PLAY GUIDE

2018 2019

SCENE IN AMERICA

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CONTENTS About ATC ...................................................................................................................... 2

Introduction to the Play ................................................................................................ 3

Cast and Creative ......................................................................................................... 4

Historical Context: 1957 to 1912 – The Nostalgia Cycle and Music Man ................ 5

Sources........................................................................................................................... 6

References, Easter Eggs, and Glossary ....................................................................... 6

Elementary Classroom Guide ...................................................................................... 6

Secondary Classroom Guide ...................................................................................... 7

Native Gardens Play Guide by Cameron Abaroa, Education Associate

For questions about the guide, please contact cabaroa@arizonatheatre.org

SUPPORT FOR ARIZONA THEATRE COMPANY’S LEARNING

& EDUCATION PROGRAMMING The David C. and Lura M.

Lovell Foundation Dr. Mary Jo Ghory

Sue and Cliff Blinmann City of Tempe Arts and

Culture

Cox Charities at Arizona

Community Foundation

The Employee Community

Fund of Boeing Arizona

Molly and Joseph Herman

Foundation Scottsdale Cultural Council

Resolution Copper Mining Stonewall Foundation

Want to be a sponsor of ATC’s Learning & Education programming? Contact our Development

Director, Julia Waterfall-Kanter, at jwkanter@arizonatheatre.org

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ABOUT ATC

The mission of Arizona Theatre Company is to inspire, engage, and entertain –

one moment, one production, and one audience at a time.

Under new leadership – and now celebrating its 52nd-season – Arizona Theatre Company is truly

“The State Theatre.” Our company boasts the largest subscriber base of any performing arts

organization in Arizona, with more than 130,000 people each year attending performances at the

historic Temple of Music and Art in Tucson, and the elegant Herberger Theater Center in

downtown Phoenix.

Each season of carefully selected productions reflects the rich variety of world drama – from

classic to contemporary plays, from musicals to new works – as audiences enjoy a rich emotional

experience that can only be captured through live theatre. ATC is the preeminent professional

theatre in the state of Arizona. Under the direction of Artistic Director David Ivers in partnership

with Managing Director Billy Russo, ATC operates in two cities – unlike any other League of

Resident Theaters (LORT) company in the country.

ATC shares the passion of the theatre through a wide array of outreach programs, educational

opportunities, access initiatives, and community events. Through the schools and summer

programs, ATC focuses on teaching Arizona’s youth about literacy, cultural development,

performing arts, specialty techniques used onstage, and opens their minds to the creative power of

dramatic literature. With approximately 450 Learning & Education activities annually, ATC

reaches far beyond the metropolitan areas of Tucson and Phoenix, enriching the theatre learning

experience for current and future audiences.

The Temple of Music and Art: The home of

ATC productions in downtown Tucson

The Herberger Theater Center: The home

of ATC productions in downtown Phoenix

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INTRODUCTION TO THE PLAY

The MUSIC MAN

Music and Lyrics by MEREDITH WILLSON

Book by MEREDITH WILLSON and FRANKLIN LACEY

Directed by DAVID IVERS

Trouble’s comin’ … The irresistible musical tribute to the power of make-believe marches onto

the ATC stages – and into your heart – with trumpets blaring! Meredith Willson’s six-time Tony

Award®-winning musical comedy has been entertaining audiences since 1957, regaling them with

the story of Harold Hill – the double-shuffle, two-bit, thimble-rigger con artist who rolls into River

City station one hot Iowa summer. Hill is intent on swindling the small-town simpletons by turning

them against the new pool table at the local billiard hall – a problem that can, of course, only be

solved by forming a boys’ band with a wagon full of horns supplied by the swindling salesman

himself. Along the way, Hill must seduce the only person in River City smart enough to see

through his scam – librarian and music teacher Marian Paroo. By turns wicked, funny, warm,

romantic, and touching, The Music Man is American musical theatre at its best.

“This quintessential American musical connects us to our communities in fresh and imaginative

ways, and I cannot wait to share my favorite musical on our Arizona stages.” – David Ivers, ATC

Artistic Director

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CAST AND CREATIVE CAST

John Hutton* Charlie Cowell Manna Nichols* Marian Paroo

Armen Dirtadian * Conductor / Constable

Locke

Peggy O’Connell* Mrs. Paroo

Bill English* Harold Hill Allison Jennings Amaryllis

Danny Scheie* Mayor Shinn Nathaniel Wiley Winthop Paroo

Lawrence E. Street* Ewart Dunlop

Leslie Alexander* Eulalie Mackecknie

Smith

Jay Garcia* Oliver Hix Carly Natalia

Grossman Zaneeta Shinn

George Slotin* Jacey Squires Amy Button Gracie Shinn

James Zannelli* Olin Britt Brenda Jean Foley* Mrs. Squires

John Plumpis* Marcellus Washburn Cyndey Trent* Maud Dunlop

Kyle Coffman* Tommy Djilas Kara Mikula* Ethel Toffelmier

Chanel Bragg Alma Hix Adia Bell River City Townsperson

EJ Dohring River City Townsperson Jules Grantham River City Townsperson

Damon Martinez River City Townsperson Gabriella Martinez River City Townsperson

Jacob Martinez River City Townsperson Connor Morley River City Townsperson

Shaun-Avery Williams River City Townsperson

CREATIVE

David Ivers Director

Jaclyn Miller: Choreographer

Gregg Coffin Music Director

Scott Pask Scenic Designer

Margaret Neville Costume Designer

Philip S. Rosenburg Lighting Designer

Abe Jacob Sound Designer

Tanya J. Searle* Stage Manager

Glenn Bruner* Assistant Stage

Manager

*Denotes members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage

Managers in the United States.

