# Watching Music Man on TCM now. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677 "2013-07-05T00:22:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/1 "2013-07-05T00:22:27Z")
Absolutely brilliant musical. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/2 "2013-07-05T00:46:06Z")
Hermione Gingold is worth the price by herself. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/3 "2013-07-05T01:03:02Z")
I watch it every time it is on. One hot summer night, mom and I took the bus downtown. We ate Chinese food and saw this in the theater. I remember this night like it was last week, but it was fifty one years ago. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/4 "2013-07-05T01:05:32Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Absolutely brilliant musical. Watch your phraseology! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/5 "2013-07-05T01:12:43Z")
I think it has something to do with perpetual motion. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/6 "2013-07-05T01:16:12Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I think it has something to do with perpetual motion. Nearly had it a couple of times. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/7 "2013-07-05T01:57:02Z")
I’m watching it too, for the first time. The Simpsons episode, “Marge vs the Monorail” suddenly makes a lot more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/8 "2013-07-05T02:07:20Z")
> [@elvisl1ves](#): > > hermione gingold is worth the price by herself. “BAAAAL-zac!” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/9 "2013-07-05T04:45:56Z")
Still one of my favorite musicals. Shirley Jones, mmmmmm. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/10 "2013-07-05T05:14:11Z")
I still think that Winthrop was secretly Marian’s son by “Miser” Madison and Mrs. Paroo just informally adopted him.😃 Speaking of, Shirley Jones was pregnant during the movie with her son Patrick Cassidy. In recent years she and Patrick have appeared together in productions (he as Professor Hill and her as Mrs. Paroo). ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/11 "2013-07-05T13:22:45Z")
What’s scary is I can sing the entire score from memory (although I can’t carry a tune, I know all the words). Robert Preston was robbed of the Oscar that year. His performance was incredible. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/12 "2013-07-05T13:24:56Z")
They remade it a few years ago with Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth and it was “capable” but the magic just wasn’t there. Plus, no Hermione Gingold. (Her book, _How to Grow Old Disgracefully_, is one of my favorite celebrity memoirs.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/13 "2013-07-05T13:46:59Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > What’s scary is I can sing the entire score from memory (although I can’t carry a tune, I know all the words). Robert Preston was robbed of the Oscar that year. His performance was incredible. Some of Preston’s “singing” is more like speaking the song (e.g., in Trouble). What’s the word for that? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/14 "2013-07-05T14:05:08Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Some of Preston’s “singing” is more like speaking the song (e.g., in Trouble). What’s the word for that? In a bio I read of Rex Harrison it was just called “Speak-singing”, though I recently learned an opera term- [Sprechsesang](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprechgesang)- that might be the more technically correct. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/15 "2013-07-05T14:10:16Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Some of Preston’s “singing” is more like speaking the song (e.g., in Trouble). What’s the word for that? Talking is just unsustained singing. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/16 "2013-07-05T14:40:56Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > In a bio I read of Rex Harrison it was just called “Speak-singing”, though I recently learned an opera term- [Sprechsesang](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprechgesang)- that might be the more technically correct. [**recitativo accompagnato**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recitative) ? ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/17 "2013-07-05T15:33:58Z")
Great Honk! It’s my favorite musical. I love every song, but especially the salesmen’s patter (rap?) song in the train. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/18 "2013-07-05T15:45:21Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > [**recitativo accompagnato**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recitative) ? No thanks, I just had some marshmallows. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/19 "2013-07-05T15:49:14Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Some of Preston’s “singing” is more like speaking the song (e.g., in Trouble). What’s the word for that? Rapping 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677/20 "2013-07-05T16:49:45Z")
My Dad loved this one. He had the soundtrack album before we even went to the theater. My older sister immediately developed the habit of saying “Ye Gods!” to which my Dad even quicker put an end. I was singing _Shipoopi_ for days. I know all the songs by heart, too, which is good, 'cause Madame Pepperwinkle can’t stand this movie. (Alas.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-music-man-on-tcm-now/662677.md?page=2)