THE MUSIC MAN to Play Ahmanson Theatre This Fall

Center Theatre Group will present Big League Productions Year-long National Tour of Meredith Willson's The Music Man – one of the most popular and endearing musicals of American theatre -- to the Ahmanson Theatre for sixteen performances from October 27 to November 8, 2026.  This is the first time The Music Man will play a major Los Angeles venue since 1980. 

There's trouble in River City when a fast-talking salesman gets his heart stolen by the town librarian. when six-time, Tony Award-winning musical comedy – including Best Musical (1958) follows fast-talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys' band that he vows to organize—this, despite the fact that he doesn't know a trombone from a treble clef. 

Hill's plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian, the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen by curtain's fall. Featuring songs such as "Seventy-Six Trombones," "Trouble," "'Til There Was You," "Pick-a-little" and “Gary, Indiana," The Music Man is a family-friendly story to be shared with every generation. 

BroadwayWorld said of this new production, “From the very first moment the lights went down, it [was] clear it was going to be something special … the ensemble cast moved in perfect synchrony, their bodies swaying and jolting in unison to conjure the rhythmic clatter of a train in motion.  It was one of those rare theatrical moments where you lean forward in your seat and think: yes, this is going to be a good night.” 

“And what a night it was.  There's something joyful about watching a cast fully inhabit a world this warm and specific — the gossipy ladies of River City, the pompous mayor, the squabbling school board who can't help but harmonize.  The show never lost that momentum … the cast delivered with the kind of precision and energy that only comes from a company that genuinely loves what they're doing.  This production didn't just do justice to a classic; It reminds you exactly why it became one.” 

Tickets for The Music Man are available through CenterTheatreGroup.org, Audience Services at (213) 972-4400 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Offices (at the Ahmanson Theatre) at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012.  

The show is helmed by veteran director Matt Lenz. Emmy Award winning and Tony Award nominated choreographer Joshua Bergasse brings the story's celebrated production numbers spectacularly to life on stage. 

Elliott Andrews leads the cast as Professor Harold Hill, with Elizabeth D'Aiuto starring as Marian Paroo. The production features Paul Urriola as Marcellus Washburn, Savannah Stevenson as Mrs. Paroo, Patrick Blashill as Mayor Shinn, and Emmanuelle Zeesmanas Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn.  

The tour also features Dylan Patterson as Winthrop Paroo, Addie Jaymes as Amaryllis, Michael Santora as Charlie Cowell, Charles Antenen as Tommy Djilas, and Madison Sheward as Zaneeta Shinn.  

Rounding out the cast are Christian Andrews, Bryce Bayer, Anna Chin, Danny Cruz, Kalista Curbelo, Whitney Daniels, Erin Diehl, Brian Doolittle González, Craig First, Sophie Goron, Alexi Ishida, Cameron Janson, Hannah Kidwell, Kevin Kuska, Rose Messenger, Joshua Pierre Moore, Kylie Noelle Patterson, Brandon Ranalli, Aidan Rawlinson, Shae Reynolds, Brayden Schilling, Marielle Utayde and Matthew Wautier-Rodriguez. 

About The Music Man 

In 1957, The Music Man, a work of true originality, took Broadway by storm.  While it is undoubtably a heartfelt love letter to Midwest America and small towns everywhere, its enduring message continues to move audiences across generations and demographics even today.  

The Music Man originally ran for 1,375 performances was nominated for nine 1958 Tony Awards, winning five, including Best Musical, competing for the Tony with New Girl in Town; Oh, Captain!; Jamaica; and an alternate view of American life, West Side Story.  It also won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical. In 1959, it won an additional Tony Award for Best Stage Technician, Sammy Knapp.  

When The Music Man first opened on Broadway, Brooks Atkinson said in The New York Times, “Dollar for doughnuts, Meredith Willson dotes on brass bands … and he has translated the thump and razzle-dazzle of band lore into a warm and genial cartoon of American life. The Music Man is a marvelous show.  

John Chapman said in the Daily News, “The musical is put together so expertly it should either be twice as long or performed twice at each performance.”  
 
Robert Coleman in the Daily Mirror said “What a show! What a hit!” 

The cast album of The Music Man won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album and spent 245 weeks on the Billboard Chart, spending 12 of those weeks at number one; the soundtrack of the Warner Bros. film spent another 35 weeks on the chart.  

Paul McCartney said, “There were records other than rock'n'roll that were important to me.” As a result, “Till There Was You” from The Music Man was the 11th song on Meet the Beatles sharing royalties with “I Want to Hold Your Hand”; That album spent 71 weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart including 11 consecutive weeks at number one; and was performed by The Beatles during the Royal Command Performance on November 4, 1963 and during their first performance on The Ed Sullivan Show February 9, 1964. 

The 2000 Broadway revival was nominated for an additional eight Tony Awards, while the 2022 Broadway Revival, featuring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, was nominated for six more.  

Meredith Willson both attended Frank Damrosch's Institute of Musical Art (which later became The Juilliard School, was a flute and piccolo virtuoso accomplished enough to become a member of John Philip Sousa's band (1921–1924) and later the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini (1924–1929).  He was nominated for two Academy Awards for the scores Charlie Chaplin's 1940 The Great Dictator and William Wyler's 1941 The Little Foxes. His other musicals include The Unsinkable Molly Brown and Here's Love, from the film Miracle on 34th Street. 

Broadway veteran Matt Lenz has directed plays and musicals all over North America, in the UK, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Singapore and India – and is the director of current Broadway tours in the US and Asia.  He was the Associate Director of the original Broadway productions of Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Velocity of Autumn, and the Resident Director of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.  

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