The Music Man October 1, 2010

An affectionate paean to Smalltown, U.S.A. of a bygone era, Meredith Willson's The Music Man follows fast-talking traveling salesman Harold Hill as he cons the people of River City, Iowa into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys' band he vows to organize - this despite the fact he doesn't know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen by curtain's fall. This Tony Award-winning, critically acclaimed Broadway classic is an all-American institution, thanks to its one-of-a-kind, nostalgic score of rousing marches ('Seventy-Six Trombones'), barbershop quartets ('Lida Rose') and sentimental ballads ('Till There Was You') which have become popular standards.