SYNOPSIS OF THE MUSIC MAN
It is the year 1912. On a train leaving Rock Island, Illinois, Charlie Cowell and other travelling salesmen in the car begin a heated argument about credit ("Rock Island"). Charlie and another salesman tell the others about a con man known as "Professor" Harold Hill, whose scam is to convince parents he can teach their musically disinclined children to play musical instruments. On the premise that he will form a band, he takes orders for instruments and uniforms. But once the instruments arrive and are paid for he skips town without forming the band, moving on before he is exposed.[7] The train arrives in River City, Iowa, and a stranger on the train stands up and declares, "Gentlemen, you intrigue me. I think I shall have to give Iowa a try." He picks up his suitcase clearly labelled "Professor Harold Hill," and exits the train.
The townspeople of River City describe their reserved, "chip-on-the-shoulder attitude" ("Iowa Stubborn"). Harold discovers that an old friend, Marcellus, has "gone legitimate" and now lives in town. Marcellus tells Harold that Marian Paroo, the librarian who gives piano lessons, is the only one in town who knows about music. Marcellus informs him that a new pool table was just delivered to the town's local billiard parlor, and as a part of his scheme, Harold convinces River City parents of the "Trouble" that will be caused by that pool table. Harold follows Marian home and attempts to flirt with her, but she pays no attention to him. At home, Marian gives a piano lesson to a little girl named Amaryllis while arguing with her mother, Mrs. Paroo, about her "standards where men are concerned" after telling Mrs. Paroo that a stranger followed her home ("Piano Lesson/If You Don't Mind My Saying So"). Marian's self-conscious, lisping younger brother Winthrop arrives home, and Amaryllis, who secretly likes him but makes fun of his lisp, asks Marian who she should say goodnight to on the evening star since she doesn't have a sweetheart. Marian tells her to just say goodnight to her "someone" ("Goodnight, My Someone").
The next day is Independence Day, and Mayor Shinn is leading the morning festivities in the high school gym, with the help of his wife, Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn ("Columbia, Gem of the Ocean"). After Tommy Djilas, a boy from the wrong side of town, sets off a firecracker, interrupting the proceedings, Harold takes the stage and announces to the townspeople that he will prevent "sin and corruption" from the pool table by forming a boys' band. He soon excitedly leads them with "Seventy-Six Trombones". Mayor Shinn, who owns the billiard parlor, tells the bickering school board to get Harold's credentials, but Harold teaches them to sing as a Barbershop Quartet instead ("Ice Cream/Sincere"). Harold also sets up Zaneeta, the mayor's oldest girl, with Tommy, and persuades Tommy to become his assistant. Marian then rejects Harold again, and he explains to Marcellus that "The Sadder But Wiser Girl" is the one he wants. The town ladies are very excited about the band and the ladies' dance committee Harold plans to form. He asks them about Marian, and they intimate to him - falsely - that she had an inappropriate relationship with deceased old miser Madison, who gave the town the library, but left all the books to her. They also warn Harold that she advocates the "dirty books" ("Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little"). The school board arrives to collect Harold's credentials, but he leads them in singing "Goodnight, Ladies" and slips away.
The next day, Harold walks into the library, but Marian ignores him yet again. He declares his unrequited love for her, leading the teenagers in the library in dance ("Marian the Librarian"). For a moment, Marian forgets her decorum and dances with Harold. He kisses her, and she tries to slap him. He ducks, and she hits Tommy Djilas instead. With Tommy's help, Harold signs up all the boys in town to be in his band, including Winthrop. Mrs. Paroo likes Harold and tries to find out why Marian is not interested. Marian describes her ideal man ("My White Knight"). She tries to give Mayor Shinn evidence against Harold that she found in the Indiana State Educational Journal, but they are interrupted by the arrival of the "The Wells Fargo Wagon", which delivers the band instruments. When Winthrop forgets to be shy and self-conscious because he is so happy about his new cornet, Marian begins to fall in love with Harold. She tears the incriminating page out of the Journal before giving the book to Mayor Shinn.
The ladies rehearse their classical dance in the school gym while the school board practices their quartet ("It's You") for the ice cream social. Marcellus and the town's teenagers interrupt the ladies' practice, taking over the gym as they dance the "Shipoopi". Harold grabs Marian to dance with her, and all the teenagers join in. Regarding Winthrop's cornet, Marian later questions Harold about his claim that "you don't have to bother with the notes". He explains that this is what he calls "The Think System", and he arranges to call on Marian to discuss it. The town ladies ask Marian to join their dance committee, since she was "so dear dancing the Shipoopi" with Professor Hill ("Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little" (reprise)). They have reversed their opinions about her books, and they eagerly tell her that "the Professor told us to read those books, and we simply adored them all!"
That night, the school board tries to collect Harold's credentials again, but he gets them to begin singing "Lida Rose" and slips away. Marian, meanwhile, is sitting on her front porch thinking of Harold, and, in counterpoint, asks herself, "Will I Ever Tell You?". Winthrop returns home after spending time with Harold and tells Marian and Mrs. Paroo about Harold's hometown, "Gary, Indiana". As Marian waits alone for Harold, Charlie Cowell enters with evidence against Harold, hoping to tell Mayor Shinn. He has to leave on the next train, but stops to flirt with Marian. She tries to delay him so he doesn't have time to deliver the evidence, eventually kissing him. As the train whistle blows, she pushes him away. Charlie angrily tells Marian that Harold has a girl in "every county in Illinois, and he's taken it from every one of them – and that's 102 counties!"
Harold arrives, and after he reminds her of the untrue rumors he's heard about her, she convinces herself that Charlie invented everything he told her. They agree to meet at the footbridge, where Marian tells him the difference he's made in her life ("Till There Was You"). Marcellus interrupts and tells Harold that the uniforms have arrived. He urges Harold to take the money and run, but Harold refuses to leave, insisting, "I've come up through the ranks... and I'm not resigning without my commission". He returns to Marian, who tells him that she knows he's a fraud, but she still loves him. (He said he was a graduate of Gary Conservatory, Gold-Medal Class of '05, but the town wasn't even built until '06!) Harold walks her home, and she sings "Goodnight my Someone" while he sings "Seventy-Six Trombones". Harold realizes that he is in love with Marian, and each sings the other's song.
Meanwhile, Charlie Cowell, who has missed his train, arrives at the ice cream social and denounces Harold Hill as a fraud. The townspeople begin an agitated search for Harold. Winthrop is heartbroken and tells Harold that he wishes Harold never came to River City. But Marian tells Winthrop that she believes everything Harold ever said, for it did come true in the way every kid in town talked and acted that summer. She and Winthrop urge Harold to get away. He chooses to stay and tells Marian that he never really fell in love "Till There Was You" (reprise) as the constable handcuffs Harold and leads him away.
Mayor Shinn is leading a meeting in the high school gym to decide what to do with Harold, asking, "Where's the band? Where's the band?" Tommy enters as a drum major, followed by the kids in uniform with their instruments. Marian urges Harold to lead the River City Boys' Band in Beethoven's Minuet in G; despite a limited amount of traditional quality, the parents in the audience are nonetheless enraptured by the sight of their little boys playing music. The play ends as Harold is released into Marian's arms.
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