Denotes artists included in the ATC’s Arizona Artists Initiative.

ARIZONA ARTISTS INITIATIVE is a new initiative that furthers ATC’s commitment to our community

and the artists who live in Arizona, were born in Arizona, return or move to Arizona, or write about

Arizona. As the Official State Theatre of Arizona, we celebrate the impact Arizona has on the arts.

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1957 TO 1912 – THE

NOSTALGIA CYCLE AND MUSIC MAN

The Music Man, first performed in 1957, became one musical in a long line of musicals that looked

back on U.S. history, in particular, the turn-of-the-century era. In fact, the 1950’s and the early

1960’s were filled with musicals, movies, and television shows all focused on this era, including

My Fair Lady, A Night to Remember, and Hello, Dolly! In fact, Meredith Wilson wrote in the

director’s note to The Music Man, “THE MUSIC MAN was intended to be a Valentine and not a

caricature (Wilson, 1957).”

For the 1950’s, straw hats, bustles, knickers, and corsets were

a recipe for success.

One of the reasons for this may be recent concepts regarding

nostalgia. In a 2012 article in The New Yorker, writer Adam

Gopnik presented a “Cycle of Nostalgia” that is followed by

popular culture (Goptik, 2012). His idea was supported by

cultural analyst Patrick Metzger. (Metzger, 2017). In their

view, every thirty to forty years, the culture looks back –

usually with rose-colored glasses – on the era that came

before.

For 2018, it’s the 80’s. The popularity of shows like Stranger

Things and G.L.O.W come to mind to support this. For the

1980s, it was the 40’s and 50’s, with shows like M.A.S.H and

Raiders of the Lost Ark. For the

1950s, the time to look back and

recall was the time right before

World War I began in 1914.

While this concept is so new that academics are just beginning to

study its accuracy, it certainly presents an interesting idea, and could

present a clue as to why the Music Man was so successful in its time

period.

The United States of the 1950’s had just gone through the most

devastating war in human history and returned victorious. Many

veterans of WWII had moved to the suburbs. The economy was

booming. But it took two World Wars to get there. So when creating

the cultural artifacts of the 1950s, it makes sense that the era’s creators

would look to the last era of relative peace to mine their stories.

So why is it important to study this cycle?

The poster for the 1957 production of The

Music Man. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.com

A photo of an American couple in

1904.

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“And so, if we can hang on, it will be in the twenty-fifties that the manners and meanings of the

Obama era will be truly revealed: only then will we know our own essence… Forty years from

now, we’ll know, at last, how we looked and sounded and made love, and who we really were.”

Which finally begs the question: what stories will be told about us in forty years?

SOURCES Goptik, A. (2012, April 23). The Forty-Year Itch. The New Yorker.

Metzger, P. (2017, February 13). THE NOSTALGIA PENDULUM: A ROLLING 30-YEAR CYCLE OF POP CULTURE

TRENDS. Retrieved from The Patterning.

Wilson, M. (1957). The Music Man .

REFERENCES, EASTER EGGS, AND GLOSSARY Hogshead – a cask or barrel, used for transporting alcohol.

Demijohn - a bulbous, narrow-necked bottle holding from 3 to 10 gallons of liquid, typically

enclosed in a wicker cover.

Flypaper - sticky, poison-treated strips of paper that are hung indoors to catch and kill flies.

Model T Ford – a car model developed by the Ford Motor Company in 1908

Tarred and feathered – a form of public humiliation in which the victim is covered in hot tar,

followed by feathers from pillows

Rode out on a rail – a form of public humiliation in which in the victim is carried out of a town

on a sharpened log

Knickerbockers – In the U.S: loose-fitting trousers gathered at the knee or calf

Captain Billy’s Whiz Bangs – a humorous magazine targeted towards young men and women

during the 1920’s. That it is used here is an anachronism.

Dime Novels - a cheap, popular novel, typically a melodramatic romance or adventure story.

Balzac – Honoré de Balzac was a popular novelist who wrote during the early 1800’s

Stereopticon - a slide projector that combines two images to create a three-dimensional effect, or

makes one image dissolve into another.

Hoodlum - a person who engages in crime and violence; a hooligan or gangster.

Buster Brown - a comic strip character created in 1902 by Richard F. Outcault.

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ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM GUIDE Discussion Questions

1. What does Harold Hill want to achieve in River City? Does he achieve it?

2. Many of the characters gossip about others in the show. How does gossip effect the way

other characters view Marian?

3. Why does Winthrop feel afraid to go to the party? How did he overcome his fear?

4. How does Harold Hill and Mayor Shinn cause the River City townspeople to change?

Classroom Activities

Become Music Men

Using one of the iconic songs of The Music Man, have students learn about the concept of

rhythm and beat by having them:

1. Clap along.

2. Have them count to four while clapping

3. Teach them the concept of a musical measure.

Picture a Story

Just like Winthrop learns to overcome his fear of being ridiculed for his lisp, have students draw

out a time that they overcame a fear.

SECONDARY CLASSROOM GUIDE Discussion Questions

1. In your opinion, is Harold Hill deserving of redemption at the end of the show? Why

or why not?

2. In your opinion, does Harold Hill change as a result of his relationship with Marian?

3. Why do you think that Meredith Wilson was trying to say with the characters of Mrs.

Shinn and the ladies group? Is that lesson still relevant today?

Classroom Activities

Forty Years from Now

Using the play and the information presented in Historical Context, have students write their

own views on what they think the people of forty years from now will view about our time?