The Music Man (2003 film)

The Music Man
DVD cover
Genre	Musical romance
Directed by	Jeff Bleckner
Produced by	John M. Eckert
Written by	Sally Robinson Based on The Music Man by Meredith Willson Franklin Lacey
Starring	Matthew Broderick Kristin Chenoweth Debra Monk
Music by	Danny Troob Songs: Meredith Willson
Editing by	James Chressanthis
Country	United States
Language	English
Original channel	ABC
Release date	February 16, 2003 (2003-02-16)
Running time	150 minute

The Music Man is a 2003 American television film directed by Jeff Bleckner and starring Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth.

The television production, which was broadcast by ABC on the February 16, 2003 edition of The Wonderful World of Disney, is based on the book of the 1957 stage musical by Meredith Willson, which was based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The musical was adapted for television by Sally Robinson.

The three-hour presentation was watched by 13.1 million viewers, with a 3.8 rating/9 share in adults aged 18–49. It finished second in the first two hours and fourth in the final hour.

Plot

Professor Harold Hill, a con artist who makes a living by selling instruments and uniforms to aspiring musicians he fails to teach once they are delivered, sets his sights on the naive citizens of River City, Iowa as his latest targets. With the assistance of former sidekick Marcellus Washburn, who now is living in the rural town, Harold convinces the residents their only hope of saving their sons from the corruption of the local pool hall is to allow him to create a marching band and help them develop their musical talents.

Suspicious of Harold's claim that he has a degree from the Gary Conservatory of Music, Class of '05, prim and proper town librarian and piano teacher Marian Paroo begins to investigate his background, much to the dismay of her mother, who hopes by participating in the band, Marian's younger brother Winthrop will overcome the shyness he suffers as the result of a pronounced lisp. Marian tries to enlist the aid of Mayor Shinn, whose wife Eulalie and her friends always have looked askance at Marian due to her relationship with a man who left the library building to the town but all its contents to Marian. Mayor Shinn appoints four city councilmen to look into Harold's past, but they fall under his spell when he encourages them to emulate a barbershop quartet and never quite manage to see his alleged credentials. By the time Marian uncovers the truth about Harold, she has fallen in love with the con artist and he in turn - much to his surprise - feels the same way about her.

Production

Although Variety reported Sarah Jessica Parker was being considered for the role of Marian, it ultimately went to Kristin Chenoweth.

The film was shot in Millbrook, Milton, Uxbridge, and Toronto in Ontario, Canada.

Cast

• Matthew Broderick as Professor Harold Hill
• Kristin Chenoweth as Marian Paroo
• Debra Monk as Mrs. Paroo
• Cameron Monaghan as Winthrop Paroo
• Clyde Alves as Tommy Djilas
• Cameron Adams as Zaneeta Shinn
• Megan Moniz as Amaryllis
• Linda Kash as Alma
• Victor Garber as Mayor Shinn
• Molly Shannon as Mrs. Eulalie Mackechnie Shinn
• David Aaron Baker as Marcellus Washburn
• Patrick McKenna as Charlie Cowell

Song list

• "Rock Island"
• "Iowa Stubborn"
• "Ya Got Trouble"
• "Piano Lesson"
• "Goodnight, My Someone"
• "Got Trouble (Reprise)/Seventy Six Trombones"
• "Sincere"
• "The Sadder But Wiser Girl"
• "Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little/Goodnight Ladies"
• "Marian the Librarian"
• "Gary, Indiana"
• "My White Knight"
• "Wells Fargo Wagon"
• "It's You"
• "Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little (Reprise)"
• "Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You"
• "Gary, Indiana (Reprise)"
• "Shipoopi"
• "Till There Was You"
• "Seventy Six Trombones (Reprise)/Goodnight, My Someone (Reprise)"

"My White Knight", which had been replaced by "Being in Love" in the 1962 film, was reinstated for the television production.

Critical reception

Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle called it "passable entertainment" with "strong production values, excellent costumes and art direction, and a rich color palette that conjures cozy notions of small-town America in the early 20th century," but he felt it "never matches the 1962 film with its classic performance by the late Robert Preston. It was Preston . . . who galvanized The Music Man with his vibrant, masculine authority . . . Broderick, by comparison, is cute, wide-eyed, a bit squishy and about as dynamic and intimidating as Winnie the Pooh. His singing is adequate, his dancing heavy and forced . . . Meron and Zadan, who also produced the successful TV version of Annie in 1999 and the excellent Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows in 2001, have developed a winning formula for quality television movies with bigger-than-usual budgets. The Music Man, handsome but misbegotten, doesn't match their usual standard."

Writing for the New York Times, Michele Willens noted, "In The Music Man, Ms. Chenoweth finally gets a television part worthy of her talent," and she called the dances choreographed by Kathleen Marshall "inventive."

Awards and nominations

The production was nominated for five Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Choreography and Music Direction and Outstanding Art Direction, Costumes, and Single Camera Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie.

Jeff Bleckner was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Television Film but lost to Mike Nichols for Angels in America.

DVD release

Walt Disney Home Entertainment released the film in anamorphic widescreen format on Region 1 DVD on November 11, 2003. Bonus features include interviews with members of the cast and creative team.

See also

The Music Man (1962 film), the previous film adaptation of the musical.

External links

• The Music Man (2003) at the Internet Movie Database
• The Music Man at Rotten Tomatoes