talk about, so they slide into singing and dancing. They remain who they are, and they're having the same conversation -- it just morphs into song. When they're done, the conversation is over!
And because the songs evolve out of conversation, the songs are *like* conversations, like the characters decide to play with one another. There's some "teaching" of songs and dances, and some back-and-forthing to guide the song along as it's being "made up" by the characters. In "Trouble," Harold Hill *gives* the choreography to the crowd and indicates what they should do when, and in "Sadder but Wiser Girl," he and Marcellus (Hackett) trade off dance steps in a little flirty dance.
The other people onstage, meanwhile, are all sucked into the dance too. They're all participating, even if it's unknowingly. Those who are in on the song often "play along" with the singer's words, like Marcellus pretending to be a girl in "Sadder but Wiser," or the kids pretending to be a marching band in "Seventy-six Trombones." Sometimes they're part of the song without really knowing it: Mrs. Paroo rocks her rocking chair in tempo with "Sweet and Low," but she's not really singing or even paying attention to the song. Marian, in "Marian the Librarian," is dancing along with the song by refusing Harold's advances -- though soon she gets absorbed into the dance and is soon leading it -- before she comes to her senses, that is.
(This is my favorite scene! Well, one of them.)
Because the whole town is often sucked into a musical number, it creates a tangible sense of community in the film. The individually identifiable characters are strong and varied, and definitely memorable (like the girl who "plays" the player piano), and we get just enough quirk from them to know who they are without too much extra. When they come together as a group, either in subgroups or as a whole town, we see them as a whole family: no matter how much they may argue and bicker, in some ways they're united. The delightful contrast between the curmudgeonly nature of some of the characters, and the earnestness with which they band together for a cause, is a feeling I'd like to absorb into our show.
Individual vs. group; singing melting into acting and dancing; songs arising from the situation; family members who argue but band together; call and response songs and dances; counterpoint songs from different points of view (Lida Rose meets Sweet and Low) - I could go on about more specific details (delightful names of people and places, glimpses of town rituals, etc) but those are pretty good points to start with, eh musicals fans?
Labels: Let It Snow 2009
posted by Mandy at
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