Meredith Willson (1902–1984)

On December 19, 1957, The Music Man made its Broadway debut in the Majestic Theatre in New York City. It ran for 1,375 performances, won five Tony awards, and was made into a film. The original cast recording was #1 for twelve weeks and remained on the Billboard charts for 245 weeks. Originally published in 1959, “But He Doesn’t Know The Territory” is writer and composer Meredith Willson’s story of how the musical came to be.

As I write this my son is performing in final show of the show more 2011 National Tour of The Music Man, which is what brought me to this book. Having seen the show at least fifteen times during the tour I began to realize how skillfully and beautifully written and acted it was and decided to dig a little deeper.

Set in the fictional town of River City, Iowa in 1912, The Music Man tells the story con-man Harold Hill, the librarian Marion Paroo, and how they fall in love. River City is populated with characters and composites of people Willson knew while growing up in Iowa. Willson worked on The Music Man for over six years, wrote forty drafts, almost as many songs, discarded half of them, and changed producers. He tells of dozens of “auditions” where he and his wife, Rini, would perform the show, with Willson on piano, for potential directors, investors, and producers. He doesn’t hesitate to describe his shortcomings and travails and to give credit to the producers, cast, crew and anyone else that helped make the show a success. Willson’s love and admiration for those involved in The Music Man makes his story warm, humorous, and engaging. show less

I was desperate for a good non fiction book to complete my book report project for school, and I found one. And There I Was with My Piccolo by Meredith Willsom tells his story from his early beginnings as a child in Iowa to his bold journey to New York that led him to play with the world famous John Phillip Souza, legendary Band music Composer who actually helped him learn to read a musical score. As a band student myself I really like his funny stories of playing the flute and piccolo even show more though I do not play the piccolo. I like the story he tells about the bass clarinet player who had been hiding behind the first clarinet player who called in sick. It was then that they discovered that the second chair did not know how to play a note, but had been "playing" with John Phillip Souza's band for three years. He also tells of the incredible night when he played Stars and Stripes Forever with 400 other band members in Madison Square Garden. What makes this so good is that although he is playing with the greatest composers and conductors America has known in the most important Halls and Orchestras of New York, he doesn't realize he was in the middle of history as it was being made. He was just a small town guy from Iowa wanting to play his flute and piccolo, but he found his way to the center of musical history being made.

He continues to tell how he made his way to Hollywood and began composing for films and even made the hit parade. I knew he had played the lead character in the Music Man, but I had no idea he had done so many other interesting and important things.

I would recommend this book to parents and children alike because it is funny and entertaining and is appropriate for young and old alike. I personally enjoyed this book and learned that you can only see your accomplishments and differences later as you look back on your life. What an amazing life Meredith Willson lived! show less

Very enjoyable account of Willson's "birthing" of "The Music Man". It was honestly a page-turner for me to find out what would happen next. I really enjoyed the accounts of the auditions he and wife, Rini, did in living rooms - where they played, sang, and acted out all the parts.

Fun peek behind all that went into a classic of American Musical Theater!