Month O' Musicals: Oklahoma!

Vital Stats:
Year: 1955
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Stars: Shirley Jones, Gordon MacRae, Gloria Grahame, Rod Steiger, Eddie Albert, Gene Nelson, Charlotte Greenwood
Choreographer: Agnes de Mille
Songwriting: Rodgers & Hammerstein

Summary:
Set in Oklahoma territory, it's a simple tale of cowboys and the women they love.

Memorable Moments:
The sweet ballad "People Will Say We're in Love" and the dance to the fun "The Farmer and the Cowman" are both great, while the auction scene is an especially nice mix of comedy and drama.

What I love about it:
Another title with an exclamation point! "Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry..." The highly entertaining secondary love story between all-or-nothing Will Parker and the girl who can't say no, Ado Annie. Gordon MacRae's gorgeous singing. And Aunt Eller.

I can't decide if I want a relative like Aunt Eller or if I just want to be her. There is something so appealing about being an old woman able to say and do whatever you please, including pulling a gun on someone and making him sing.

Some of my favorite examples of Aunt Eller's wisdom:

"Why don't you grab her and kiss her when she acts that-a-way, Curly, she's just aching for you to, I bet."

"Let's not break the law, let's just bend it a little."

"You've got to get used to having all kinds of things happening to you. You've got to look at all the good on one side and all the bad on the other side and say well, all right then, to both of them."

and of course "I don't say I'm no better than anybody else, but I'll be danged if I ain't just as good!"

Month O' Musicals: The Music Man

Vital Stats:
Year: 1962
Director: Morton DaCosta
Stars: Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold, and a very cute (lisping) Ron Howard
Writer: Meredith Wilson
Choreographer: Onna White

Summary:
Traveling salesman Professor Harold Hill arrives in River City, Iowa and begins working his con: selling band instruments and uniforms and instruction books, organizing a boys' band with himself as the leader. He's got everything perfectly timed right down to the last train out of town -- until he gets his foot caught in the door by falling in love with the local librarian.

Memorable Moments:
The beautiful "Till There Was You", the rousing "Seventy-Six Trombones", and the cautionary "Ya Got Trouble" are the stand outs. But the "Shipoopi" dance, arrival of the Wells Fargo Wagon, barbershop quartet songs, and contrapuntal melodies are also pretty swell.

What I love about it:
Probably because he perfected the role on Broadway, Robert Preston is perfectly charming as the fast-talking con man. When I saw the show on Broadway myself several years ago, the lead actor did his best Robert Preston impression for the part, and I don't know that there's any other way to play it. (Well, Matthew Broderick tried in the 2003 TV version, but his lethargic performance left me cold.)

I also love the rapid-fire delivery and broken up syllables of the songs. "Rock Island" and "Trouble" are especially snappy, but the other songs have great lyrics, too. Take "Marian the Librarian" as an example: "It's a long lost cause I can never win/For the civilized world accepts as unforgivable sin/Any talking out loud with any librarian/Such as Marian..." The songs make for a mouthful of words quite fun to memorize and repeat. And shouldn't any good musical leave you singing?