Um, yuck - glad I missed this one

[derekl_1963]

Wandering You Tube I found this horror - "Rock Island" (the opening scene from "The Music Man" from a 2003 made-for-TV remake.

(Shudder) Truly, truly *bad*.

Here's the classic version:

And my favorite song/routine from the movie and the play:

Comments

[angharadalbanes.livejournal.com]

I absolutely adore Robert Preston! :-)

[jsburbidge.livejournal.com]

I will note that the TV version (which, I agree, lacks the energy necessary to make the scene go) retains all of the text of the play, some of which is cut in the film.

In the very beginning of the original Broadway production, Willson had a full accompaniment for Rock Island which provided a whole imitate-the-railroad-noises background, and the scene didn't work. It was dropping any background "realistic" or programmatic train noise which made it work, with the whole impression being given by the sound of the words and the movement of the actors. The producers of the TV version seem to have forgotten that lesson.