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Till There Was You - Two Videos ♪♫ ♫ ¢

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Videos by Professor Howdy said...: Meredith Willson's The Music Man opened on Broadway on December 19, 1957 and ran for 1,375 sensational performances. The play starred Robert Preston as the slick confidence man Professor Harold Hill, and Barbara Cook as Marian Paroo, the staid River City librarian. Professor Hill's con was simple: sell band instruments and music books to the yokels in River City with the promise of assembling a boy's band. Of course, he would have skipped town long before anyone heard a note from the band. But instead of pulling off the scam, Hill falls for Marian, and the simple pace of River City over his dubious life on the road.

"The Music Man" opened at the Majestic Theatre in New York City on December 19, 1957 and ran for a sensational 1,375 performances. The play was winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and Willson won the Best Musical Author, Best Composer and Best Lyricist honors. The original cast album won the Grammy Award (the first ever).

In 1962, The Music Man hit the big screen, and became one of the most successful musicals ever filmed. The incomparable Robert Preston was one of the few Broadway cast members to star in the movie (Pert Kelton also returned as Mrs. Paroo), and was joined by a stellar movie cast that included Shirley Jones, as Marian Paroo, Buddy Hacket as Marcellus Washburn and a very young Ronnie Howard as the "lithping" Winthrop Paroo.

The movie was filmed on am elaborate set in Hollywood that faithfully recreated Willson's hometown of Mason City, Iowa, with an eye toward the details that made turn-of-the-century rural towns the ideal that many communities still strive for. The set design allowed for the elaborate dance numbers that involved dozens of extras and dancers.

The film took over nine months to produce, with countless rehearsals of each musical scene prior to filming. Most of the vocal parts were lip-synched to separate vocal recordings, though with a precision that is nearly impossible to detect in the movie. One "secret" behind the filming is that Shirley Jones became pregnant during the production, requiring creative costuming to complete the final months of filming.

The film premiered in Mason City in spectacular fashion in conjunction with the North Iowa Band Festival. With $100,000 in financial support from the Warner Brothers studio, more than 100 marching bands from throughout Iowa and across the nation participated in a four-hour parade, and Meredith Willson personally served as the honorary band leader (above).

Many of the stars from the movie, including Preston (above), Jones and Howard, were also on hand for the parade and premiere celebration. The director, Morton DaCosta, commented on being "especially impressed by the warmth of all the people." "I love this," said guest Arthur Godfrey. And Shirley Jones, who was to make a return visit to Mason City in 1999, said, "It's all very exciting."

As for Meredith Willson himself, his reaction to the Mason City premiere was simply, "It's great, just great!"

The movie was nominated for several Academy Awards, and won for Best Musical Score. Beatle Fans may remember Paul McCartney singing the love ballad "Till There Was You" (a song from The Music Man) on their 1964 album Meet The Beatles. Willson later wrote a memoir about the making of The Music Man (But He Doesn't Know the Territory). Willson died in June 1984, and was buried in "River City", his hometown of Mason City, Iowa.

The Players:

Robert Preston

A vital, virile, exciting Broadway performer, Preston was once called, "the best American actor -- with a voice like golden thunder," by Richard Burton. The son of a garment worker and a record store clerk, he was born in 1918, and grew up in Los Angeles. He was a trained musician, playing several instruments, and in high school became interested in theater. He decided to become an actor at age 15. After studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, he became a steady, dependable performer in Hollywood films from the late 1930s. Preston became well-known after Cecil B. DeMille cast him as Barbara Stanwyck's gambler husband in Union Pacific (1939). He was almost strictly a second-lead actor for 20 years, finally breaking through to lead roles after becoming a star on Broadway in the 1950s.

For his 1957 Broadway performance - his first in a musical - as ebulliant con-artist Henry Hill in The Music Man, he won a Tony Award. He repeated the role in the screen version (1962) and it became the work for which he is best-known. Now a star of the first magnitude, Preston alternated between stage and film, winning another Tony for I Do, I Do, and appearing to enormous good effect in such films as Dark at the Top of the Stairs, The (1960), All the Way Home (1963), and Junior Bonner (1972). He received an Oscar nomination for his triumphant portrayal of a witty transvestite entertainer in Victor/Victoria (1982). He died in 1987 from lung cancer at the age of .

(source: All Movie Guide)

Shirley Jones

Shirley Jones was born in 1934, in Smithton, Pennsylvania. She was the only child born to Paul and Marjorie Jones. When Shirley was a young girl, her mother recognized that she had a natural talent in singing. Shirley Jones has never had voice lessons. She studied drama at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, and later performed with the Civic Light Opera Company. As a teenager, Shirley was crowned Miss Pittsburgh, a title that started her on her way to a career in show business.

When she was nineteen years old, Shirley auditioned for the songwriters Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Her girl next door appearance and soprano voice impressed the songwriting team. They cast her in a minor role in their Broadway production of Me and Juliet in 1953. Because of her exceptional talent, Miss Jones was signed to play the lead on tour. The following year Rodgers and Hammerstein signed Shirley to play the female lead in their film Oklahoma! From there, she was cast in the film Carousel, and in 1962, appeared as Marion Paroo, the prim librarian in the screen version of The Music Man. Jones continued to appear regularly in films through the 1960s.

In 1970, Jones went from films to television where she was cast in the show The Partridge Family which also starred her stepson David Cassidy. After the show was cancelled, Shirley Jones appeared in television movies through the 1980s.

