Meredith Willson: America’s Music Man

76 trombones led the big parade -- Michael Feinstein: Meredith Willson is underestimated for who he was.

If he had never written for Broadway, he still made a tremendous cultural impact on the arts and on music.

And it was all almost forgotten after The Music Man because of the enormity of its success.

Narrator: Meredith Willson was a music man.

Narrator: He toured with Sousa, performed with Gershwin and Toscanini, became a conductor at age 27 and a household name during the golden age of radio.

Hi everybody, I'm Meredith Willson.

Narrator: Asked to describe her husband's career, Willson's second wife said, "Well, ask me what he hasn't done."

Songwriter, author, raconteur.

Narrator: He wrote more than 400 songs, 9 symphonic works and 4 stage musicals, scored film music for Charlie Chaplin, wrote popular songs performed by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and The Beatles and a Christmas standard that has spread holiday cheer across generations.

John Cullum: He was a very charming man.

He made me like him because I thought he liked me.

When I saw him with other people, I thought he likes everybody.

Dick Scanlan: He was a very ambitious person.

He was always out there.

He was kind of a Harold Hill.

Meredith Willson!

(applause and cheering) Narrator: He won awards, wrote books, appeared on television and counted Presidents as friends.

But he never forgot where he came from and at the age of 55, Meredith Willson immortalized his hometown of Mason City, Iowa in one of the most popular Broadway musicals ever made.

Susan Stroman: Of all shows, I feel like The Music Man is a perfect musical, in a way.

Jonathan Tunick: Its supposed simplicity is deceptive.

It shows the hand of a highly trained and highly sophisticated composer.

Kathleen Marshall: It's a culmination I think of everything that Meredith Willson was.

Narrator: His work was called corny and nostalgic and his commercial success would overshadow his reputation as a concert musician.

Narrator: But Meredith Willson's unwavering belief and the redemptive power of music would keep audiences singing and laughing through Depression, war and nuclear standoff.

In a career spanning five decades, he would march to the top of American entertainment again and again and again.

Narrator: Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson was born on May 18th, 1902 to John and Rosalie Willson in Mason City, Iowa.

Settled where Willow Creek meets the Winnebago River, Mason City was a thriving community of nearly 7,000 residents at the turn of the century.

Five rail lines connected the region's supply of limestone and clay to the outside world and Mason City shipped as much brick, tile and Portland cement as any town in America.

Narrator: It was a builder's paradise.

And in 1907, architect Frank Lloyd Wright arrived to design a hotel blocks from the Willson family home.

Valeria Austin: Willson comes from a quintessential American family.

They are very well-established.

They are known in the local community and so Willson grows up the third of three children, the youngest, the baby in a family that has a lot of social standing.

His grandfather is a settler, comes across country with oxen and a wagon.

He buys land, timber, and takes his time harvesting the timber and then selling the land to other settlers.

Another grandfather is a local judge.

Willson's own father goes to law school and then he never practices law.

Narrator: John Willson studied law and played baseball at the University of Notre Dame.

But he returned to his roots and he became a builder in Mason City.

With him came his wife, Rosalie Reiniger, whom he had met in Chicago.

The daughter of a lawyer and judge, Rosalie believed education was key to a productive life.

In Mason City, she opened her own kindergarten.

Janice Rod: She ran the big Sunday school, she taught kindergarten, she started the Humane Society, she was in the Temperance Union, she taught piano lessons.

This woman was movin'.

Narrator: Their oldest child was Lucille, who gave herself the nickname, Dixie.

She wrote poems and stories from a young age and won a national writing contest for the Munsing Underwear Company.

Dixie was 10 by the time brother John Cedrick arrived and Robert Meredith joined them two years later.

Janice Rod: These are very educated kids.

These are very loved kids.

She played with her kids doing theatricals with them and music.

Music was huge.

Narrator: In addition to piano, Meredith took up the flute and piccolo.

He played in the Boy Scouts band, the high school band and orchestra and the Mason City Municipal Band.

He attended concerts at Mason City's Central Park Gazebo and dreamed of playing first flute for John Philip Sousa.

Narrator: In 1919, Willson graduated high school and decided to move to New York City with his sights set on music.

Like his older siblings before him, Meredith moved away to pursue opportunity, but he also fled a tense environment at home.

(train whistle) Valerie Austin: The parents definitely had family stress.

The mother seemed to have a passive resistance attitude towards the father.

She is extremely involved in the church.

She is always trying to do things the right way.

He is occupied with business.

By the time Willson comes along, his father becomes more of a distant and negative figure.

And right after Willson leaves home, his parents get a divorce.

