Harold Hill

And he went back there because of the Music Man thing and he got the role of the Music Man touring around the country.

Harold Hill.

Professor Harold Hill.

And he then became a Vegas headline.

There's a great picture I've got at home.

I think anyone who saw his act live would say he was probably better on stage than he was on camera, and he was pretty good on camera.

But no, it was just a dream role for him.

Just, you know, Professor Harold Hill and the way he spoke and all that.

You are my lucky star.

Robert Preston, Professor Harold Hill, Ben Franklin, Toddy, Max Sennett, a man who was respected in Hollywood, but a man who grabbed musical comedy by the throat, looked at it in its mascaraed eyes, and said, "I don't care if I can't sing.

The audiences will love me, damn it.

Now bring me some chicken fat." And towards the end of his life, when he was reflecting on his entire career, he said his favorite, most rewarding role, this is what he said, quote, "I left the best performance of my life in Philadelphia." Think about that.

This is not some struggling actor lamenting a missed opportunity.

This is Robert Preston, Professor Harold Hill, The Music Man, one of the most beloved leading men in Broadway history, a man who would win Tony Awards, a man who would become a theatrical legend, and yet the performance he mourned the most was one almost nobody ever saw.

Today on Broadway Bound, we're asking why did not one but two Robert Preston musicals collapse before coming to Broadway? We have got sombreros, a Jewish Abe Lincoln, flying scripts, leading ladies angry they have to sing in a musical, offensive accents, overly large mustaches, and a cross hidden behind a Star of David, and we got song times salivating over silverware.

You see, what happened to Mr. Preston was, well, you're just gonna have to stay tuned for today's double feature, You Got Trouble, Bob Preston, We Take the Town, and The Prince of Grand Street, on this week's Broadway Bound, the musicals that never came to Broadway.

Crazy story.

So I'm going through Europe, kind of doing my, you know, Professor Harold Hill thing with Seven Mountains and discussing this.

years ago, and I go to this English town hall, and the place is fairly packed out, and they brought me there to speak, and they were Christians who were hosting, so I trusted, I just trust kind of the Magoo factor.

I just kind of go places to see what happens.