“The Music Man” will be celebrated at the Iowa State Fair this year with a butter sculpture to go along with the fair’s famous butter cow. Butter sculptor Sarah Pratt says she took a tip from the fair’s original butter sculptor and started keeping a list of ideas for future sculptures, and the musical she enjoyed while growing up was on the top of the list.
Pratt says while she won’t be able to get all of The Music Man’s “76 Trombones” into the sculpture, there will be at least one trombone and a number of other musicians. She says not everything is set yet on what the final sculpture will look like.
Pratt is taking a couple of field trips before the State Fair starts to get her Music Man mojo going and finalize her plans for Harold Hill and Marian the Librarian.
Pratt says she’s been wanting to do a Music Man sculpture for five years and has been reading up on Mason City native Meredith Willson leading up to this year’s fair.
“The Music Man” movie premiered in Mason City 60 years ago last month, while a Broadway reboot of the musical opened on February 10th of this year. The Iowa State Fair starts its 11-day run on August 11th.
