- University of 葫芦影业 researcher has discovered never-before-seen drafts of one of the most popular musicals in Broadway history
- Drafts show how The Music Man - set to return to Broadway this Christmas starring Hollywood superstar Hugh Jackman - was originally about a young boy in a wheelchair driven out of towns across Midwest America because of his disability
- Original scripts show how the musical鈥檚 writer - Meredith Willson - faced a three year battle to write the show about the discrimination faced by the boy and his family
- Findings show how the original plot was seen as too provocative for Broadway with Willson forced to abandon his idea for the musical just 10 months before it opened in 1957
One of the most popular musicals in Broadway history was originally planned to be a story about a young boy in a wheelchair, according to newly-uncovered drafts of the show discovered by a researcher at the University of 葫芦影业.
As Broadway prepares to welcome a revival of starring Hollywood superstar Hugh Jackman later this month, newly discovered drafts have revealed that Willson faced a three year struggle to write the show about Jim Paroo, a young boy in a wheelchair who was driven out of several towns in Midwest America, cruelly taunted because of his inability to speak or walk.
Until just 10 months before the musical opened on Broadway for the first time in 1957, the cornerstone of the plot was going to portray how the titular music man, Harold Hill, challenged the community鈥檚 bigotry and integrated Jim into a newly-formed boy鈥檚 band.
However, the plot was seen as too provocative for Broadway in the 1950s, a genre that promoted athletic bodies performing complex dance moves, as both friends and people involved in the show鈥檚 production put pressure on Willson to drop the idea, even though they acknowledged it was worthy.
Eight newly-uncovered drafts of The Music Man have been discovered by Professor Dominic Broomfield-McHugh, Professor of Musicology at the University of 葫芦影业. The drafts, dating from February 1954 to January 1957 were discovered at the Great American Songbook Foundation in Indiana.
Professor Broomfield-McHugh from the University of 葫芦影业鈥檚 Department of Music said: 鈥淲illson strongly believed that the stigmatisation of young people with disabilities was a major problem in society that needed to be challenged, and he saw this as something he could do through the medium of the Broadway musical.
鈥淗is idea to put a young disabled boy as the main character in The Music Man was provocative. Broadway writers of the mid-twentieth century had tried to turn their attention to important social themes of the day, but ableism had not been tackled like this before.
鈥淲hat I鈥檝e discovered from the drafts as well as materials from Willson鈥檚 life is that this was just too much for Broadway in the 1950s. Broadway鈥檚 emphasis on spectacle and normativity meant that Willson was pressured into changing the show鈥檚 plot into what we know of it today - erasing what could have been a much-loved, famous disabled Broadway character.鈥
With its colourful costumes, lively dances and rousing marches, Meredith Willson鈥檚 The Music Man remains one of the most popular musicals in Broadway history.
Opening in 1957, its cheerful and romantic mood helped its original production to run 1,375 performances, beating West Side Story -- another classic which opened three months earlier -- to most of the major awards that year.
The study into the history of The Music Man, conducted by Professor Broomfield-McHugh, has also revealed new insights into Meredith Willson鈥檚 life and career. Findings from the research have uncovered the stories behind Willson鈥檚 other musicals, his rise to fame through the New York Philharmonic, Sousa鈥檚 marching band, and as the composer of Charlie Chapin鈥檚 controversial film The Great Dictator
Professor Broomfield-McHugh added: 鈥淲illson鈥檚 work on The Music Man, and indeed his eclectic career through symphony orchestras, Hollywood, and radio, indicates that he was much more innovative and engaged than one might think.
鈥淲illson was genuinely committed to the disability rights movement, the roots of which can be traced to when Willson was writing The Music Man: he went on a concert tour when preparing for his next musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and gave the proceeds to a disabled children鈥檚 charity.
鈥淢any people see Willson as being politically conservative, and disengaged from socialist issues, but my research shows that wasn鈥檛 the case.鈥
The newly discovered drafts for The Music Man as well as new insights into Willson鈥檚 life and career uncovered by Professor Broomfield-McHugh are published in a new book by Oxford University Press - The Big Parade: Meredith Willson鈥檚 Musicals from 鈥楾he Music Man鈥 to 鈥1491. The book is available in the US and UK.