Pages From the Music Man Study Guide2_Student Introduction

7/28/2019 Pages From the Music Man Study Guide2_Student Introduction

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Play Synopsis

The Music Manbegins in River City, Iowa on July 4th, 1912. Severalsalesmen are passing through town on a train, spending their time

arguing about the ins and outs of the business. As the train pulls into

the station our hero, Harold Hill, leaves the group in order to give Iowa

a try.

The citizens of River City come into the Town Square and sing about

their stubborn Iowan ways. This sets the temperament of the town

giving Harold a big obstacle to overcome. Realizing that he wont be able

to use his regular routine on these people, Harold decides to use one of

their own activities against them pool. The citys Mayor has just

opened up a new pool parlor and Harold captures the towns attention

by telling them theyve got trouble right here in River City! With a

capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for Pool. The stage

is set for Harold to reveal his sales pitch.

The replacement for pool is to be the creation of an all boys band.

Harolds scam is to sell the instruments and band uniforms and skip

town. Only one person in thetown seems to know what hes up to and

its the person he desires to convince the most Marian the librarian.

With Harolds visit in town everything begins to change. Through music

he breaths new light and excitement into a town that was once dull and

drab.

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Characters

Harold Hill: A dynamic con-man who comes

to River City, Iowa with the intention ofdeceiving the town and getting rich from

the profits.Marian Paroo: The local librarian who

is skeptical of Harold Hills scheme.

Winthrop Paroo: The younger brother of

Marian and afflicted with a lisp. He

develops a friendship with Harold who

helps him to overcome his fathers death.Mrs. Paroo: Marian and

Winthrops mother. A caringand devoted Irish mother

who wants nothing but the

best for her children.

Mayor Shinn: A blustery

politician whose business i

being ruined by Harold Hil

Eulalie Shinn: The Mayors wife and chief

gossip in the town.

Marcellus: A former con-man

who now lives in River City. He

is Harolds friend from years

past.

Amaryllis: A young piano

student of Marians.Tommy: The boy from

the wrong side of the

tracks. He is secretly

dating the Mayors

daughter, Zaneetha.

Charlie Cowell: A rival

salesman who is on a mission

to expose Harold Hills

scheme.

The Barbershop

Quartet: A group of

four school board

members, who until

Harold Hill taught

them how to sing,

were the worst of

enemies.

The Pick-a-little

Ladies: Eulalies

friends who join

gossip with her.


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A Childs Life in IowaIn the early 1900s, out of 122 families in Cerro Gordo County (where Mason City

is located) 111 were farmers. Farming was hard work, with long days and little money.

Every member of the family had responsibilities. Children started working on the farm

when they were about six or seven years old. Before

walking or riding horseback to school each day,

children had to get up early and do their chores--

milking cows, harnessing horses, gathering eggs,

cleaning the outhouse, washing clothes, and more.

Days could start as early as 3:00 or 4:00am and end after dark. Work and play revolved

around the seasons. Springtime meant additional chores like feeding newborn calves,

piglets, and lambs.

Meredith Willsons autobiographyAnd There I Stood with My Piccolo describes

what farm life sounded like in Mason City growing up. These are some of the

descriptions that he gave:

Mamma scraping burnt toast, the front door opening in the winter and the screen door

slamming in the summer, The Derby hitting the newel post (tall post at the head or foot of a

stair, supporting the handrail), Toreador Song from Carmen on the music box, walking horseson the street, Mamma playing the piano on Sundays (usually Jesus wants for me a Sunbeam

or The Church in the Wildwood), snow being shoveled off the walk-way by a big tinny snow-

shovel, lawn mowers that were with or without canvas bags, autumn sounded like the coal

going down the chute into the coal-bin, spring sounded like the click of a peewee dropped into

the marble box, summer mornings sounded like the beating of rugs and washtub handles

hitting the sides of a tub filled with ice and covered with an old carpet and summer evenings

sounded like coleslaw chopping in a wooden bowl and a wooden potato masher pounding beef,

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smooth roller skates on new concrete and rough roller skates where the cement was old and

coarse, the soft-water pump in the cellar pumping its hundred strokes, the milk wagon, after

school it school it was sounds of erasers being banged together and the squish of a soundless

door to the public library, there were gloomy sounds also like the shaking down of ashes out of

the grate down to the cellar and of course the school bell, you could also always here the 6 o

clock train whistle.

Education

Due to the new ease of access to goods and services, education became more

important for the students living in rural areas.

Many times schoolhouses were far away and

nearly impossible to reach on foot. Also, most of

the country schools only went up to the eighth

grade and the high schools were located within

the towns. The automobile made it simple for

children to get to school and receive a higher education.

The schools that many children attended were one room school houses. Before

the Model T Ford it was important to many parents that schoolhouses were close to

their homes; when they were too far they would arrive in a horse and buggy. By the

time autos arrived many of the schoolhouses were consolidating, leaving them more

spaced out and harder to access without an automobile. The first teachers in Iowa

were men, but during the Civil War they were needed for military duty and thus women

became commonplace in the schools. The Women teachers usually stayed at a nearby

farm and would move from house to house throughout the school year. They would

usually teach before they were married, and retire from teaching after. Teachers were

responsible for maintaining the schoolhouses with daily chores. In the winter the

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teacher would have to arrive early in order to start a fire in the stove to heat the

classroom.

Schools were fairly simple: desks were made from logs and they used whatever

books were available. The children most often ended up learning to read from the

bible since textbooks were scarce. Books were passed around between family members,

allowing everyone the opportunity to learn.

Since there was no indoor plumbing, restrooms were outside and usually there

was one for the boys and another for the girls. Boys were usually less educated than

the girls because they needed to help out

more on the farm. Sometimes they were only

able to attend in the winter when there was

less farm work to be done at home. The

classes included reading, writing, spelling,

geography, elocution and arithmetic. A day in

a one room school house would involve many short periods. In order to keep the

students occupied a teacher would create assignments, having the students come to

the desk to recite what they had learned that day.

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Rock IslandCash for the merchandise-

Cash for the button-hooks-Cash for the cotton goods-

Cash for the hard goods-

Cash for the noggins and the piggins and the firkins

Cash for the hogshead, cask and demijohn.

Cash for the crackers and the pickles

And the fly-paper.

Look Whadayatalk, Whadayatalk

Whadayatalk, Whadayatalk, Whadayatalk.

Whered aya gitit?

Whadayatalk?

Ya can talk, ya can talk,Ya can bicker, ya can talk,

Ya can bicker, bicker, bicker,

Ya can talk, ya can talk,

Ya can talk, talk, talk, talk,

Bicker, bicker, bicker,

Ya can talk all ya wanna

But its differnt than it was.

No it aint, no it aint,

But ya gotta know the territory.

Chi, chi, chi, chi, chi, chi, chi

Why its the Model T Ford

Made the trouble,

Made the people want to go

Wanna git wanna git

Wanna git up and go

7,8,9,10,12,14,22,23

Miles to the county seat-

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

Whos gonna patronize

A little bitty two-by-four

Kinda store anymore?

Whadayatalk, Whadayatalk.

Whered aya gitit?

Not the Model T at all,

Take a gander at the store,

At the modern store,

At the present day store

At the present day

Modern departmentalized grocry store

Rock Island RapThe Music Manopens with

several salesmen on a train.

The opening musical

number Rock Island is

structured in a similar

fashion to modern day rap.

Get into small groups and

create your own Rock

Island rap.

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Pages From the Music Man Study Guide2_Student Introduction