Winthrop Paroo (from "The Music Man") didn’t always lisp
In early drafts, Marian the Librarian's little brother used a wheelchair
Here is the monthly FREE issue of The Broadway Maven’s Weekly Blast. The full paid weekly version is just $5/month or $36/year.
Shalom!
This week, The Broadway Maven looks at The Music Man.
• On Sunday, November 6 at Noon ET and Monday, November 7 at Noon and 7 pm ET there will be three trivia parties, all different, with video, audio, and recall questions. Register here.
• On Tuesday, November 8 at Noon and 7 pm ET we’ll have a class about Meredith Willson’s classic American Broadway show The Music Man. $5. Register here.
• This Weekly Blast includes:
A) a guest ESSAY by Broadway expert and adjunct faculty member Peter Filichia about the little boy in The Music Man;
B) a “Name the Show” VIDEO QUIZ;
C) a REVIEW of Antonio Banderas’s new Spanish-language original cast recording of Company;
D) a YouTube GEM about a much-honored black queer musical;
E) a SURVEY about the Tony race between The Music Man and West Side Story; and
F) LAST BLASTs about Sweeney Todd and Hair.
Peter Filichia: Of all of The Music Man’s characters, little Winthrop Paroo has the most fascinating history.
Hard as it may be to believe, Meredith Willson, the show’s creator, originally conceived the lad to be a “spastic” child in a wheelchair. He wanted everyone to know that such people are muscularly but not mentally disabled.
Producers resisted. The Music Man was a happy-go-lucky 1950s musical comedy. Nevertheless, Willson wouldn’t easily abandon his idea, and to make certain that he was giving such a child his due, he enlisted the help of Franklin Lacey, a teacher of such children.
Still, producers were reluctant.
The solution was found by happenstance. In his song “Wells Fargo Wagon” Willson had a different boy step out of the ensemble and lisp his lyrics. Once Willson realized the lisper could be Winthrop, he replaced the bigger affliction with this lesser one, and a producer signed on.
Alas, no one auditioning seemed right. Then Willson’s wife, watching the TV game show “Name that Tune,” enjoyed ten-year-old Eddie Hodges. She hoped that he’d name every tune so he’d return the following week and everyone on the creative team could see him. He did and they summoned him to audition.
What they didn’t anticipate in those days of black-and-white TV was that Hodges would have red hair – often considered the mark of an outsider, which Winthrop was. What a bonus!
Luckily, audiences now accept performers and characters with disabilities. In 2019, Ali Stroker, who uses a wheelchair, played Ado Annie in Oklahoma! and won a Tony Award.
If Meredith Willson were writing The Music Man today, his original conception of Winthrop might be in the current Broadway production.
Peter Filichia is the author, most recently, of The Book of Broadway Musical Debates, Disputes, and Disagreements.
What roles would you like to see people with disabilities play on Broadway? Explain your answers in the comments.
Broadway Maven YouTube GEM: Can you name these Broadway shows from just seeing five seconds of a single song?
REVIEW: Where you going, Company?
Barcelona. (Sort of.)
The cast album for the Spanish-language edition of Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 masterpiece is well worth listening to (it’s available for streaming on several platforms).
I’m not illiterate in Spanish (I’ve passed three of six “level tests”); nor am I fluent. Fortunately, you don’t have to be fluent to enjoy this album, especially if you already know the music for the show (people have been saying the same of the recent Yiddish-language production of Fiddler on the Roof).
Highlights include Marta Ribera as Joanne, whose “Las Pequeñas Cosas Que Hacéis Juntos“ (“The Little Things You Do Together”) and “Las Damas Que Almuerzan” (“The Ladies Who Lunch”) are appropriately biting; and the patter song “Casarse Hoy“ (“Getting Married Today“). If you thought Spanish is a fast-spoken language, you should hear it in this rapid-fire number.
