"'76 Trombones' led a (really) big parade..."

This is a real treat.

Okay, so yesterday I mentioned Meredith Willson and his wife Rini making an album where they sang the score and told the story of The Music Man.  That got me thinking of this, one of the greatest musical production numbers I’ve ever seen for television.  Perhaps the greatest, since I can’t even begin to imagine the logistics (and geez, the rehearsals) to pull this off under any condition, let alone what I’m sure was for live television.  It's a performance of "76 Trombones" like you've never seen.

It was a TV special done at Television City in Hollywood, and broadcast (as far as research seems to be) on June 4, 1964.  A couple other notes:  the first soloist is Caterina Valente, who was a popular singer at the time.  She’s soon joined by another popular singer, Sergio Franchi.  What’s most noteworthy though is that the woman who sings next (who has an accent) is none other than Meredith Willson's wife, the aforementioned Rini Willson. 

Also, there is one...well, being coy, I'll leave it at that...

But if you ever want to see how “76 Trombones” should really be performed, take a look.  I have no idea if there were any atheists on the crew that day, who didn't believe in prayer, but I suspect none of them were in the control room.  Happily, the deity came through for them.