Producers announced today that the start of preview performances and the opening night of the highly-anticipated revival of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man have been rescheduled. Starring two-time Tony Award, Grammy Award, and Emmy Award-winning star Hugh Jackman as Professor Harold Hill, and also starring two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster as Marian Paroo, preview performances of The Music Man are now set to begin on Wednesday, April 7, 2021, with Opening Night scheduled for Thursday, May 20 at the Winter Garden Theatre. As a result of New York State’s ban on large gatherings, rehearsals (which were to have begun June 29), will now commence on Monday, February 8.
“Performing on Broadway is a great honor for an actor; in fact, one of the greatest,” said Hugh Jackman. “No two shows are exactly alike, in large part due to the audience. Show One is filled with anticipation, fear and excitement. It’s like an opening night eight times a week; the energy in the theater is palpable. It is those same feelings that happen every show thereafter – and you and I are going through it together. The change of dates will not take any of that away. What it will do, however, is help to ensure that The Music Man audiences, and our company, are in a completely safe environment. Can’t wait for that day!”
Producer Scott Rudin added, “We’re obviously profoundly disappointed to be unable to start rehearsals for The Music Man as scheduled. But safety is safety, and it has to take precedence over every other consideration — for both our audience and for our company. Despite the postponement, we are sticking together as a company, and we are grateful to be able to do so. And so we look forward arriving at The Winter Garden — with a beautiful, heartening Music Man in tow — at the beginning of April, and to being just one part of what we expect will once again be a vibrant and exciting Broadway.”
The production, directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks, with choreography by Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle, will also star Tony Award winner Jayne Houdyshell as Mrs. Shinn, Tony Award winner Jefferson Mays as Mayor Shinn, Tony Award winner Marie Mullen as Mrs. Paroo, and Tony Award winner Shuler Hensley as Marcellus Washburn.
One of the most universally cherished treasures of the American musical theater, The Music Man was an instant smash hit when it premiered on Broadway on December 19, 1957. It went on to win five Tony Awards, including the prize for Best Musical and ran for 1,375 performances. The original cast album held the number one position on the Billboard charts and stayed on the album charts for 245 weeks. The recording won the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Original Cast Album. The Smithsonian Institution ranks The Music Man as one of the “great glories of American popular culture.”
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