The Music Man Revived On Broadway Starring Hugh Jackman And Sutton Foster

‘The Music Man’ is a musical based on a story of a con man by Franklin Lacey and Meredith Wilson, the latter who also wrote the book, the lyrics and created the music. The plot involves a man called Harold Hill who “poses as a boys’ band organiser and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naïve Midwestern townsfolk, promising to train the members of the new band. Harold is no musician, however, and plans to skip town without giving any music lessons. Prim librarian and piano teacher Marian sees through him, but when Harold helps her younger brother overcome his lisp and social awkwardness, Marian begins to fall in love with him. He risks being caught to win her heart.”

The show was a hit on Broadway in 1957, winning five Tony Awards, including the Best Musical award; the cast album also won the first Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album and stayed on the Billboard charts for 245 weeks. ‘The Music Man’ originally ran for 1,375 performances; though due to its success, there were many revivals that followed, such as the 1962 screen adaptation, the 1965 two-week revival, the three-week 1980 revival, and the New York City Opera revival in 1988. One of the biggest revivals included the 2000 Neil Simon Theatre one in Broadway where it ran for 699 performances.

‘The Music Man’ is now showing at the Winter Garden Theatre, having had its opening night on the 10^th of February 2022; the production was previously scheduled to start performances on the 9^th of September 2020, but due to the pandemic, it had to be rescheduled twice. Previews began in December of 2021 with casts Hugh Jackman as Hill, Sutton Foster as Marian, 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.

Produced by Kate Horton, Barry Diller, and David Geffen, and directed by Jerry Zaks with choreography by Warren Carlyle, ‘The Music Man’ features sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto, lighting by Brian MacDevitt, and sound by Scott Lehrer. The opening night drew in mixed to negative reviews so far, but as it has only just opened, the audience may or may not change their minds – only time will tell once more people have seen the musical.

Buy tickets HERE on the official site or from Broadway.com if you are nearby and would also like to see what ‘The Music Man’ is all about! Follow them on Twitter too for any additional updates about the show and its cast.