The Music Man – LONDON CAST****

Overture-Rock Island/Iowa Stubborn/Ya Got Trouble/Piano Lesson/Goodnight My Someone/Seventy-Six Trombones/Sincere/The Sadder But Wiser Girl/Pick A Little Talk A Little-Goodnight Ladies/Marian The Librarian/My White Knight/Wells Fargo Wagon/Its You/Shipoopi/Lida Rose-Will I Ever Tell You/Gary Indiana/Till There Was You/Finale

The London cast musical The Music Man starred Van Johnson and Patricia Lambert. It opened at the Adelphi theatre in March 1961 and ran for 395 performances. The plot involves a con man persuading the residents of a small town that they need a boys band. Music and lyrics by Meredith Wilson. (UK:8)

“On stage, Johnson may have been able to make his Hollywood likeability work for the con man, but on record he cannot carry the score the way Preston did. As for the rest of the cast, American ears are going to keep noticing the British accents that betray themselves in songs like Rock Island, that have no place in a piece set in Iowa. But Patricia Lambert is a competent Marian the Librarian (if no Barbara Cook)."

“Van Johnson is very good and has clearly given great thought to his interpretation but he does not quite have Preston's verve. When you hear either of Preston's recordings, you feel that he sings on every number in the score. He doesn't but his presence is always felt. He performs well but there is some energy missing. Everyone manages to do more than copy the Broadway performers, proving there is more than one way to interpret these characters and this music. This makes the recording well worth buying.”

“The Music Man is a highly innovative score, more than it is usually given credit for. The opening number Rock Island is unique in musical theatre (and brilliant to boot). The use of barber's shop quartets brings something totally new and right to the proceedings and totally evokes the location and period.”

“Preston and Cook are a hard pair to top. With slightly different orchestrations the recording does have appeal. The Brits often fail at mastering the American dialects, but this is a minor flaw. I have never been a particular fan of the sarcastic Van Johnson, and in the role of Harold Hill, he lacks Preston's masterful charm and delivery. His attack is muddy and falls woefully short. Patricia Lambert, however, fares much better in the role of Marian. She doesn't match Cook's crystal delivery, but she is more than ably suited to the role.”