The Music Man

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The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson. In 1957, the show became a hit on Broadway, winning five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and running for 1,375 performances. The cast album won the first Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and spent 245 weeks on the Billboard charts.

You know how much I have missed Broadway: O Broadway, Where Art Thou?

That title was clearly motivated by:

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000 crime comedy drama musical film written, produced, co-edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It had a box office revenue of $72 million on a budget of $26 million.

You know I like the Coen Brothers: Goodfellas v Miller’s Crossing.

Now to 2022. After over two years (I saw Hadestown in 2019), it was a great pleasure – even though we had to wear a mask throughout (except when sipping wine) – to see the revival of The Music Man. The opening number – with folks singing on a train, about a conman, choreographed so well – was magnificent and I felt that it alone was well worth the price of the ticket. And, as the song ends, a passenger – who until now remained seated and silent – stands up, to a long standing ovation by the audience:

Hugh Jackman!

If you have not seen it, here is a gem of a movie with him (you know I like Christopher Nolan too!):

The Prestige is a 2006 mystery thriller film directed by Christopher Nolan. The film stars Hugh Jackman as Robert Angier and Christian Bale as Alfred Borden. It also stars Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine, Piper Perabo, Andy Serkis, Rebecca Hall, and David Bowie as Nikola Tesla. It grossed $109 million worldwide against a production budget of $40 million. It received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography.

Hugh Jackman was very good in The Music Man, as was his co-star Sutton Foster – a CMU alumna! – who has been nominated for a Tony this year (along with him, and also nominated for Best Musical Revival, Best Choreography and more, with results to be announced in June):

Best Performance of a Leading Actress in a Musical.

Beyond Foster, three other CMU alums have been nominated for Tony Awards this year:

Four Carnegie Mellon Alumni Nominated for Nine Tony Awards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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