Narrator: Meredith Willson recalled standing at the Mason City Depot waiting for a train to take him to a new life in New York.

His mother handed him a box of fried chicken for the journey, and John Willson gave his son advice that had served their family before -- "America is a land of challenges," he said, "it is there to be had, but you've got to be a pioneer."

Narrator: Willson quickly found a network of musicians in New York.

He made a cold call to acclaimed French flautist Georges Barrere who accepted him as a student.

Barrere brought him into the Damrosch Institute of Musical Art, later known as Juilliard, where he was an instructor.

Before long, Willson was earning regular paychecks in pit orchestras under conductors Hugo Riesenfeld and Victor Herbert.

John C. Skipper: One of the things that was remarkable about Meredith Willson was the people that he associated with.

Part of the reason for that was that he was such an extrovert and that can open a lot of doors.

Narrator: In 1920, Willson returned home to spend the summer in the Mason City Municipal Band.

Renowned cornetist Frank Simon of the John Philip Sousa Band was hired as that season's featured performer.

Narrator: But it was 18-year-old Meredith Willson's flute and piccolo solos that roused audiences.

"I thought he was simply great," Simon recalled, "I was knocked off my feet."

Narrator: Simon sent a letter to the march king himself recommending Willson for Sousa's band.

Jonathan Tunick: He played the solo chair with Sousa's band, which was a very big deal in those days.

You really had to be on top of your book.

You had to have your music out, you had to know which version you were doing tonight.

Are we doing the short version or the long version?

Oh, is it going to be a soprano singing tonight or a tenor, because there are two different arrangements?

Jonathan Tunick: He learned to be a professional musician to the highest standard.

Narrator: Willson spent three seasons with Sousa, touring 35 weeks per year.

He recruited his brother, Cedrick, to join the group on bassoon and together the Willson brothers traveled the country as professional musicians.

Narrator: Meredith continued instruction at the Institute of Musical Art in the off-season.

But he would leave academics when he was invited to join the finest group of musicians in New York.

Dominic Broomfield-McHugh: He was primarily a practical musician.

He really wanted to work.

We can see this from his career as a whole.

So it's not surprising that he moved on quite quickly from his education and then dived into the New York Philharmonic.

Dominic Broomfield-McHugh: He was there at a golden period for them in which all the world's great composers were coming over, particularly from Europe, and conducting and performing in their own work.

So we find, for example, that Willson played in Stravinsky's first concert as a conductor in New York.

He encountered people like Gershwin with whom he played the Concerto in F when Gershwin was playing the piano.

He encountered Ravel, Toscanini, Mangelburg, Yehudi Menuhin.

Dominic Broomfield-McHugh: It gave him this all-around experience and an exposure to art music of the day, which comes through in even his popular music.

Narrator: In the late summer of 1920, Willson was back home in Mason City to play with the Municipal Band when he and his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth Margaret Wilson, known as Peggy, ran off and got married.

In New York, Peggy learned that life with a working musician could be lonely and uncertain.

After 5 years in the Philharmonic, Meredith believed he was ready to lead an orchestra of his own and he was willing to move to the other side of the country for the opportunity to do so.

Narrator: The Willson's spent the summer of 1929 in Seattle, where Meredith was hired to lead a series of outdoor concerts at the University of Washington Stadium.

Michael Feinstein: Meredith takes the job and he goes to Seattle and he aces it because he had the ability to orchestrate popular music.

He could compose.

He knew theatricality.

So he had the package ready to go.

Narrator: A decade after boarding a train out of Mason City, Iowa, Meredith Willson had become one of the youngest conductors in America at the age of 27.

Narrator: But leading an orchestra was just the beginning.

The emergence of broadcast and recording technologies created new opportunities for musicians.

By year's end, the Willson's would settle in San Francisco where Meredith took a job in radio.

Bill Oates: In the late 1920s, people were experimenting with radio networks.

Local people would get a few stations together, 8 or 10 or 12, and Willson became very important as a musical director out there overseeing a number of shows.

Jonathan Tunick: The art form of my childhood was radio.

Families would gather around in the evening and had a feast of entertainment of all kinds to choose from, adventure shows, mysteries, comedies, all kinds of music.

Narrator: As musical director, Willson created programs dedicated to music appreciation.

"Melody Mascarade" alternated popular songs with concert music.

"Chiffon Jazz" featured strings and woodwinds in place of brass and saxophones.

His "Big Ten" program launched radio's top ten list format and inspired Lucky Strike's long-running weekly countdown show "Your Hit Parade."

Narrator: In his spare time, he began composing a symphony from his office overlooking the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Subtitled a Symphony of San Francisco, Willson dedicated his Symphony No.

