Tag: Meredith Willson

Theater Review: ‘The Music Man’: Middle America in Song and Dance

Here in New York, in its fourth incarnation since it originally played on Broadway in 1957, Meredith Willson’s slice of musical Americana does not fail to please. Willson wrote book, lyrics and music, and collaborated on the story with Franklin Lacey. Helmed by director Jerry Zaks, whose pedigree includes a super production of “Hello, Dolly”…


American Treasures: Meredith Willson, the Real ‘Music Man’

They say authors should write about what they know. If anyone knew what it means to be a Music Man, it was Meredith Willson (spelled with two L’s, 1902–1984), composer and playwright of the celebrated 1957 musical by that title. It turns out that Willson’s real life as a jack of all musical trades was…