Robert Preston "MUSIC MAN" Barbara Cook / Meredith Willson 1957 Tryout Playbill

Description

I'm currently listing a large number of playbills from out-of-town tryouts prior to the Broadway runs. Many are from early performances when revisions were common and include song titles that were cut before opening in New York ....... This is a rare December 9th, 1957 playbill from the Pre-Broadway engagement of the MEREDITH WILLSON musical comedy hit "THE MUSIC MAN" at the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia. (The production would open December 19th, 1957 at the Majestic Theatre in New York City and run for 1375 performances.) ..... The musical starred ROBERT PRESTON and featured BARBARA COOK, DAVID BURNS, PERT KELTON, IGGIE WOLFINGTON, HELEN RAYMOND, PAUL REED, EDDIE HODGES, DANNY CARROLL, DUSTY WORRALL, CARL NICHOLAS, PAUL REED, ADNIA RICE, ELAINE SWANN, PEGGY MONDO and THE BUFFALO BILLS ..... Side Note: The musical would win the 1958 Tony Award for "Best Musical" beating out Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's "West Side Story". ROBERT PRESTON and BARBARA COOK would also receive Tony Awards for "Best Actor in a Musical" and "Best Featured Actress in a Musical" respectively ..... CREDITS: Book, Music and Lyrics by MEREDITH WILLSON ("The Unsinkable Molly Brown", "Here's Love"); Story by MEREDITH WILLSON and FRANKLIN LACEY; Choreography by ONNA WHITE; Sets designed by HOWARD BAY; Costumes designed by RAOUL PENE DU BOIS; Directed by MORTON DE COSTA; Produced by KERMIT BLOOMGARDEN with HERBERT GREENE ..... DETAILS: The sixteen page playbill measures 6" X 9" inches and includes full production credits, cast list, synopsis of scenes, list of musical numbers and individual photos and bios of ROBERT PRESTON and BARBARA COOK (shown in the scanned images) ..... CONDITION: With the exception of light edge wear, this rare playbill is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective, carded sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.