1 in F Minor to the spiritual personality he saw in the city by the Bay.

In 1936, at the age of 33, Meredith Willson became the youngest ever conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, one of the world's leading orchestras, performing his own composition on a national radio broadcast.

Valerie Austin: Writing a symphony is a pretty big deal.

He's got the talent.

He's got a lot of ambition.

He is at a period of time when there is no distinct I'm a composer only, he is a performer, then he is a radio producer.

He is going in many different directions at the same time.

He is trying new things.

And the symphony is one of the new things he tries.

Narrator: The San Francisco Chronicle described Willson's symphony as tuneful, colorful and strong with beautiful instrumentation.

He was praised for his presence as a conductor and encouraged by the response, he would compose a second symphony four years later.

Narrator: During a visit to Mason City after the performance, Willson sounded a celebratory note to a local reporter.

"Who knows, I might write a Mason City Symphony, Mason City has plenty to crow about.

I like it better every time I come here."

Announcer: The orchestra is now standing in unison paying tribute to this young American conductor, Meredith Willson.

Narrator: Radio became a vital source of news and entertainment for Americans stuck at home during the Great Depression.

Radio Announcer: We interrupt this program to bring you a special -- Narrator: By the late '30s, more people had radios than had plumbing.

Narrator: Sponsors poured money into new studios in Southern California.

Meredith Willson was hired as Music Director of NBC's Western Division in Los Angeles where he raised the baton on Maxwell House Coffee's "Good News Program."

Bill Oates: Maxwell House had an excellent time slot on NBC and they made a merger with MGM at the time for the radio show called "Good News".

(radio voice) Bill Oates: MGM could showcase their talent, but Willson would work his way as the director and even more so as an actor on the show.

They were the big city people and he was the small town person.

Radio Host: Meredith.

I can just picture you as a hunter.

Meredith Willson: Oh I sure am.

I was a regular nimrod back in Mason City.

One season I made the wife a fur coat from the game I bagged.

Radio Host: Fur coat, huh?

Red fox or silver fox?

Meredith Willson: No, it was gopher.

(laughter) Radio Host: Gopher?

Well, that's nice hunting.

Did you ever stalk any field mice?

Meredith Willson: Well, you don't have to make fun of my hunting now.

Radio Host: I'm only kidding, Meredith.

Narrator: He learned from the best in the business -- performing with Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland and regulars Frank Morgan and Fanny Brice.

To the instrumental theme music he had written for the show, Willson added lyrics and created his first hit as a popular songwriter, "You and I".

Michael Feinstein: When he wrote songs, he was not limited by the lyrics should be this or the form should be that, he with "You and I" wrote a lyric that is one long sentence, which is antithetical to the way one would write a lyric for a popular song.

Darling you and I know the reason why -- Narrator: "You and I" spent a record 19 weeks at the top of the Hit Parade and led the nation in sheet music sales.

It was recorded by Bing Crosby, the Glenn Miller Orchestra and Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra.

Sing melodies too -- Narrator: Willson's next song, "Two in Love", was a variation on the "You and I" melody and followed its predecessor to the top of the charts.

He began constantly repurposing and re-releasing his songs and he eagerly promoted them to his radio audience.

But his commercial work stood at odds with his reputation as a concert composer and puzzled his contemporaries like British conductor Albert Coates.

Valerie Austin: Willson invites Coates to come to the radio station and see him in action.

And Coates comes in very dignified, in formal dress and sits down in a live radio program.

Willson is playing the ham.

He's got something in his mouth, he's making sound effects, he's making funny faces, he's joking around, he's very slapstick and Coates gets up and walks out.

(canons firing) Narrator: In 1939, Nazi forces invaded Poland and Europe fell into war.

Narrator: In 1940, Meredith Willson's second symphony found an admirer in renowned silent filmmaker Charlie Chaplin.

Narrator: The movie legend hired Willson to score his first full sound film, a bold satire of the fascist leaders wreaking havoc on Europe, titled The Great Dictator .

Narrator: Willson composed original material, but he and Chaplin also worked as a team.

The British comedian whistled melodies and the Iowa conductor turned them into orchestral arrangements.

Dominic Broomfield-McHugh I think Willson is an incredibly modern figure.

His career reminds me of the contemporary portfolio career musician whereby there is an expectation of working across genres and across different forms of entertainment, but at the same time it means that he doesn't sit in a particular box.

And I think that that's the reason why sometimes he isn't as appreciated as he could be.

Narrator: For his soundtrack, the Flautist from Mason City, was nominated for an Academy Award for Original Score.

He received a second nomination the following year for his work on the Bette Davis film, The Little Foxes .

