“Goodnight my someone, goodnight, my love.  Sleep tight, my someone, sleep tight, my love. Our star is shining its brightest light.  For goodnight, my love, for goodnight.” (Meredith Wilson, 1962)

As the pandemic rages on and more cases of the virus are reported daily, we find ourselves in continued isolation from friends and loved ones, even from friends and loved ones we are yet to meet.

Welcome to the July 2020 Edition ~ The Music Man ~ Finding Friendship and Love in Isolation

As the guidebook and film open, we are greeted by the people of River City, who seem to take pride in their isolation.

From the moment Harold Hill, The Music Man, steps off the train, the townspeople look at him with a wary eye. (“Oh, there’s nothing halfway, about the Iowa way to treat you, when we treat you, which we may not do at all!”)

In his zeal to get River City “out of the terrible trouble,” it’s in due to the arrival of a pool table, he proposes the establishment of the “River City Boys Band.” He seeks to enlist  Marian Paroo, the piano teacher, to help him.

Upon meeting Marian, we find she has isolated herself from making friends due to the opinion the ladies of River City have of her.  ( “That woman made brazen overtures with a gilt-edge guarantee. She had a golden glint in her eye.”)  She has also isolated herself from the love her mother wishes she had. (Marian: “Mama, a man with a suitcase followed me home.” Mrs. Paroo: “If you don’t mind my sayin’ so, it wouldn’t have hurt you to find out what the gentleman wanted. (He) may  be your very last chance.”) Marian counters she has been in love. (“My first love heroically ran the streetcar. Next, I fell for the principal.  But, oh, that teacher who sang In the Gloamin’.”) She continues to wish for it. (“I still love my being in love with someone.”) However, not with someone who “acts like a Saturday night rowdy,” and wants what one would find in Balzac.

Marian and the townspeople may see Harold as the slick con man with a line so complimentary he can con the mothers of River City out of their pocket money. ( “Madam, it’s amazing – two members of the same family, with absolutely perfect pitch,”) and simultaneously deflect the school board from their mission of getting his credentials.  But it is Winthrop who sees him as a friend.

Six-year-old Winthrop Paroo is a child who speaks little due to the presence of a lisp. When he tries, schoolmates laugh at him, forcing him into isolation. When he meets Harold Hill, he finds someone who talks to him, teaches him to sing happy songs, and provides him with the cornet that brings him out of his shell. (“Sister!  Sister! Isn’t this the most scrumptious solid gold thing you ever saw?”)

With this gesture, Harold allows Winthrop and Marian to escape their isolation. Winthrop joins the band and makes friends, while Marian begins to see this “Saturday night rowdy” as a gentleman and perhaps someone she could love.

As friendship, love, and excitement over the “River City Boys Band” blooms, take a moment to consider: If you are Harold Hill, a man who has traveled to “many ports of call,” and encountered many “sadder but wiser” girls, can you still be isolated?

If you are a man like Harold who looks for towns “where the people are as green as the money” and often leaves just ahead of the tar and feathers,  you might find your heart quite isolated. You may wish to “get (your) foot caught in the door” and settle for friendship and love with Marian The Librarian in the isolated town of River City I- A- Way.

Stay Safe and Well.  Your Friend in Isolation

~~~Lori