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The Showstopper: "Thanks Be to Music" |
ORDER THE CD!
The Live Cast Album of Banjo Boy, recorded live in Iowa, includes 20 original, catchy, well-crafted, hummable tunes, and was mixed by Cynthia Daniels, who mixed The Producers. It is now available for purchase. Click HERE for details.
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See Two Numbers on You Tube!
Go to www.youtube.com and search on "Sears, Dear Sears" to see the full production number. Search on "Thanks Be to Music" (using quotation marks) to catch the show-stopping, toe-tapping number where a young Louis Armstrong sings to a young Meredith Willson.
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Banjo Boy World Premiere!
Banjo Boy premiered in Fairfield, Iowa, at the Stephen Sondheim Performing Arts Center on August 8, 2008 and ran through August 17th. The orchestration, choreography, singing and acting were of Broadway-level quality, featuring actors from all over the country. I made literally 1,000 changes to the book, cut 3 songs, added more humor, and trimmed 20 minutes. The result had even octogenerians dancing in the aisles! For a full review, go to Reviews.
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| The hapless mailman is surrounded in the "Sears, Dear Sears" number. |
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Banjo Boy is a bio-musical with a twist--from heaven an elderly Meredith Willson goes back to 1928 to change three notes of his personal life, including repairing his non-existent relationship with his father. His adventures upon running away from home include meeting a young Louis Armstrong, tracking down an elderly John Philip Sousa in San Francisco, falling in love with Zi Ling, a Chinese mui tsai (indentured servant), forming a group--The Banjo Boys--and returning home to Mason City, Iowa to help win the Iowa High School Band contest with his own song and win back the love of his father. Banjo Boy is a glorious celebration of American Music, of American diversity, and of the life of Meredith Willson. Many of the songs are here on the website to listen to. The songs crackle with wit, rhythm and hummable melodies!
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| Rosalie Willson challenges young Meredith to rhyme "glockenspiel". |
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Donate to Banjo Boy! Now Tax-Deductible!
If you love musicals the way they used to be and want to help Banjo Boy see the light of day, please listen to the songs on this website. Please ask me for a copy of the book, which I can e-mail to you. And if you like what you hear and what you see, you can help make Banjo Boy happen. Just click on the "Donations" link on the left for a full explanation or e-mail me at rhobler@optonline.net for details.
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