In the span of 2 years, Meredith Willson had 2 number one hits in popular song and 2 Oscar nominations for film music.

Narrator: But his skill as a band leader in the radio studio would become his calling card and it would enable him to serve his country in a way no musician had ever before.

(planes flying overhead) (explosions) Narrator: After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States entered World War II.

We're gonna hit the leather and ride -- Narrator: Meredith Willson wrote march songs for service branches and enlisted in the Army to lend his expertise to the cause.

Bill Oates: He was a very patriotic person.

The Pentagon decides, we're going to start our own Armed Forces Radio Service.

They bring Meredith Willson on board and he is to oversee all of the music for all of Armed Forces Radio.

This is Bob "Command Performance" Hope -- Bill Oates: The absolute best of the best came on to do their part for the war effort.

Narrator: For his part, Willson programmed and recorded as many as 8 shows per day, which were pressed to discs and shipped to more than 300 military bases around the world.

Radio Voice: Now you men from Iowa, I've got a special greeting for you in the form of another brand new song.

This one was written especially for mail call and the composer hails from good 'ol Mason City so he should know his Iowa.

Fellas, meet Major Meredith Willson of the Armed Forces Radio.

(applause) Narrator: He longed for a simpler time in a song about his home state of Iowa debuted by Bing Crosby on a 1944 installment of "Mail Call".

Other people call it Iowa and they're both just a little bit wrong.

Iowa, it's a beautiful name when you say it like we say it back home.

Michael Feinstein: He expressed his roots quite often in what he wrote more so than some of the other songwriters.

It's the postmaster's friendly hello.

Michael Feinstein: In a period when the world was volatile, he recognized that people had a certain kind of longing for comfort, for safety.

It's a promise for tomorrow and the memory of long, long ago.

Michael Feinstein: There was so much fear and the one place that he instinctively understood that people could find comfort was home and family.

When you say it like we say it back home.

Narrator: When the war ended, Willson's star was on the rise.

He reprised his role as hayseed Midwesterner on NBC's revamped Maxwell House Coffee program starring husband and wife comedy duo George Burns and Gracie Allen.

His popularity on Burns and Allen helped him to land his own weekly music show, which was broadcast for 7 years.

Narrator: In 1950, Willson stepped onto his biggest radio stage yet in New York City with NBC's "The Big Show" hosted by husky-voiced theatrical star Tallulah Bankhead.

Tallulah Bankhead: Meredith, Meredith Willson?

Meredith Willson: Yes, Ms. Bankhead.

(applause) Jonathan Tunick: "The Big Show" was radio's attempt to compete with television and they got as many big stars to appear on this show as they could.

And once again, the band leader was Meredith Willson.

He always seemed to have a new song that he had just written.

Meredith Willson: This is the big week in football, the bowl games, you know.

So I wrote a song for my home state university, Iowa.

What's the word?

Fight, fight, fight!

The word is fight, fight, fight for Iowa!

Let ev'ry loyal Iowan sing -- Narrator: Though he began his career as a concert musician, Willson's relatable homespun charm and his identity as an Iowan had become his stock and trade in the entertainment industry.

Cheer, cheer for Iowa -- Michael Feinstein: He knew what he had to do to get ahead.

The word is fight, fight, for Iowa -- Michael Feinstein: The other thing about adopting a persona as being from Iowa or being from a region -- I'm from Ohio -- or having an accent or a twang, people will underestimate you and he used that to his advantage.

Tallulah Bankhead: Well, darlings, that's our show for this week.

Next Sunday we have another cast of big names -- Narrator: He drew on his own biography to write a closing theme song for "The Big Show" inspired by his late mother's parting words to her Sunday school class in Mason City.

May the Good Lord bless and keep you, whether near or far away -- Michael Feinstein: That piece of music and lyrics came from something his mother used to say, may the Good Lord bless and keep you, in church.

Michael Feinstein: And it was embraced by the network because it was the right thing to express in that time in 1950 with the fears of all of the Cold War and all the stuff that was happening.

May the Good Lord bless and keep you 'til we meet again.

Michael Feinsten: It's connected to faith on a level that is not normally heard in American popular music because it's a hymn and it's also a popular song.

Narrator: NBC received thousands of fan letters each week praising Willson's tribute this his mother.

It was recorded by dozens of artists -- and became a top ten hit for Eddy Arnold on Billboard's Country Music chart.

Narrator: After the war, Willson began expressing his nostalgia in words rather than notes, which culminated in a personal memoir, not for the aristocrats of New York or San Francisco, but for the workaday crowds on Main Street, commuters, housewives and dime store shoppers, music lovers who knew nothing about music and anyone anywhere who could use a laugh.

