“The Music Man”: Midwestern Liberator of Passions

By Roland Finger
Staff Writer

This is one of the whitest plays you will ever see. Because of that, I would like to see a Professor Hill played by a black man who wants to hook up with the snow-maiden librarian. There should be a “Blazing Saddles” version of this play. But until then, I will settle for The Straw Hat Players, giving a classic rendition of Meredith Willson’s 1950’s Tony Award-winning play. Set in 1912, the musical brings us a heaping helping of Americana, hearkening back to an era of snappy dialogue, lilting songs, and bouncy dances. Director Jennifer Tuttle runs a tight show with a talented cast that has impeccable timing and flair. These actors can cut the rug and belt out a tune.

The play opens with the famous well-timed train scene, “Rock Island,” full of rhythmic, foot-tapping word play, setting the pace and tone for the rest of the musical. The traveling salesmen on the train reject a credit system and want “cash for the merchandise.” In our day of quick credit, it sounds rather quaint. Intrigued by the challenge of selling to hard-headed, straightforward, unimaginative Iowans, Professor Harold Hill decides to work River City, getting parents to buy band instruments and uniforms for their boys. What about the girls? This play is a period piece, and the assumption is that the girls will form the core audience.

The plot is very simple. Professor Hill creates a hunger for his products. This is a crash course in Marketing 101, the art of sales, and it works because these people actually have a void in their lives. The town needs a disguised dose of pop American culture. Hill preaches a Jeremiad about the dangers of the new pool table in town and how it will lead to the degeneration of the boys, who will then give into the enticements of gambling, alcohol, racy language, and loose women. Oh, shudder!

The antidote to the poison of the pool table and all that it symbolizes is simple, a boy band. (Does this play foreshadow Menudo, ’N Sync, The Backstreet Boys, The Jonas Brothers, and The Altar Boyz?) The boys will give patriotic performances, fulfilling their imaginative impulses, and most of all the parents can keep a close eye on them. Bands promote innocent discipline and pleasures. It’s perfect; only Professor Hill does not know how to teach band, so he tends to skip out of town once he collects the cash.

Mayor Shinn suspects that Hill is too smooth, fearing that the newcomer may be a swindler. Everyone gives in at times to Hill’s charisma, even Marian, the librarian/music teacher, who uncovers evidence that could spoil Hill’s plans, but she relents because she realizes that he promotes happiness, play, and ardor. Her little brother, Winthrop, who has been withdrawn since his father died opens up, bounding with energy because Hill has a way of releasing people’s pent-up urges. He is the liberator of passions, not dangerously dark ones, but fairly innocent, safe ones. He turns the bickering male school board members into a harmonizing quartet who like to sing to groups of women.

Magical shiny trombones and trumpets are Hill’s wares; they stand in opposition to his nemesis, a salesman named Charlie Cowell, who pushes anvils and squeals on Hill. It’s hard to imagine a stronger contrast: hard utilitarian anvils vs. the magic of music and spirit. The town gets excited anticipating the joys of commodity consumption, particularly the pleasure that Hill’s goods can bestow.

Is Hill really such bad guy? His instruments are not flawed or broken. He is a legitimate dealer who just isn’t so good with post-sale service. A town could theoretically find a new bandleader, once Hill disappears.

As a person from Iowa, Willson makes a general comment about mid-Westerners. He’s making fun of them for being a little too uptight and skeptical. The townspeople declare that everyone is welcome to come to their picnic and eat as much as they want, provided that each visitor only eats what he or she brings. These Iowans possess a certain small-minded selfishness. Marian dislikes that her neighbors don’t really care much about culture or deep thought. Through his play, Willson proves to be a kind of Professor Hill who wants to expand the American character, pushing his audience to dream more and be artistic and daring.

Some of the townswomen, led by the Mayor’s wife, Eulalie, perform a Hiawatha number that smacks of Native American minstrelsy and the cigar store Indian. The scene does reveal something about early 20th-century attitudes toward Natives, and I am happy when Eulalie, starting to count to twenty in “the Indian tongue,” as if all Native languages are the same, gets stunned by Tommy Djilas’s firecracker. Professor Hill plays Cupid, helping this boy from the wrong side of the tracks, Tommy, date his dream girl, Zaneeta, the Mayor’s daughter. Hill recognizes that Tommy has a lot of gumption, talent, and heart.

The play stays snappy, segueing into great song and dance numbers. Hill’s only in town for a short while so he has to expedite his relationship with Marian Paroo. The mother, Mrs. Paroo, has been pressuring Marian, saying that this may be her last chance to find a man. Amaryllis, a young music student who likes Marian’s little brother, Winthrop, admits that she pursues Winthrop because she doesn’t want to end up being an old maid like Marian. It’s funny, but the play doesn’t exactly promote healthy attitudes toward relationships. Nevertheless, we don’t really care because the play suggests that the heart finally leads in the right direction.

Hill wants people to believe in a wonderful pursuit—that “there’s always a band” ready to be great. This is American optimism, and Hill represents it.

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If You Go

What: “The Music Man”
Where: Hansen Theatre, MSUM
When: Fri, July 30, 7:30pm
Info: 218.477.2271