Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Unsinkable Molly Brown by Meredith Willson The Unsinkable Molly Brown [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Hollywood's version of Meredith Willson's first musical, The Music Man, a massive hit onstage, was largely faithful to the show and itself became a massively successful film. The movie adaptation of Willson's second musical, the modestly successful The Unsinkable Molly Brown, was less faithful and became a modestly successful film. Both followed the story of Molly Brown, a real historical figure who capped her rags-to-riches story by surviving the Titanic disaster. The MGM movie jettisoned stage star Tammy Grimes in favor of Debbie Reynolds, but retained male lead Harve Presnell, who made his film debut. Only four songs -- "Belly Up to the Bar, Boys," "I Ain't Down Yet," "I'll Never Say No," and "Johnny's Soliloquy" -- were retained from the 16-song show score, and they were augmented by "Colorado, My Home," a song that had been cut from the show shortly after it opened, and "He's My Friend," which Willson wrote for the film. (He also wrote a song called "Dignity," but it went unused and was never recorded.) The cuts were extreme, even including "If I Knew," the show's only real claim to a hit song. (Nat "King" Cole had scored a chart entry with it.) But the 128-minute film made up for the musical loss in production values and production numbers, and Reynolds was excellent in the frisky title role, earning an Oscar nomination. Deservedly, the movie turned a healthy profit, but it was outdistanced in a cinema year of musical blockbusters paced by Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady. The somewhat padded soundtrack album peaked just outside the Top Ten and earned periodic reissues. On November 21, 2000, Rhino, in association with Turner Entertainment, which owned the MGM film vault, reissued it in an expanded form that added 17 previously unreleased musical cues, consisting of underscoring and brief song reprises, to turn the old 40-minute LP into a 78-minute CD. In some cases, the instrumental music drew upon songs from the show score not otherwise featured in the film, such as "When Roses Bloom (The Beautiful People of Denver)." But the place to go for a complete version of the score was still the original Broadway cast album. The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Miners, brawls, pretty girls, love, romance, maritime disasters and Meredith Willson's music and lyrics – The Unsinkable Molly Brown is the rags- to-riches love story of Molly and Leadville Johnny Brown, owners of the richest mine in the U.S. at the turn of the twentieth century. A comedic, yet honest, commentary on the classes and the human spirit of the Colorado settlers, this grand musical is a tour de force with rousing and sentimental songs, as well as dances that are reminiscent of the times. This spirited tale of a legendary, real-life American original follows the exploits of Molly Brown, whose feisty determination to rise above her impoverished beginnings leads her from the backwoods of Hannibal, Missouri, to the palaces of Europe. Along the way, she marries a lucky prospector, enters the highest echelons of Monte Carlo society, survives the sinking of the Titanic and, most importantly, earns the approval that she so desperately seeks from those "Beautiful People of Denver." Funny, light, uplifting and uniquely American, The Unsinkable Molly Brown charmed Broadway and film audiences with its irresistible, outrageous title role, in the tradition of such unforgettable characters as Auntie Mame, Dolly Levi and Mama Rose, as well as Meredith Willson's rousing score, in the tradition of his immortal The Music Man . The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Debbie Reynolds, undeniably but endearingly over-the-top, gives the unforgettable The Unsinkable Molly Brown forward momentum. This rough- edged stage-to-screen musical tells the (not always true) rags-to-riches story of the unflappable Margaret Tobin, popularly remembered as the "Unsinkable" Mrs. Brown for her duties during and immediately after the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Reynolds' animated performance is potentially grating (many of her singing decisions are somewhere between vocalization and sternutation), but as the keystone of the movie and soundtrack it helps humanize Meredith Willson's uneven narrative. Meredith Willson's The Music Man is his most remembered work, and although Molly Brown does not come close to equaling its artfulness or clever phraseology there are charming themes, and lyrics by Richard Morris, to treasure. The film soundtrack opens with a rousing "Main Title" overture that sounds like it will segue into an ambitious opening number but stops short for "Belly Up to the Bar, Boys", a carousing song presented in a fashion as drunken as the voices singing it. "I Ain't Down Yet" is an enthusiastic song of Molly's aspirations, and "Colorado, My ome" is touching even to this critic from the South. The lilting "I'll Never Say No" is the sort of powerhouse love song Andrew Lloyd Webber strives for, yet Willson & Morris actually get it done (until a flashy, decidedly non-period swing version, at any rate. ). "He's My Friend" is the weakest link, with forgettable music and a surprisingly bland text. "Johnny's Soliloquy" starts as a reprise of "I'll Never Say No" before turning tragically as Mr. Brown says, in effect, No. That is it for song diversity. The lack of more original material for such a substantial score - the bulk of songs in this musical are reprises (fun ones, admittedly) - lessens the impact cinematically as well as musically. I wonder if the loss of "Dignity", a song Willson wrote specifically for the film but that the moviemakers cut before recording, is a possible cause. Predominately orchestrated by the magnificent Alexander Courage and the legendary team of Leo Shuken & Jack Hayes, the symphonic backdrop certainly never falters, but its dependence on adamantine MGM musical standards add little to the craft. The orchestra, like Reynolds, occasionally gets a bit too bold. Variations on the song score provide most of the incidental music, which contains the emotional authority one expects. There is a large amount of orchestral music here, and it gets the last word. The Denver cues are especially nice. Other benefits include Harve Presnell's masculine tones reprising his role from the stage, and Rhino Record's characteristically nice production featuring several previously unreleased tracks. I continue to wish for more behind-the-scenes shots and more detailed liner notes; Marco Polo's Classic Score releases have me spoiled. The album does come together proficiently. The Unsinkable Molly Brown is not a classic; it is a highly charismatic entertainment. It brings a broad smile to your face and gets you humming a tune or two shortly thereafter. Honestly, that