Spontaneous musical numbers, well-choreographed dances, and a story of love.The Music Man has all of this, and is worth checking out.

The Music Man is the tale of a con man, Professor Harold Hill, who travels to the small town of River City, Iowa and wreaks havoc by starting a children’s marching band; the only problem is that he doesn’t know anything about music. Then, Harold Hill meets a stubborn librarian named Marian, is attracted to her, and attempts to woo her… but she stops him in his tracks.

This film is a great piece of work because the songs, as well as the characters, are all lovable. The choreography is incredible, and all of the singers are very talented. The two leads have a great synergy together and the film flows well, making the movie appear smooth and well done.

The director of this 1962 film is Morton DaCosta, and stars Robert Preston as Harold Hill and Shirley Jones as Marian Paroo, who is the quiet librarian. Both of these actors were taken from the 1957 Broadway musical this movie was based upon. A 2003 made-for-TV remake was produced, but it was not as well made as the original because not only was the original a bigger budget film, but the acting in the remake felt fake and some songs that were personal favorites were cut out of the new one. Also, the original one had a much better interpretation of what the characters were like personality-wise.

The Rocklin Community Theatre will be showing this classic production in December. If you enjoy musicals, and well made movies, then I definitely recommend this film to anyone who wants to have a good laugh, or be singing “Shipoopi” all day.