The Music Man

There is nothing more disarming than the gentle form of flattery that suggests our children have some unsuspected artistic talent. It is this flattery which Harold Hill (a virile baritone) employs; so cleverly that his confidence trick of posing as a Professor of Music claiming to teach boys how to play military band instruments over-night, succeeds in town after town to which he plays 'flying visits' - until he tries it in River City, Iowa.

There, after initially impressing upon all but a few die-hards, the need to give young people the sort of interests-like forming a Town Band, for instance, that will keep them off the streets, his all too expedient theories begin to be suspect, especially by Marian Paroo (soprano), the local librarian and music teacher. Because Harold falls in love with her he fails to make his usual escape by train in time to avoid confrontation with the town officials who have been tipped off about him by a rival salesman.

A demonstration is demanded of the efficacy of Harold Hill's teaching methods from the Band he has formed, and although their rendering of Beethoven's Minuet in G leaves much to be desired, the performance arouses such enthusiasm among the wishful thinking parents that he is completely exonerated.