"I may run and hide when you're screamin' my name, alright. 

But let me tell you now, there are prices to fame, alright. 

All of our time spent in flashes of light, all you people can't you see, can't you see how your love's affecting our reality?"

(Brian Littrell, Max Martin, Kristian Lundin, 1999)

What happens to Love and Romance when you are  famous (Don Lockwood) or infamous (Harold Hill)

Welcome to the July - August 2023 Edition  -- A Larger Than Life Romance -  The Music Man  and Singin' in the Rain

Whether it's fast-talking about the evils of a pool table (Harold Hill, Trouble/76 Trombones) or a drop-dead gorgeous smile, a simple wave, and a story of humble beginnings (Don Lockwood at The Royal Rascal Movie Premiere.)

These men know how to work a crowd.  They are artful practitioners of manipulation.  

To his competition, Harold  Hill may be a "two-bit thimble rigger" and may not know "one note from another," but what he does know is how to use his larger-than-life personality to sell people a dream — a dream of being unique - of being part of something special — a boys band. 

Don Lockwood works in a dream factory -  Monumental Pictures. He is Larger than Life — 60 stories high on a movie screen.  He is one-half of those romantic lovers of the silver screen, Lockwood and Lamont.  Men want to be him, and women want to be near him, chasing him, tearing his clothes for souvenirs.  Producers, writers, and his best friend tell him he is the best actor at the studio.  But he professes to be terribly lonely when face-to-face with a certain beautiful girl.

Harold Hill, however, has little time for loneliness.  He is the most famous traveling salesman on the railway line moving from town to town just ahead of those with tar and feathers and moving to "wherever the people are as green as the money."

Money motivates him.  ("I gotta find a way to get into some of these Iowa bootle-bags,") but like Don Lockwood, it is a beautiful woman who turns his head.

These Larger than Life figures who bring color, light, and music into otherwise humdrum lives discover flirtatious gestures (a tip of the hat, an arm slipped around a shoulder, and pick up line: "Didn't I meet you in?" "Didn't you drop your...?" "I'll only be in town for a short while"),  are wasted on Iowa stubborn, Marian Paroo and career-minded Kathy Seldon.

These women, although aware of each gentleman's Star Power (Kathy to Don: "You and Miss Lamont do achieve a certain intimacy in all your pictures." Marian to Harold: "I am aware there are many ports of call."), choose to look for the man behind the power:

Marian finds a  gentle  man who befriends a seven-year-old boy with a gift of a coronet, an instrument that opens his world and allows him to speak.

Kathy finds the man who embraces the opportunity to change his life, career, and those of his friends by moving from silence to sound in the Dancing Cavalier.

These are men who discover that the love and support of a strong woman can change their plans (Harold: "I got my foot caught in the door."), give their restless spirit a home ("There was love all around, but I never heard it singing, till there was you.") and give their heart wings." (Don: "Kathy, you are my Lucky Star.)

In the Classic Movie Musical world, love makes everyone Larger than Life!

Have a Safe and Happy Summer!

See You in September!

 ~~Lori