Music-Man-Study-Guide-.Pdf
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PLAY GUIDE 2018 2019 SCENE IN AMERICA 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 [email protected] SUPPORT FOR ARIZONA THEATRE COMPANY’S LEARNING & EDUCATION PROGRAMMING The David C. and Lura M. Dr. Mary Jo Ghory Lovell Foundation City of Tempe Arts and Sue and Cliff Blinmann Culture Cox Charities at Arizona The Employee Community Community Foundation Fund of Boeing Arizona Molly and Joseph Herman Scottsdale Cultural Council Foundation Resolution Copper Mining Stonewall Foundation Want to be a sponsor of ATC’s Learning & Education programming? Contact our Development Director, Julia Waterfall-Kanter, at [email protected] 1 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 The Herberger Theater Center: The home ATC productions in downtown Tucson of ATC productions in downtown Phoenix 2 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 3 CAST AND CREATIVE CAST John Hutton* Charlie Cowell Manna Nichols* Marian Paroo Conductor / Constable Armen Dirtadian * Peggy O’Connell* Mrs. Paroo Locke Bill English* Harold Hill Allison Jennings Amaryllis Danny Scheie* Mayor Shinn Nathaniel Wiley Winthop Paroo Eulalie Mackecknie Lawrence E. Street* Ewart Dunlop Leslie Alexander* Smith Carly Natalia Jay Garcia* Oliver Hix Zaneeta Shinn Grossman 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. 4 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 The poster for the 1957 production of The recall was the time right before Music Man. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.com 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 A photo of an American couple in would look to the last era of relative peace to mine their stories. 1904. So why is it important to study this cycle? 5 “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