Page "Meredith Willson" Paragraph 7

Willson's most famous work, The Music Man, premiered on Broadway in 1957, and was adapted twice for film ( in 1962 and 2003 ).

He referred to the show as " an Iowan's attempt to pay tribute to his home state ".

It took Willson some eight years and thirty revisions to complete the musical, for which he wrote more than forty songs.

The cast recording of The Music Man won the first Grammy Award for Best Original Cast Album ( Broadway or TV ).

In 1959, Willson and his wife Rini recorded an album called "... and Then I Wrote The Music Man ", in which they review the history of, and sing songs from, the show ( album cover shown at right ).

In 2010, Brian d ’ Arcy James and Kelli O ’ Hara played Willson and Rini in an off-Broadway entertainment based on this album.