Narrator: ""And There I Stood with My Piccolo" recounted humorous tales from his childhood in Mason City and his career in music with bite-sized wit and colloquial charm.

In it, he expressed an enduring hope that he may yet produce a great work.

"I'm still trying to write something by way of music that might have a chance of lasting longer than I do."

Narrator: Willson's memoir shined a light on his hometown of Mason City, but locals noticed a glaring omission.

Meredith's childhood sweetheart and wife of 26 years, Peggy Willson, would go unmentioned in the book's 255 pages.

Valerie Austin: A career like that is really what we might call an octopus.

It's got eight arms.

He's going in a lot of different directions.

And what is Peggy doing?

She's waiting at home.

She doesn't have her own life, it's all Meredith's life.

Narrator: Meredith and Peggy Willson divorced March 4, 1947.

Narrator: A year later, Willson married Russian opera singer Ralina "Rini" Zarova.

Narrator: Rini had made her stage debut at age 7 and immigrated to the United States as a teenager.

Narrator: She worked in radio in San Francisco in the 1930s where she met orchestra leader Meredith Willson.

Michael Feinstein: Rini is not someone you would cast as being the wife of Meredith Willson.

She's Russian.

She's from another culture.

And yet they connected so deeply in spiritual terms, on emotional terms and musically.

He could show her something and she could sing it and perform it and he could hear what it sounded like.

She was bringing to life what he was putting on paper.

And that is so hugely important in that period when he was creating The Music Man because she was there with him every step of the way.

"The Big Show" failed to stem the tide of television and NBC cut its losses after two years.

Radio stations began trading expensive band leaders and orchestras for rock and roll DJs and 45 rpm records.

Now in his fifties, Meredith Willson faced a crossroads in his career.

Michael Feinstein: After Meredith's book was published in 1948, it got a lot of wonderful reaction and his wife, Rini, was saying you've got to write a musical.

That didn't register the way it registered when Frank Loesser said, you've got to write a musical.

Narrator: Frank Loesser had composed music and lyrics for the Broadway smash, "Guys and Dolls" and had written popular songs like "Baby It's Cold Outside".

He would become Willson's mentor and publisher.

Michael Feinstein: Loesser recognized he knew how to write music, he knew how to write lyrics, he knew how to tell a story, he knew what audiences responded to.

Narrator: In addition to music and lyrics, for his new production Willson would write the script, or book, himself, a rare feat in the world of musical theatre.

He set his story in his childhood years of the early 20th century and a fictitious town of River City, Iowa.

Completed in February 1954, Willson's first draft was called "The Silver Triangle" and centered around a disabled character.

Dominic Broomfield-McHugh: In the early scripts we see that the story of the show was actually about a boy in a wheelchair who was struggling to be integrated and accepted by the town in which he's living and Harold Hill comes along and helps that process to happen.

And for several years, Willson believed that this was the heart of the show.

Narrator: For the next three years, Willson would write and rewrite his show from the ground up.

He envisioned a story told through music with songs and dialogue blending together, an idea he tried in his radio days.

Oh Meredith!

Oh Meredith Willson!

Is that kind of interesting?

(laughter) Jonathan Tunick: He had a gimmick called The Talking People.

They would just recite in rhythm -- We have 5 heads to swell, you know.

I know, I know about your 5 -- One, two, three, four, five -- Jonathan Tunick: So later on, when I heard Rock Island I wasn't surprised.

I said, oh, it's The Talking People, of course.

You can talk, you can talk, you can bicker, you can talk, you can talk, talk, talk, talk, bicker, bicker, bicker, bicker, you can talk all you want but it's different than it was.

No it ain't.

No it ain't.

But you gotta know the territory.

Dominic Broomfield-McHugh: He opens the show with the excitement of a train arriving into town.

Who's going to patronize a little bitty two by four kind of store in a little bitty town anymore -- Dominic Broomfield-McHugh: What's particularly magical about the number is that he uses the mens voices, this ensemble of men, to recreate the sounds of a train on the move.

Well, you got trouble my friend, right here, I say trouble right here in River City.

Why sure -- Narrator: He added rhythmic accompaniment to a rat-a-tat salesman's spiel to create a showstopper for his conman Harold Hill.

And a cool head and a keen eye.

Did you ever take and try to give an iron-clad leave for yourself from a three-rail billiard shot?

Susan Stroman: It comes out of a natural place in the plot in the story.

He starts to speak and he just starts to speak in rhythm and all of a sudden, you know, you feel that pulse of him speaking.

Medicinal wine from a teaspoon.

Then beer from a bottle.

And the next thing you know your son is playing for money in a pinch-back suit.

