On Friday night Laura and I attended a high school production of The Music Man.  It was really good.  The producers can feel free to use that quote on future playbills:

“It was really good.” – The Ark of Mark

I had never seen The Music Man before and knew nothing about it going in.  In fact, starting Friday morning, I kept getting the tune “do you know the muffin man” stuck in my head in anticipation of the play, even though I was pretty sure it was not part of the show.  (Having seen the play I can definitively proclaim that The Music Man and the Muffin Man are in no way linked – unless maybe it happened in a sequel).

One of my very favorite things about seeing a classic play or movie for the first time is what I like to call the “so THAT’s where that came from” moment.  You know the moment I’m talking about.  You’re watching some iconic movie and a character says a famous line and your brain hears something familiar and says, “Oh!  So THAT’s where that quote came from!”  My personal record for such moments probably happened when I finally got around to seeing Casablanca (or as it’s known in English, “White Castle”).  For those of you as uncultured as I am, Casablanca is where we got such gems as “here’s looking at you, kid”, “play it again, Sam” and “kiss my grits.”

I’d like to quickly share with you four such moments I had while enjoying The Music Man.

The first is straightforward.  Turns out it’s where “Seventy-Six Trombones” came from.  You know, the ones in the big parade.

The second is more personal.  During my childhood, every time any reference was made to Gary, Indiana, my dad would start singing a catchy tune.  Maybe you’ll recognize it if I share some of the lyrics.  It goes like this:

Gary Indiana Gary Indiana Gary Indiana

It is testimony to the brilliant catchiness of this tune that I can remember it from my childhood, considering how few times Gary, Indiana could possibly have come up in casual conversation with my dad and thus inspire him to break into song.

The third moment was when a barbershop quartet sang a song called “Goodnight, Ladies.”  I was (and still am) a fan of Cheers.  There was a Cheers episode where a barbershop quartet comes into the bar and Norm asks if he can fulfill a longtime dream and sing with them.  The chorus they sing is from “Goodnight, Ladies” and now I know it came from The Music Man.

Finally, a quick Google search confirmed my suspicions about my favorite “aha” moment of the night.  One of the early numbers is called “Trouble.”  This song is how the main character convinces the town that they need to spend money to form a band.  As I listened, waves of vague familiarity washed over me.  Then a big wave hit.  Suddenly I wanted to jump up and shout, “Hey!  This is just like on The Simpsons when Lyle Lanley came to town and convinced everybody to build a monorail!”  I love the monorail episode.

Perhaps it does not speak well of my cultural IQ that I am so delighted that an iconic musical helped enrich my appreciation of Cheers and The Simpsons.