ABC To Present New "Music Man"

I'm generally not excited about Disney trying to remake everything on God's green earth, but this one is different. ABC will broadcast a Disney-produced remake of "The Music Man" this coming Sunday night at 7 p.m. Eastern time, with Matthew Broderick in the role of Professor Harold Hill, con-man turned bandleader, and Kristin Chenoweth as Marian The Librarian.

I'm a fan of "The Music Man" and not just because its big hit song was "76 Trombones". It's perhaps the greatest musical ever to spring fully formed from the mind of one creator - book, music and lyrics all by the estimable Meredith Willson, whose grinning, bespectacled image graced a US Postage Stamp some years ago as part of the Broadway Composers series (and was a very visible panelist on one of ABC's few panel-show successes, "The Name's The Same"). Of course, it was made into a big-budget film musical with Robert Preston, Shirley Jones and a very young Ronny Howard. The film production successfully captured that sense of small-town Americana that Willson and others of his generation cherished, and in some measures miss dearly.

"The Music Man" was successfully revived on Broadway several years ago, but with the added star power of Broderick (now a full-fledged musical star after his bravura turn in "The Producers" on Broadway) and Chenoweth, this production cannot possibly miss. I'll be out gigging on Sunday night, but when I get home I'll pop the tape in the VCR and watch this - I've got all night, I don't need to be in school on Monday.