John Cullum: I heard Trouble and I thought, my God, who wrote that music?

Not a wholesome trottin' race, no.

But a race where they set down right on the horse.

Like to see some stuck-up jockey boy Settin' on Dan Patch?

Make your blood boil.

Well I should say.

Now friends, let me tell you what I mean.

Jonathan Tunick: It's the going from a few phrases into the full blown pitch.

And then at the height of it, he starts to sing -- Friends, the idle brain is the devil's playground.

Trouble -- Oh we got trouble.

Right here in River City -- Right here in River City -- With a capital "T" and that rhymes with "P" and that stands for pool -- That stands for pool -- We've surely got trouble -- Jonathan Tunick: It's a dramatic scene set to music.

It's quite operatic actually.

Narrator: Willson added a Sousa style march in "76 Trombones".

Ensemble numbers "Shipoopi" and "The Wells Fargo Wagon" underscored the show's Americana roots.

He revised and retitled his 1950 popular song "Till I Met You" into a romantic duet.

Narrator: And he drew on his background in concert music to add depth to the score.

Jonathan Tunick: Another one of my favorites, Marian the Librarian, is a kind of a standout in this score.

It's sort of this mysterious scherzo.

What can I do my dear to catch your ear?

I love you madly, madly, Madam Librarian, Marian, heaven help us if the library caught on fire -- Jonathan Tunick: It's not that down homey sound at all.

All I want is a plain man.

All I want is a modest man, a quiet man -- Dominic Broomfield-McHugh: In My White Knight, he writes a really arty ballad -- Dominic Broomfield-McHugh: So the rhythms and the shape of the melody are really not commercial.

This is Willson in arty mode.

And I would like him to be -- More interested in me -- Than he is in himself -- Susan Stroman: He understood character and he understood how the character of music also relates to a character on stage.

Susan Stroman: When I was a kid I realized that "76 Trombones" and "Goodnight My Someone" is the same song, but "Goodnight My Someone" is in three-quarter time.

Goodnight my someone, goodnight my love.

76 trombones led the big parade with 110 cornets close at hand.

Susan Stroman: Meredith Willson was saying that this, Harold Hill would sing this like a march and strong and bold and brass.

Susan Stroman: She would sing the same song in three-quarter time, which was romantic and had a longing to it -- Susan Stroman: So the idea that those two songs come together and they're perfect for each character, again, brilliant.

Meredith Willson: I'm a Mason City boy myself, Mason City, Iowa.

And I guess that's why I enjoy sitting out here on the front porch so much of a Sunday evening.

Narrator: He liked to say, he didn't have to make anything up for The Music Man , he just had to remember.

In reality, Willson wrote nearly 40 drafts of the book and at least 58 songs, only a third of which were used.

In 1956, theatrical producer Kermit Bloomgarden agreed to stage the show.

He connected Willson with playwright, Franklin Lacey, for help on the script.

Dominic Broomfield-McHugh: Looking at drafts of The Music Man before and after Lacey came on board, it's very clear that suddenly there's a through line, there's a sense of the show going somewhere, there's a sense of structure.

And the love story and Harold's transformation, both of himself and of the town, suddenly becomes very powerful.

Narrator: Willson and Lacey combined the boy in the wheelchair with an existing character, a bashful child with a lisp named Winthrop.

Now Marian's brother, Winthrop Paroo is brought out of his shell by the arrival of the band instruments promised by Harold Hill.

Susan Stroman: When The Music Man starts out, the folks in Iowa are very stiff and they don't move and they're stubborn and the movement is, it's very still.

And then by the end of the show everyone is doing the Shipoopi.

Susan Stroman: Harold Hill has brought rhythm to the town, he has brought the town to life.

He has made people laugh, he has made people have relationships that might not have.

So he has changed the town and he has done this through music.

Narrator: Meredith Willson's The Music Man opened at Broadway's Majestic Theatre December 19, 1957.

Starring B movie actor Robert Preston as Harold Hill and soprano Barbara Cook as Marian the Librarian, the show was a smash hit.

It ran for more than 3 years with 1,375 performances.

It won the Tony award for Best Musical ahead of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's West Side Story.

Narrator: The show's cast album spent 12 weeks at the top of the Billboard charts and earned him a Grammy award.

Narrator: Meredith Willson took Broadway by storm.

At the age of 55, he had risen to the top of yet another entertainment industry, Broadway, one of the most difficult and competitive environments in show business.

With The Music Man , he had created a classic.

There were bells on a hill -- Bill Oates: When The Music Man came out, it was something for everyone.

Choirs sang the music in medleys.

Every band wanted to play "76 Trombones" even though we probably only had 6 trombones at the time.

