The Denver Public Library recommends these library resources to enhance your theater experience of The Music Man from DCPA, showing this winter from February to March 2026.
There’s trouble in River City when a fast-talking salesman gets his heart stolen by the town librarian.
Meredith Willson’s six-time, Tony Award-winning musical comedy The Music Man follows fast-talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys’ band that he vows to organize – this, despite the fact that he doesn’t know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian, the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen by curtain’s fall.
Featuring songs such as “Seventy-Six Trombones,” “Trouble,” “‘Til There Was You,” “Pickalittle” and “Gary, Indiana,” The Music Man is a family-friendly story to be shared with every generation.
What to Read
Our reading recommendation: Abby Akerman believes in the Universe. After all, her Midwest high school marching band is about to perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. If that's not proof that magical things can happen, what is?
About the book: Abby's marching band is about to perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City--if that's not proof that magical things can happen, what is? New York also happens to be the setting of her favorite romance novel, making it the perfect place for Abby to finally tell her best friend Kat that she's in love with her (and, um, gay). She's carefully annotated a copy of the book as a gift for Kat, and she's counting on the Universe to provide an Epic Scene worthy of her own rom-com. Leo Brewer, on the other hand, just wants to get through this trip without falling apart. He doesn't believe the Universe is magical at all, mostly because he's about to be outed to his very Southern extended family on national TV as the trans boy he really is. He's not excited for the parade, and he's even less excited for an entire day of sightseeing with his band. But the Universe has other ideas. When fate throws Abby and Leo together on the wrong subway train, they soon find themselves lost in the middle of Manhattan. Even worse, Leo accidentally causes Abby to lose her Epic Gift for Kat. So to salvage the day, they come up with a new mission: find a souvenir from every location mentioned in the book for Abby to give Kat instead. But as Leo and Abby traverse the city, from the streets of Chinatown to the halls of Grand Central Station and the top of the Empire State Building, their initial expectations for the trip--and of each other--begin to shift. Maybe, if they let it, this could be the day that changes everything, for both of them.
What to Watch
Our watching recommendation: To pay his rent, Dewey decides to take on the music program at an elite school and makes it his goal to teach the kids about rock and roll. His ulterior motive is to get them to compete against his former band for a cash prize.
About the movie: When his band votes him out due to his embarrasing musical antics, Dewey has to make the rent somehow. After intercepting a call for his substitute-teacher roomie Ned, Dewey finds himself in front of a class of elite elementary school students. Dewey decides to take on the music program and makes it his goal to both teach them the gospel of rock and roll and compete against his former band.
What to Listen
Our listening recommendation: Jenny is a high school senior and an award-winning cellist who often chooses practice over fun. When she meets K-pop star Jaewoo, she finds herself pulled into spending an unforgettable evening wandering Los Angeles with him on the night before his flight home to South Korea.
About the book: Jenny never had much time for boys, K-pop, or really anything besides her dream of being a professional cellist. But when she finds herself falling for a K-pop idol, she has to decide whether their love is worth the risk.
What to Download
Our download recommendation: Follow three teenagers in Brooklyn, New York, in the late 1990s. Jasmine, Quadir, and Jarrell as they hatch a wild plan to turn Jasmine's brother Steph into a hip-hop star after he is murdered. This is a fast paced hip-hop murder mystery full of music and friendship.
About the book: When a young black teen is murdered, his two best friends decide to keep his memory alive by promoting his music -- rhymes that could turn any hangout into a party -- with the help of his younger sister, Jasmine, who is out for justice. As the buzz builds, it forces Quadir, Jarrell, and Jasmine, to each confront the death in their own ways.