MovieChat Forums > The Music Man (1962) Discussion > Casting

Casting

posted 14 years ago by hachmom-1
9 replies | jump to latest

One is of course well aware of how often a stage star was dumped for the film version of a musical....I am aware of only one major musical that used all of its starring Broadway cast and that is 1776. (some of the smaller parts were recast,notably Rutledge but the top stars were the same.) At best when we were lucky at least one star of the musical made it to the film. Usually it was a case of the male lead being so perfect in the role that it was considered impossible to have any other actor in the role. 2 such cases are The King and I and My Fair Lady. Now it didnt really matter about recasting Anna in the the King and I because Gertrude Lawrence had died anyway, but as everyone knows it became a major issue with the My Fair Lady, as Jack Warner insisted that if Rex Harrison played Higgins he had to have a star as Eliza and substituted Audrey Hepburn for Julie Andrews. Audrey had to be dubbed since although she could sing she couldnt sing songs written for Julie Andrews. What all this is leading up to is that you had a similar situation with The Music Man....In order to have Robert Preston, there had to be a star actess as Marian to ensure the box office...and the movie would never have happened at all if Preston hadnt been cast, so lets all be grateful for that. But fans of the Music Man got luckier than other viewers because they cast someone who could sing and act in the role. I think that of all the times a movie star was subbed for an original Broadway star this was the luckiest case. Shirley Jones is absolutely right in the part.

It is not our abilities that show who we truly are...it is our choices

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] thehair100 14 years ago

As for the remake of The Music Man in 2003 starring Matthew Broderick... well, the less said about that, the better!

It was unwatchable and cringe-inducing. Matthew Broadrick was totally miscast, as was Kristin Chenoweth. Although they both could sing somewhat, neither could dance or act the parts, and the whole production was totally miscast, all the way around. Perfectly awful, and the costuming, especially Chenoweth's, was atrocious. I have seen high school productions of it that were better, lol.

As for the Broadway production, my parents saw it, as I have also written before, and they said Barbara Cook was wonderful, albeit a much plainer looking Marian. She sung beautifully, but theatrically. Who knows how she would have looked or sounded on film? Preston would have liked her in the film, but as it was, he wound up loving Shirley Jones as his leading lady. And we would never have had the hilarious story about Shirley's baby kicking Preston in the gut right in the middle of the beautiful footbridge clinch!

Here is a clip on YouTube of Barbara Cook on TV singing "Till There Was You" in period costume, so you can see how she might have looked on film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0vggMCiJfs

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] thehair100 14 years ago

Chenoweth was not nearly as bad as Broderick, she was STILL awful and miscast and was still pretty lame in the acting department, and the songs were for some unknown reason LOWERED in key, and she is a soprano. They sounded very "pop," which is not how they're supposed to sound, and she came off too wordly for Marian, and wore turbans from hell, which destoyed the whole production. You are right about Broderick, as he was totally miscast and unwatchable. "The Music Man" is only as good as its "Harold Hill," and Broderick was all together putrid. All the rest of the parts were miscast too, and horribly distracting when Chenoweth was singing on the footbridge, was the loud trickling of water throughout! Dear God, and the footbridge itself looked as huge as the Brooklyn Bridge, lol.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] thehair100 14 years ago

But I think the scariest part of the footbridge scene was when Matthew Broderick joins in singing Till There Was You - and his voice is just as high as Kristen Chenoweth's! Harold Hill should never register any higher than a baritone.

TRULY scary, as Broderick's voice did not blend well with a lowered Chenoweth's, and he looked like Ferris Bueller doing Harold Hill. His costumes were nearly as bad as Chenoweth's, but not quite. They had no chemistry as a couple. Whoever cast him as Harold Hill should have been fired.

No matter who plays Harold Hill, there will always be comparisons to Robert Preston.

And, NO ONE will ever compare to the great Pres. Thank God he got the film version, or it would have been a bomb.

[–] bradford-1 10 years ago

THE PAJAMA GAME (1957) had much of the original Broadway cast intact, except Doris Day was substituted for Janis Paige.

May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?

[–] BoMar5353 10 years ago

That might be considered a NOTICABLE substitution, lol.

[–] 10 years ago

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