It opened on December 19, 1957, at the Majestic Theatre, winning five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It remained at the Majestic for nearly three years before transferring to The Broadway Theatre to complete its 1,375-performance run on April 15, 1961.
In an episode of the TV series Happy Days, Howard and Marion Cunningham pause in the lobby of a movie theater to examine a poster for The Music Man. Marion comments how much the little boy in the poster (Winthrop) looks "like Richie did when he was little". Both Winthrop and Richie were played by Ron Howard.
Meredith Willson's estate eventually received more income from the royalties of the Beatles recording of "Till There Was You" than it originally received from the actual play.
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