A librarian at our local library mentioned "Marian the Librarian" in passing the other day, and the sweet girl was instantly intrigued. She wants to be a librarian (that's been her firm answer to "what do you want to be when you grow up?" since she was four!) and she loves rhymes. When she asked me what the librarian meant, I told her about the movie. Then of course I put the DVD on hold.
"The Music Man" debuted before her wondering eyes yesterday. She hasn't seen the whole film yet (it's long...) but she's already in love with the music and dancing. And she begged to watch "Marian the Librarian" first, and then again...and again and again and again. Yes, five times. I let her do it mostly because I had never, ever heard her laugh so hard. The idea of people singing and dancing in a library completely tickled her funny bone, and she thinks Professor Hill's antics to try to get Marian's attention are a riot. Especially when he threatens to drop a bag of marbles on the floor!
Throw in Shirley Jones' exaggerated consternation, clever lyrics she's still working to figure out, a room full of whirling, twirling girls in beautifully colored dresses, the literally toe-tapping choreography, and the scene where Harold Hill slides down a banister on a spiral staircase, and you've got one riveting musical number. I caught her trying some of the dance moves with her bears last night before bed. I suspect we will be singing Marian the Librarian around here for a long time!
2 comments:
Sounds like a grand time! I've never seen this version, and I've only seen part of the Matthew Broderick one. That scene sounds really fun!
Oh, you HAVE to see this version. :-) Sorry for the CAPS but this is really the only version that counts. I like Matthew Broderick, but he totally pales in comparison to the real Professor Harold Hill. Robert Preston stole my heart in this role years ago...he just totally becomes the slick-talking con man. He's annoying, aggressive, untrustworthy...then completely loses his heart, and in the process, melts yours. :-) Shirley Jones does a lovely job too, and her little brother is played by Ron Howard younger than you've maybe ever seen him. It's worth the whole movie just to watch little Ron belt out "Gary, Indiana"!
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