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Act One

It is the Fourth of July in 1912, and a train is leaving Rock Island, Illinois. A number of traveling salesmen aboard the train gossip about a con-man who goes by the name of “Professor� Harold Hill, and Charlie Cowell describes the man’s rather unique scam: Harold convinces parents that he can teach their children to play musical instruments in a band, and once he receives the money that is supposedly meant to pay for their uniforms and instruments, he skips town and repeats the same process elsewhere (“Rock Island�). As the train pulls in to River City, Iowa, Charlie scoffs that Harold would never get away with his scam in Iowa because the people are too stubborn. At that, a stranger stands up and exits the train: “Gentlemen, you intrigue me. I think I shall have to give Iowa a try.� He steps off the train with his suitcase, which the salesmen are shocked to see is clearly labeled, “Professor Harold Hill.�

We are now on the bustling Main Street of River City. As