In the early 1990's, Miss Jones went on a musical concert tour, which was quite successful. She has also made special guest appearances on television shows and has appeared in stage plays in the 1990s.

(source: allsands.com)

Buddy Hackett

The son of a Brooklyn upholsterer, baby-faced comic actor Buddy Hackett always claimed he was "born to be funny." Born in 1924, Hackett was the boy who invariably blew his lines in the Holiday pageants and the overweight teen who accidentally stuck his foot in a water bucket during his first game with the high school football team. It was while serving in the Army that Hackett met the double-talking Chinese waiter who inspired him to create the most famous of his early nightclub routines. Hackett's first stand-up gig in Brooklyn led to additional work on the New York supper club Catskill resort circuits; he also guested on a very early (1945) TV program, Laff Time.

He was signed to a Universal Pictures contract in 1953, then starred for two years in the Broadway comedy Lunatics and Lovers. He played the title role in the 1956 TV sitcom Stanley, which served to introduce Carol Burnett to American audiences. Two years later, he became a regular on Jackie Gleason's Saturday night variety series. Hackett was most active in films during the years 1958 through 1968, appearing primarily in nitwit comedy-relief roles, but also delivering a solid dramatic performance in God's Little Acre. He also appeared in Everything's Ducky (1961), The Music Man (1962), and The Love Bug (1968). In 1989, he was the voice of Scuttle in the Disney animated feature The Little Mermaid.

(source: Barnes & Noble.com)

Ron Howard

Ron Howard was born in 1954, the son of Jean and Rance Howard, both of whom were no strangers to show business. From a very young age, Ron knew he wanted to be an actor. When he was six, he won his first big acting role as Andy Griffith's son, Opie Taylor, in The Andy Griffith Show. It wasn't long before Ron was bitten by the directors' bug. He received a video camera as a birthday present from the cast of The Andy Griffith Show and made his first movie, a cops and robbers film featuring his dad, Rance, and his younger brother Clint (star of the television show "Gentle Ben"). During the first years of The Andy Griffith Show, Ron also appeared as Winthrop Paroo in the screen version of The Music Man, and his scene-stealing natural acting ability further elevated his fame as a child actor.

Once The Andy Griffith Show was finished, Ron was just entering into his teen years. It was the first time since he could remember since he had been without steady work. After many guest appearances on "Gentle Ben" and a short-lived series, The Smith Family, he auditioned for a pilot, for which he got the leading role, as Richie Cunningham. The pilot was produced by Gary Marshall, and was called A New Family in Town, set in the 1950s. Unfortunately, the pilot did not sell as a series, but his performance attracted the attention of Director George Lucas, who was planning a film entitled American Graffiti that was set in the 1950s. American Graffiti became a huge success, and brought about a new nostalgic interest in the 1950s era. Gary Marshall decided to make another pilot, still using Ron as "Richie Cunningham". This time, the pilot was a success--the long-running television show Happy Days was born.

Howard continued with Happy Days for six years, and then left the show to pursue his dream of directing. His first attempt at directing was in the movie Grand Theft Auto, of which he and his father Rance co-wrote the script. Ron soon became known as one of the best directors in Hollywood. Some off his movies include Splash, Backdraft, Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind. He is still known in the movie industry as "the nicest guy in Hollywood."

(source: allsands.com); 3:43 PM
Videos by Professor Howdy said...: Beautiful Music Videos:

The Story Of My Life (And Maybe Yours Also):
http://bit.ly/9pbjVv

Night And Day - You Are The One:
http://bit.ly/9SJnjP

The Way You Look Tonight!
http://bit.ly/bwWjWJ

Restful Sounds Of Rain - Gentle Rain -
Soothing Sounds of Nature - Distant Thunder:
http://bit.ly/aWgxKj

Sleepy Relaxing Natural Ocean Waves
Sounds In High Definition!
http://bit.ly/dDlwwX

Great Romance Video - While We're Young -
With Lyrics To Sing Along!
http://bit.ly/anJXoM

Gina:
http://bit.ly/64iWVF

The Bible (Watch and Pass on!):
http://bit.ly/83lfl

Moon Music:
http://bit.ly/lzxSZ

Someone:
http://bit.ly/3jaN5t

Relaxation Video II:
http://bit.ly/6FAnm

Staying Happy Always:
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The World I Used To Know:
http://bit.ly/22yEHh

With A Song In My Heart:
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An Ugly Woman:
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'Thought & Humor'
http://bit.ly/O9Agw

How To Become A Christian:
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UNC:
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All Is Well:
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Israel:
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That Sunday, That Summer:
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While We're Young:
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Who Am I?
http://bit.ly/4drp0L

Once Upon A Time:
http://bit.ly/kRCiD

Relaxation Video:
http://bit.ly/2ICRCu

Wonderful Wonderful:
http://bit.ly/5nzSpC

American Life Video:
http://bit.ly/2fSH1w

Beautiful American Cities:
http://bit.ly/27FEti

Whom Do You Trust?
http://bit.ly/1FwHfn

My YouTube Playlist:

Natural Relaxation Videos:
http://bit.ly/9uQuMm

The 4 Seasons Video:
http://bit.ly/8reC8a

Relaxed:
http://bit.ly/4Lhb30

America The Beautiful -
Beautiful Music Video:
http://bit.ly/4Ld99g

My Music Videos:
http://bit.ly/7ECFyq

Mantovani:
http://bit.ly/8HvKmT

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Thursday

Till There Was You - Two Videos ♪♫ ♫ ¢

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