The Music Man is a multi award winning musical set in small town middle America in the early 1900’s. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with the cash. In River City, Iowa, prim librarian and piano teacher Marian Paroo sees through him, but when Hill helps her younger brother overcome his fear of social interactions due to his lisp, Marian begins to fall in love with Harold. Harold, in turn falling for Marian, risks being caught to win her.
In 1957, the show became an instant hit on Broadway, winning five Tony Awards, including Best Musical [outscoring West Side Story], and running for 1,375 performances. The cast album won the first Grammy Award for "Best Original Cast Album" and was number one on the Billboard charts for 245 weeks. The show's success led to revivals and a popular 1962 film adaptation with Robert Preston and a 2003 film remake with Kristen Chenoweth and Mathew Broderick. The Music Man has only twice been professionally staged in Australia the most recent being The Production Company in 2002.
OSMad has been able to secure the services of a fantastic award winning production team with Richard Perdriau as Director and Ben Hudson as Music Director and Louisa Mitchell as choreographer. Richard Perdriau is the most recent winner of the Lyrebird Award for his Direction [and Set Design] of How to Succeed Without Really Trying. Ben Hudson is a regular on the awards lists and won the MTGV award for best Musical Director for the OSMaD production of Jesus Christ Superstar and the Lyrebird award for Musical Direction for OSMaD’s Sweeney Todd.
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