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Play Synopsis
The Music Man begins in River City, Iowa on July 4th, 1912. Several
salesmen are passing through town on a train, spending their time arguing about the ins and outs of the business. As the train pulls into the station our hero, Harold Hill, leaves the group in order to give Iowa a try. The citizens of River City come into the Town Square and sing about their stubborn Iowan ways. This sets the temperament of the town giving Harold a big obstacle to overcome. Realizing that he wont be able to use his regular routine on these people, Harold decides to use one of their own activities against them pool. The citys Mayor has just opened up a new pool parlor and Harold captures the towns attention by telling them theyve got trouble right here in River City! With a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for Pool. The stage is set for Harold to reveal his sales pitch. The replacement for pool is to be the creation of an all boys band. Harolds scam is to sell the instruments and band uniforms and skip town. Only one person in the town seems to know what hes up to and its the person he desires to convince the most Marian the librarian. With Harolds visit in town everything begins to change. Through music he breaths new light and excitement into a town that was once dull and drab.

http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Aston/Aston.shtml

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Characters
Harold Hill: A dynamic con-man who comes to River City, Iowa with the intention of deceiving the town and getting rich from the profits. Marian Paroo: The local librarian who is skeptical of Harold Hills scheme. Winthrop Paroo: The younger brother of Marian and afflicted with a lisp. He develops a friendship with Harold who helps him to overcome his fathers death.

Marcellus: A former con-man who now lives in River City. He is Harolds friend from years past.

Mrs. Paroo: Marian and Winthrops mother. A caring and devoted Irish mother who wants nothing but the best for her children. Mayor Shinn: A blustery politician whose business is being ruined by Harold Hill.

Eulalie Shinn: The Mayors wife and chief gossip in the town. Tommy: The boy from the wrong side of the tracks. He is secretly dating the Mayors daughter, Zaneetha. The Barbershop Quartet: A group of four school board members, who until Harold Hill taught them how to sing, were the worst of enemies. Amaryllis: A young piano student of Marians. The Pick-a-little Ladies: Eulalies friends who join gossip with her.

Charlie Cowell: A rival salesman who is on a mission to expose Harold Hills scheme.

A Childs Life in Iowa

In the early 1900s, out of 122 families in Cerro Gordo County (where Mason City is located) 111 were farmers. Farming was hard work, with long days and little money. Every member of the family had responsibilities. Children started working on the farm when they were about six or seven years old. Before walking or riding horseback to school each day, children had to get up early and do their chores-milking cows, harnessing horses, gathering eggs, cleaning the outhouse, washing clothes, and more.
http://www.kapiticoastlibraries.govt.nz

Days could start as early as 3:00 or 4:00am and end after dark. Work and play revolved around the seasons. Springtime meant additional chores like feeding newborn calves, piglets, and lambs. Meredith Willsons autobiography And There I Stood with My Piccolo describes what farm life sounded like in Mason City growing up. These are some of the descriptions that he gave:

Mamma scraping burnt toast, the front door opening in the winter and the screen door slamming in the summer, The Derby hitting the newel post (tall post at the head or foot of a stair, supporting the handrail), Toreador Song from Carmen on the music box, walking horses on the street, Mamma playing the piano on Sundays (usually Jesus wants for me a Sunbeam or The Church in the Wildwood), snow being shoveled off the walk-way by a big tinny snowshovel, lawn mowers that were with or without canvas bags, autumn sounded like the coal going down the chute into the coal-bin, spring sounded like the click of a peewee dropped into the marble box, summer mornings sounded like the beating of rugs and washtub handles hitting the sides of a tub filled with ice and covered with an old carpet and summer evenings sounded like coleslaw chopping in a wooden bowl and a wooden potato masher pounding beef,

smooth roller skates on new concrete and rough roller skates where the cement was old and coarse, the soft-water pump in the cellar pumping its hundred strokes, the milk wagon, after school it school it was sounds of erasers being banged together and the squish of a soundless door to the public library, there were gloomy sounds also like the shaking down of ashes out of the grate down to the cellar and of course the school bell, you could also always here the 6 o clock train whistle. Education
Due to the new ease of access to goods and services, education became more important for the students living in rural areas. Many times schoolhouses were far away and nearly impossible to reach on foot. Also, most of the country schools only went up to the eighth grade and the high schools were located within the towns. The automobile made it simple for children to get to school and receive a higher education.
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The schools that many children attended were one room school houses. Before the Model T Ford it was important to many parents that schoolhouses were close to their homes; when they were too far they would arrive in a horse and buggy. By the time autos arrived many of the schoolhouses were consolidating, leaving them more spaced out and harder to access without an automobile. The first teachers in Iowa were men, but during the Civil War they were needed for military duty and thus women became commonplace in the schools. The Women teachers usually stayed at a nearby farm and would move from house to house throughout the school year. They would usually teach before they were married, and retire from teaching after. Teachers were responsible for maintaining the schoolhouses with daily chores. In the winter the

10 teacher would have to arrive early in order to start a fire in the stove to heat the classroom. Schools were fairly simple: desks were made from logs and they used whatever books were available. The children most often ended up learning to read from the bible since textbooks were scarce. Books were passed around between family members, allowing everyone the opportunity to learn. Since there was no indoor plumbing, restrooms were outside and usually there was one for the boys and another for the girls. Boys were usually less educated than the girls because they needed to help out more on the farm. Sometimes they were only able to attend in the winter when there was less farm work to be done at home. The classes included reading, writing, spelling,
http://www.ci.springfield.or.us/Museum/classroom2_lg.jpg

geography, elocution and arithmetic. A day in

a one room school house would involve many short periods. In order to keep the students occupied a teacher would create assignments, having the students come to the desk to recite what they had learned that day.

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Rock Island
Cash for the merchandiseCash for the button-hooksCash for the cotton goodsCash for the hard goodsCash for the noggins and the piggins and the firkins Cash for the hogshead, cask and demijohn. Cash for the crackers and the pickles And the fly-paper. Look Whadayatalk, Whadayatalk Whadayatalk, Whadayatalk, Whadayatalk. Whered aya gitit? Whadayatalk? Ya can talk, ya can talk, Ya can bicker, ya can talk, Ya can bicker, bicker, bicker, Ya can talk, ya can talk, Ya can talk, talk, talk, talk, Bicker, bicker, bicker, Ya can talk all ya wanna But its differnt than it was. No it aint, no it aint, But ya gotta know the territory. Chi, chi, chi, chi, chi, chi, chi Why its the Model T Ford Made the trouble, Made the people want to go Wanna git wanna git Wanna git up and go 7,8,9,10,12,14,22,23 Miles to the county seatYes, sir. Yes, sir. Whos gonna patronize A little bitty two-by-four Kinda store anymore? Whadayatalk, Whadayatalk. Whered aya gitit? Not the Model T at all, Take a gander at the store, At the modern store, At the present day store At the present day Modern departmentalized grocry store

Rock Island Rap

The Music Man opens with
several salesmen on a train. The opening musical number Rock Island is structured in a similar fashion to modern day rap. Get into small groups and create your own Rock Island rap.