It was a delight to have somebody champion bands.

And when Willson came along, he became our hero.

Narrator: The Music Man made Meredith Willson a celebrity.

He made television appearances, produced and hosted his own network variety specials with Rini and was hired to emcee the first Grammy Awards telecast.

Narrator: The Beatles covered "Till There Was You" and performed the ballad from The Music Man live to a record 73 million viewers on "The Ed Sullivan Show".

Narrator: For his charitable work, Willson was recognized as big brother of the year by President John F. Kennedy.

Warner Brothers shared The Music Man with the entire country in a 1962 Hollywood film.

Stage director Morton De Costa and star Robert Preston returned with newcomer Shirley Jones in the role of Marian.

Shirley Jones: I had seen the show in New York City, you know, and I had seen Barbara Cook and Robert Preston and I loved the show and I thought, oh, what a wonderful part.

Shirley Jones: We came to Mason City for the premiere and we all came on the airplane.

(applause and cheering) John Skipper: The world premiere of The Music Man was in Mason City, Iowa.

Now there's a guy that not only has a lot of pride in this town, but it has a lot of influence.

It wasn't in Hollywood, it wasn't in New York, it was in Mason City, Iowa.

(applause and cheering) John Skipper: That in itself showed the pride that Willson had in Mason City.

Janice Rod: He could not contain himself.

He was being driven in a convertible and just couldn't stand it, jumped out of the car, grabbed the baton from some poor little majorette.

Janice Rod: That was Meredith.

Narrator: After The Music Man opened on Broadway, TV writer Richard Morris approached Willson to write music and lyrics for a different story.

It was about the real life, rags-to-riches socialite from Colorado, Margaret "Molly" Brown.

Only drink when you're all alone or with somebody else -- Kathleen Marshall: With Molly Brown, you have a female title character, comes from nothing and sort of is determined to be something, is determined to sort of educate herself, is determined to travel, is determined to see the world and find adventure.

And her through line is the spine of the story.

Kathleen Marshall: What they created caught I think people's imagination, this very forthright, honest and fearless woman.

Now look here, I'm important to me, ain't no bottom to no pile.

I mean much more to me than I mean to anybody I ever knew -- Kathleen Marshall: Definitely feels very Americana.

You've got marches, hoe downs, big open-hearted kind of music.

And you also have his trademark, sort of patter songs that lead to melody.

Narrator: Starring Tammy Grimes, The Unsinkable Molly Brown opened at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre in November 1960 and ran for more than a year.

The show was moderately well-rec Tammy was wildly well-received.

And Meredith's score was well-received.

I think the critics said it's not up to the level of The Music Man , however, it clearly establishes that he has a real voice and he's a real talent.

Narrator: A popular film version with Debbie Reynolds soon followed.

Narrator: For his next show, Willson again took on the book, music and lyrics himself to adapt the 1947 holiday film, Miracle on 34th Street into a stage musical.

That man over there is Santa Claus, I know, I know, I know.

I can tell by the brinkle on the bridge of his nose, the wink of his eye and the twinkle of his toes and the joy -- Narrator: The show's Christmas theme was one he had captured before, in a 1951 popular song that became a holiday classic.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go -- Michael Feinstein: As a person who has performed endless numbers of Christmas songs, they call into two fundamental categories, the sappy and the sincere.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas -- Michael Feinstein: "It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas" is a nostalgic song, yes.

But it's not about the trappings of Christmas, it's about the essence of what it represents and its interfaith, it's a sentiment for everybody.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas -- Narrator: Willson updated his holiday hit with a counterpoint arrangement and added it to the show.

He titled his adaptation Here's Love as a toast to the sentimental and heartwarming entertainment he believed was fading from Broadway.

Dominic Broomfield-McHugh: Willson was very unsettled by the change in direction of Broadway, both non-musical plays and musical theater.

Things were taking a more serious, gritty, more contemporary turn and he found himself kind of out of sync with the times.

Narrator: In an article titled "Evil Times", Willson accused modern playwrights of turning audiences away from the theater with distressing stories about abnormal people and lurid behavior.

The proclamation drew a response from young lyricist Stephen Sondheim.

Stephen Sondheim: "One thing that's wrong with the theatre is indeed the writers," Sondheim wrote, "writers like Mr. Willson, who are boring audiences away by repeating their own formulas for success, formulas which worked because they were fresh, once."

Jonathan Tunick: He started falling back on familiar patterns that had worked before.

I remember he did another "You Got Trouble" in Here's Love .

It was a copy.

And maybe that was a song he should have only written once, maybe.

Narrator: Here's Love opened in October 1963 and closed the next summer.