is sometimes all that is needed. THEATER; 'UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN' IN DARIEN. DINNER theater need not subsist on a steady diet of tried and tired musicals. Such establishments can aspire to fill the need for an ongoing musical repertory theater, instead of settling for obvious crowd pleasers. Indeed, some crowds don't necessarily know what will please them. The familiarity or implications of a title alone may draw or deter customers. What to make of ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown''? It's hardly a landmark musical, but neither is it a loser. A crowd pleaser it has the capacity to be. Commend the Darien Dinner Theater for resuscitating the show, if not for realizing it fully. Dennis Cole's production is nicely paced but imbalanced: a second act breezes by in a flash while the third lumbers a little. Add spirited choreography, set designs as attractive, if not more so, than the high visual standard already established here, and a variable cast. The result is an evening that has more highs than lulls. To get the minus side of variability over with, Paige O'Hara's Molly is more effortful than bu'yant. This is the part mythic, part factual, totally illiterate (at first), terminally resolute, almost royal and finally, of course, incurably romantic character from Hannibal, Mo., who hopes for ''someplace better, bigger, shinier.'' To Molly, that means going for dignity in Denver, where the snobs are. (Parisian aristocracy turns out to be far friendlier.) No, she ''won't settle for happiness'' - not for starters. Molly is determined to learn to read, to write and to be a lady. What she wants is, first of all, ''a man of means'' and, most of all, her ''own real brass band.'' The latter is a symbol for her temperament; the character will never really be a lady, but she is a one- woman trumpet section inside a tornado. Miss O'Hara is not. Nor can she give credence to the line, ''There's a cyclone inside of me all right.'' Molly may be unsinkable: at the end, she is literally so, as a Titanic passenger, taking charge of a lifeboat. But Miss O'Hara is indecipherable at times, assuming a dialect so thick, abrasive and speedily delivered that some key lines are lost. The role indelibly imprinted star status upon the name Tammy Grimes in 1960 and was an award-nominated cinematic vehicle for Debbie Reynolds. What Miss O'Hara has that Miss Grimes had not is a voice that is sturdy and musical enough to actually make melodic what Miss Grimes established as a quirky sort of sprechstimme. While Meredith Willson's upbeat score doesn't rank with Irving Berlin's ''Annie Get Your Gun'' - though it's just dandy in its own right - Richard Morris's story surpasses it and is considerably less sexist. Molly Brown is not so much an indomitable incarnation of as an extension of Annie Oakley. She even learns 10 languages and plays ''The Minute Waltz'' - or 10 seconds of it. Here, Mr. Morris's spoken lines lead into Mr. Willson's lyrics so naturally that suddenly there's a song upon us - like ''Beautiful People of Denver.'' And that Mr. Willson often did just that to accommodate actors rather than singers, as in the rapid patter songs of ''The Music Man,'' matters not. It comes out as naturally as it does operatically. A singer like Miss O'Hara handles the songs honorably and one as commanding as leading man, and man of means, as Michael Maguire delivers them ravishingly. As the down-home Johnny (''Leadville'') Brown from Leadville, Colo., who has money to burn (one of the book's successful and literal running references), Mr. Maguire is ideal. The part was originated, on stage and played on screen, by Harve Presnell, who last starred in the Darien Dinner Theater's ''Man of La Mancha.'' Mr. Maguire has extensive operatic credentials. In his first appearance at the Darien Dinner Theater, he handily and handsomely lives up to the trademark of a theater that has specialized in presenting voices of exceptional caliber. The dances by Vito Durante, who served as dance captain in the original Broadway production, are alternately rowdy (with lots of yays and yahoos) and lyric, ranging from hoedowns to cakewalks. ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' may be as thin as Johnny says the air is in Colorado, but it is airy and a tonic, too. Actually, the show is an almost sudden substitute for the originally scheduled ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,'' the rights to which became unavailable. Another replacement, late next season, will be ''The Vagabond King'' from Dec. 12 through Dec. 24, a slot for which ''Peter Pan'' was announced. A stage version of ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' will be seen from July 11 to Sept. 30. ''Irma La Douce'' follows from Oct. 3 to Dec. 9. MEREDITH WILLSON, THE MUSIC MAN OF MASON CITY. Robert Meredith Willson (1902-1984) was born in Mason City, Iowa and had an immensely successful career in the music and entertainment industry as a musician, composer, conductor, arranger, author, and radio personality. While growing up in Mason City, Willson showed great musical promise. After his Mason City High School graduation he went to New York City to study and before long was professionally engaged playing with John Phillip Sousa and then with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. After a stint in the Army, he began working in radio and television. In addition to composing, writing and appearing on television, Willson made concert appearances around the country with his wife Rini, herself a star in the concert, radio and opera business. Meredith Willson is best remembered for his Broadway musical “The Music Man”, for which he wrote the script, lyrics and music. This famous musical was a tribute to his hometown since the fictitious “River City”, featured in the Broadway hit, was based on places and people in Mason City. “The Music Man” became one of the five longest running musical plays in Broadway history and won several prestigious awards. The play has been revived both on Broadway and in the movies – a Walt Disney production of “The Music Man” stars Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenowetch. The Beatles even capitalized on the success of the musical with their cover of “Till There Was You.” Willson also wrote symphonies and many hit songs including “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas” and “May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You”. Other famous works by Willson include two other musicals, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” and “Here’s Love”. Meredith Willson is honored annually at the North Iowa Band Festival while The Music Man Square and Meredith Willson Boyhood Home in Mason City, stand tribute to his life and legacy. He will be remembered throughout the world for his famous melodies, but he will live on in Mason City, Iowa as “The Music Man of River City.”