The production does suffer from a major flaw, though. Both directing and starring as Bobby is Spain’s Antonio Banderas. Banderas has a rich voice (which you know if you saw the Evita movie) and good instincts, but he’s totally wrong for the part.
Company is often considered the first real “concept musical” — based around an idea rather than a plot. And that idea spotlights unmarried Bobby’s 35th birthday, and his discussions with his friends and girlfriends about whether he should — or can — get married at this stage of his life.
But Banderas is 62 years old. A Bobby who’s nearly twice the age as the one in George Furth’s book can never really explore the question the show is asking. Of course Banderas sings “Sentirse Vivo“ (“Being Alive”) with passion and verve. But an unmarried man in his sixties faces different issues, and his friends and girlfriends face a different set of challenges in giving advice.
Taking an English-language classic musical and recording it in Spanish is refreshing. Hiring a man in his sixties to play a 35-year-old character might also be refreshing, but sorry — it’s not Company.
YouTube GEM: NPR’s “Tiny Desk” concert series presents brief selections from hit Broadway shows. Here, Pulitzer and Tony winner A Strange Loop gets the Tiny Desk treatment. Probably the most moving song is from the perspective of the main character’s mother who rejects his homosexuality for religious reasons:
Join the Broadway Maven and friends for any or all of three challenging and fun FREE trivia parties at the beginning of November. Name that tune, identify the show, fill in the lyric, and much more. Lots of video clips, and as always co-host music educator Mateo Chavez Lewis will be on hand at his piano for added fun. The three parties are all different.
Warning: Broadway Maven students can be pretty fierce competitors.
ALL ACCESS Passholders do not need to register. Just show up.
The Music Man is a classic American musical that explores themes of salesmanship, love, truth, and the power of music. In classic Broadway Maven fashion, we'll look at the show's themes and structures; and co-host Mateo Chavez Lewis will be on-hand at his piano to illustrate some of the musical motifs and theory behind the show's score.
And of course, we'll enjoy selections from the show's musical numbers, including "Shipoopi," "76 Trombones"; "Trouble"; and "Marian the Librarian." $5.
ALL-ACCESS Passholders do not need to sign up or pay.
For the Music Man class, watch the video below and answer the following question in the comments below: what qualities does it take for a performer to be an excellent Harold Hill?
Note: links to register for ALL classes are ALWAYS available at TheBroadwayMaven.com.
• Sunday, November 6 Trivia Party! (Noon ET, FREE)
• Monday, November 7 Trivia Party! (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE)
• Tuesday, November 8 The Music Man (Noon and 7 pm ET, $5)
• Sunday, November 13 Hair (Noon ET, FREE)
• Monday, November 14 Hair (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE)
• Tuesday, November 15 Mamma Mia! (Noon and 7 pm ET, ALL-ACCESS Only)
• Sunday, November 20 Les Misérables (Noon ET, FREE)
• Monday, November 21 Les Misérables (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE)
• Tuesday, November 22 Gypsy (Noon and 7 pm ET, $5)
Reminder: ALL-ACCESS Passholders do not need to sign up or pay for anything. Just show up!
LAST BLAST: In Sweeney Todd, when Mrs. Lovett tells the title character , “You’re barking mad. Killing a man what done you no harm,” she’s referring to his former name, Benjamin BARKER. He’s Barker gone mad - the original barber would never have hurt someone innocent.
LAST BLAST: In the song “Sodomy” from Hair, a number of perfectly normal, even healthy sexual activities are listed: fellatio, cunnilingus, masturbation. But what about pederasty? What is another word for child abuse doing in this otherwise celebratory song about bodily pleasure? Sadly, my best guess is that the show’s authors needed a rhyme for “nasty,” and “pederasty” worked. Or at least I hope that’s what happened, because the alternative is worse.
The Broadway Maven, David Benkof, helps students further their appreciation of musical theater through his classes, his YouTube Channel, and his Weekly Blast. Contact him at DavidBenkof@gmail.com.