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His father was a moderately successful lawyer who had the idea that Iowa was going to become a wasteland, made plans to move out of the state and raise nuts somewhere; but he stayed. Meredith's mother Rosalie, a Sunday-school superintendent for 40 years, nicknamed him "Glory" because he always had a smile on his face. Rosalie acted in amateur plays—a daring hobby at the time—and grew lilies of the valley on the north side of the house. She kept Lorna Doone and Tennyson within easy reach of the Willson children, and dressed curly-haired Meredith in a black velvet Fauntleroy suit on the occasions when he spoke a piece at the Congregational Sunday School. Willson admits that The Music Man's heroine Marian is modeled after his mother; he wrote a warm, lyrical ballad for Soprano Barbara Cook that he feels captures Rosalie's image:
My White Knight—
Not a Lancelot, nor an angel with wings,
Just someone to love me
Who is not ashamed of a few nice things . . .
And if occasion'ly he'd ponder
What makes Shakespeare and Beethoven great,
Him I could love till I die
Him I could love till I die . . .
Willson lugged his memory-bag of "innocent Iowa" around for years, discussing it with producers, writing new material, throwing away songs, dashing off new ones. In 1956 Producer Bloomgarden told him that he would like to see the script. A year later, Willson called Bloomgarden from Hollywood. Says Bloomgarden: "I said to myself, 'Willson? Who the hell is
Willson?' But I told him that if I could hear it the next day I'd be free." Willson and his wife Rini took a plane for New York. Next night they met Bloomgarden at the apartment of Conductor Herbert Greene, who is a co-producer and musical director of the show. Willson played the piano and sang the male parts while Rini sang the female roles. They wound up at 5 a.m. At 9 a.m. Bloomgarden called Willson at his hotel and said: "May I have the honor of producing your beautiful play?"
Open Face & Big Frustration. Bloomgarden called in Director Da Costa and set to work casting the show. Barbara Cook (Plain and Fancy') had just the right sweet voice to play Marian; Comedian David Burns was a natural for the wacky mayor; an international championship barbershop quartet, the Buffalo Bills, was signed to harmonize the Sweet Adeline-style love songs that reminded Willson of Mason City days; a ten-year-old charmer named Eddie Hodges took on the role of Marian's shy little brother.
Finding the man to play Harold Hill was a more complicated problem. Television Comic Milton Berle wanted the part. TV Actor Art Carney was considered, and so was Dancer Ray Bolger. Da Costa had seen Robert Preston in a few summer stock shows; Bloomgarden, too, knew Preston's work. Says Da Costa: "Preston has energy and he has reality. He's an actor who can project himself larger than life. And he has enough sureness of technique and enough urbanity to portray the con man and the opportunist without resorting to a wax mustache. The part calls for a guy with an open face and a great big frustration which he can satisfy only by taking the easy way out —conning people."