Producer and director Stuart Ostrow described it as a soft success, which returned its investment.

It would be Meredith Willson's final Broadway production.

Narrator: Two years later, Willson's beloved wife and musical partner of almost 20 years was diagnosed with cancer.

There were bells on a hill -- Michael Feinstein: Rini Willson was always the life of the party.

She was a woman who seems to have loved life greatly and loved people and loved music.

Michael Feinstein: It seems that she brought that out of other people.

Meredith was more reserved, but he had this vicarious joy in going to places with Rini that opened up a part of him.

Narrator: Rini Willson passed away at the age of 54 on December 6, 1966.

Narrator: Alone in his mid-sixties, Willson reconnected with his friend and former secretary, Rosemary Sullivan.

Rosemary first knew Meredith as a fan.

She met him in 1941 when she waited backstage after a radio broadcast in Detroit.

They met again in Los Angeles where she worked as a secretary in the film studios.

The Willsons hired Rosemary following the success of The Music Man .

Yes there was music - Michael Feinstein: He needed her in ways that no one else could have helped him because she was in his life for so long.

And she was his staunchest protector.

Yall know they tell me - Narrator: Meredith and Rosemary were wed on Valentine's Day 1968.

He was 65, she was 46.

Narrator: The next year, Willson staged a musical he had been working on for five years.

Starring John Cullum, Chita Rivera and opera soprano Jean Fenn, 1491 told the story of Christopher Columbus' effort to woo Queen Isabella before setting sail across the Atlantic.

But the lavish production and operatic score ran counter to edgier Broadway trends of the day and the subject matter was out of tune with the cultural shifts happening in America.

Dominic Broomfield-McHugh: It was the Civil Rights period.

Willson writes this piece about Christopher Columbus who became a very controversial colonial figure.

This was very much out of sync with the kind of story that people wanted to go to.

John Cullum: It didn't happen as well as I hoped.

I said, give me a song like "Trouble" and this show will take off.

I never lost my love for Meredith.

To this day, I wish I could have made that show work because Meredith deserved another show.

Narrator: 1491 closed in previews in San Francisco on December 13, 1969 and the curtain dropped on Meredith Willson's career in musical theatre.

Dick Scanlan: I remember going to the house in Brentwood when I was going through all the materials that Rosemary had put together when she was his secretary.

She said, oh you might want to go up to his studio upstairs, there might be some more music up there.

The door was closed and I opened it.

It was two grand pianos and then bound version of his work by year on a bookshelf.

And I actually felt an enormous amount of pain.

I thought, oh I can feel a writer in this room sort of asking himself, how did I do this?

How did I make The Music Man ?

How did that happen?

How did that incredible alchemy occur?

And not able to ever really answer that question or reach that mountain top again.

Narrator: The Music Man would become a staple in school and community theaters across the United States.

It would break cultural and political barriers in the 1980s with productions in Poland, Russia, Czechoslovakia and China.

After 1491 , Willson continued to travel visiting orchestras and universities, but his productive years were behind him.

Michael Feinstein: As he grew older, he started to forget things.

Rosemary saw it.

She protected him, became his memory and took impeccable care of him.

Narrator: Meredith Willson died of heart failure on June 16, 1984 at the age of 82.

May the good Lord bless and keep you -- Ronald Reagan: Our country knows Meredith Willson as the composer, lyricist whose musicals and songs captured the joy and innocence of America.

As one critic said, his music is as American as apple pie and the Fourth of July oration.

He will always be remembered affectionately and with respect for his virtuosity as our Music Man.

And I will always remember him because as an old ex-lieutenant of horse cavalry in World War II, he wrote a song for the cavalry.

That's right.

(applause) Dominic Broomfield-McHugh: As a musician, he was incredibly sophisticated, something that is rather forgotten about him.

He had the fluency but also the ability to access the popular.

The fact that he could write those symphonies, the fact that he could work with someone as difficult as Charlie Chaplin and yet realize Chaplin's vision on screen, the fact that he could write pop songs, some of which were genuinely popular -- we still hear "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" every year today.

Everyone knows at least one Meredith Willson song because of that song.

Meredith Willson: With astonishing regularity, when this maybe seems to be no more that can be achieved here, this appears and that and that.

And that has been the story of my life.

Susan Stroman: There's one line, Winthrop is upset with Harold Hill and he said, can you lead a band?

And Harold Hill says, no.

And he says, but I always think there's a band kid.

And I think for all of us in the theatre, we always think there's a band, we've always our whole lives, we always think there's a band.

Susan Stroman: He has made people sing in their heart, he has made people smile in their heart.

His legacy will live on forever because of the joy that he has brought so many people.