Meredith Willson's The Music Man - Broadway Musical Soundtrack & Sheet Music | Perfect for Theater Lovers, Music Teachers & Broadway Fans

When I was in the eighth grade, my high school put on a production of "The Music Man". While it wasn't the first musical I had ever seen on an actual stage (that honor went to my high school's production of "My Fair Lady" the year before), "The Music Man" quickly became one of my favorites and still remains so. The songs seemed so unusual to me as to be almost magical: the vocal trickery of "Rock Island"; the seamless blending of "Lida Rose" and "Will I Ever Tell You"; the folksy humor and give-and-take of "If You Don't Mind My Saying So". It was just like nothing I had ever seen before. My enjoyment of this music was also in large measure enhanced by a music teacher in eighth grade who set aside a class period to play us the soundtrack and, most importantly, EXPLAIN IT! His footnotes still sometimes run through my head when I listen to the Broadway soundtrack, which I promptly went out to buy after seeing that high school production.Yet, when I watched the 1962 film version with Robert Preston, I came away rather disappointed. Over time, and several retries at viewing this movie (most recently on Turner Classic Movies), I've concluded that film seems to suffer from what so many other film adaptations of musicals from that time also suffer from: making changes in all the wrong places. In this case, they add scenes that are unnecessary and distracting (the scene at the beginning with Mrs. Shin in the lbrary is an example). The filmmakers also seemed to miss golden opportunities that would have made for good use of film (the performance of "Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You" is a static, almost split screen presentation and has a rather blah production value). And what's up with the lights going off in the background during some songs?! This isn't the stage, it's film!So when I started watching the 2003 TV remake of "The Music Man" with Matthew Broderick, I was hoping it would not be a disappointing retread of 1962. I didn't have much to worry about though; when it originally aired in the winter of 2003, a winter storm knocked out my cable after the first 20 minutes and I didn't get a chance to see the rest of it. Thinking for many years this movie was lost to the land of "TV never to be aired again", I was delighted to see it show up earlier this year on the Hallmark Channel, and even more pleased to find it had been released on DVD.Simply put, the 2003 production does what the 1962 film should have done. It's production value is far more imaginative and makes excellent use of film technique and imagery. River City seems much more like a city; the people more two-dimensional and real. There's an overall sense of fun here that was missing in 1962. The performances from Broderick and, most importantly, Kristen Chenoweth, really help elevate this movie to being something so much better than the original. Chenoweth especially shines in this production with "My White Knight", a song originally cut from the 1962 film (yet another strike against the original film). The dance numbers are much more energetic and fun to watch, especially during "Marian The Librarian". I especially like this number's added bonus: Chenoweth going up a straircase with Broderick being at the bottom only to show up ahead of her at the top of the stairs in the very next cut. The look Chenoweth gives to the camera is priceless! Yet, many of the dance numbers in 1962 seem stilted and programmed, and none more so than this song.Another quality that makes 2003 superior to 1962 is that of casting. While the casting in 2003 may not boast high star quality (it was for TV after all), it does match actors that are well suited for their characters. Besides Broderick and Chenoweth, Victor Garber is delightful as Mayor Shin, especially in his attempts at dancing and public speaking. Molly Shannon also turns out to be an excellent fit in the role of Mrs. Shin, and this is perhaps the true surprise of the 2003 version.By comparison, Shirley Jones and Ron Howard being in the 1962 film makes it look (in hindsight anyway) of a TV special from the 1960s gone all wrong. Buddy Hackett also doesn't bring much to the table; he was a funny comedian, but he was more suited for "The Love Bug" films or "Mad, Mad World" where his comic talent was put to far better use. His humor is almost nonexistant in the 1962 production, and his performance suffers for it. The only casting decisions they seemed to get right in 1962 was including Robert Preston and Pert Kelton, both holdovers from the Broadway production. Preston's contributions have been noted in other reviews here, but I always felt Kelton especially is about the only thing worth watching from the original film. Her snarkiness with Marian is worth being put on film; if only it could have been part of a far better production.When it comes to the original Broadway production, I'm content in believing you had to be there to see it firsthand. The 1962 film just doesn't capture the magic that made "The Music Man" such a huge Broadway hit. While the 2003 version isn't the original, it makes up for it by being far more entertaining and engaging. It is a joy to finally have a film version of "The Music Man" that makes me feel some of the magic I felt watching it that first time in my high school auditorium.