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Comments: |
I also love The Music Man
and have a personal anecdote about it.
In the spring after TMM opened, Meredith Willson and his first wife
(pronounced Ree-nee but I don't remember how to spell it) came to do a
convocation at my college. Since I'd been listening to him for years on
the radio I was a huge fan of his work and was bound and determined not
to miss the chance to see him. I dragged along a 6'4", 165 lb.
stringbean of a guy I had just started dating. At that time he didn't
know there was a world outside of sports.
Willson was a delight. Music Man was so dear to his heart and he
overflowed with joy and passion for the show. He played, and his wife
sang, most of the score and it was the first time I realized that 76
Trombones and Goodnight My Someone have the same melody.
The upshot of that convocation, for me personally, is that I have
remained a dedicated fan of Meredith Willson and his music and am
forever grateful that someone like me who had no chance to get to New
York and see the show at that time finally had the opportunity to see
Robert Preston in his signature role when the show was filmed. Preston
was a delight and one of a kind and no one could have performed that
part like he did. God bless MW for sticking to his guns and insisting on
Preston.
It is almost criminal that Andrew Lloyd Webber, who was as equally
passionate about The Phantom of the Opera, has backed down on his
commitment to film it faithful to the original. He doesn't understand
why people love it so...and we've told him. He doesn't think we saw the
show in the right perspective...but we've told him we understand it
better than he does. He says he wants to change everything...and we've
told him not to change anything. He's become a whiny, waffling wimp
about Phantom and piddles and fiddles with everything else he possibly
can, which I think is his way of not facing a truth he doesn't want to
face. That truth is that he isn't going to get his way on this one, and
if he tries, the wrath of millions of fans around the world is going to
come down on his head like a load of bricks. Why can't he just respect
his own masterpiece and repay its devoted fans by giving them the movie
they are begging to see? We still have the passion for this show and its
star even if he's lost it.
Maggie
P.S. The 6'4" stringbean weighs a little more than he did in the spring
of 1958 (ahem...so do I) but we are both still huge Music Man (and
Robert Preston) fans. |