Lost Broadway songs make the stage at last

Some of the biggest hits from the musical The Music Man will be performed along with the newly discovered songs that failed to make the final production, at the concert organised by Dr Dominic McHugh from the University’s Department of Music on Sunday.

Dr McHugh rediscovered some of the lost songs during his research at the Great American Songbook Foundation in Carmel, Indiana. The eight lost songs will now receive their world premiere at the concert alongside other rarities from the score, including alternate versions of some of its familiar songs.

The Music Man, by composer Meredith Wilson, was the most successful Broadway musical of the 1957-58 season. Although the musical is not widely known today in the UK, it won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became one of the most loved musicals in the US. It includes the song Till There Was You, which was covered by The Beatles.

Students from the University are set to perform cut songs from the musical as members of the University’s Broadway Orchestra.

Dr McHugh said it was “a privilege” to be allowed to perform the songs, for one night only.

The Music Man: a 60th Anniversary Celebration takes place on Sunday at the University.