If Shirley Jones had turned down the role of Marian -

Yep, perhaps they would have just knuckled and used Miss Cook. I'm sure she would have been great, but Shirley....just wonderful!

"Everytime I want to have a little fun-SHE turns out!" (Baron Bomburst)

Definitely Barbara Cook, who was the original Marian and a better singer than Shirley Jones.

I'd like to be a pessimist, but this is a luxury I cannot afford.—Joseph of Cordoba

In truth, neither can I. That why I was wondering who in Hollywood would have been suitable if she had said no to the role.

"Everytime I want to have a little fun-SHE turns out!" (Baron Bomburst)

Yes, I agree!

And like Robert Preston, she would have won the role only AFTER a Hollywood name turned it down (or, in Preston’s case, he won it AFTER Warner said he wanted Sinatra and Meredith Willson said he’d pull the rights if anyone other than Preston played it!).

Also, Rex Harrison won the movie Henry Higgins *after* Cary Grant turned it down.



"Everytime I want to have a little fun-SHE turns out!" (Baron Bomburst)

Jane Powell was up for the role along with Shirley Jones and Barbara Cook - who also did a screen test

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Shirley was perfect-and I first saw her in this film-later, I developed a crush on her when she played ''Shirley Partridge''. One of the few women I have ever seen who looks great with short hair.

Both Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn were altos. Natalie Wood was always dubbed in musicals, and while Audrey Hepburn sang in Funny Face and Breakfast at Tiffany's (and I thought her singing was vastly underrated), she wouldn't have been able to sustain the high notes required of the character.

Florence Henderson, however, I think I could have seen in the role. She sang like a bird in her prime and probably wouldn't have had any trouble accepting second billing.

I saw Barbara Cook do the role on Broadway opposite Preston, and it took me years to accept Shirley Jones as her replacement in the movie. Jones was good, but I absolutely loved Cook in the role, and she was an even better singer than Jones.

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The rule (sometimes, of sorts) with a number of musicals back then was that if you used the original Broadway cast, only ONE of the two romantic leads could be from the stage version. The other lead had to go to a "bankable movie star."

Thus: The Pajama Game: John Raitt got to stay from Broadway; movie star Doris Day was cast opposite him.
Damn Yankees: Gwen Verdon got to stay from Broadway; movie star Tab Hunter was cast opposite her.

This one backfired:

My Fair Lady Rex Harrison got to stay from Broadway; movie star Audrey Hepburn was cast opposite him...in
lieu of Julie Andrews from the play, thought "not big enough" by Jack Warner. Plus, Rex Harrison was already a movie star, too.

So: The Music Man: Robert Preston got to stay from Broadway; movie star Shirley Jones was cast opposite him(fresh off of her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Elmer Gantry.)

Funny thing: in the 50's, Shirley Jones was sweet and pure in the female singing leads of Oklahoma and Carousel. In Elmer Gantry, she played a very sexy hooker(she had a beautiful face and the ability to "sell"sultry with it.)

Thus, by the time that Shirley Jones took the "pure" role in The Music Man, she brought extra sex appeal to the part.
She was also pregnant with one of the Cassidy boys at the time, which added to her shapely figure.

Since Barbara Cook could not be given the role, I rather think Shirley Jones was the best bet. So beautiful, so sexy under the period garb, and with memories of Oklahoma and Carousel for her "musical bona fides."

I can't see Florence Henderson, she just didn't have the beauty or the womanly nature.