Weekend Poll Top Three: Fans Want Laura Osnes as Marian in NBC's The Music Man!

Oh, the Wells Fargo Wagon is a-comin' to NBC, in a live broadcast of The Music Man! As soon as we heard the news, we started dream casting the role of the smooth-talking con man Harold Hill—from stage favorites to screen stars, so we figured it was only fair that fans got to pick who they think should play Marian "The Librarian" Paroo. You wished they may and you wished they might, and here's what you had to say!

1. Laura Osnes—33%
Back in 2012, Ms. Osnes told us, “Marian Paroo is actually the next [role] on my list.” We here at Broadway.com are all about making casting dreams come true (ask Norm Lewis). It’ll be a bit of a venture from her princess days in Cinderella, but we have no doubt that she would sound beautiful singing “Till There Was You,” which just so happens to be one of her audition songs. We can’t help but think that her victory in this poll had something to do with her Twitter campaigning with Cinderella co-star and one of Broadway.com’s picks to play Harold Hill, Santino Fontana.


2. Sierra Boggess—13%
She’s a little busy starring on Broadway right now in The Phantom of the Opera, but maybe she’ll leave the Opera Populaire for the River City library. With the Royal Albert Hall version of Phantom, Boggess already has one filmed production of a musical under her belt. The next move, clearly, is to take it a step further and do it live for millions of people across the country. It’s about time that this Broadway fave gets the national attention that she deserves; no doubt her beautiful voice and comedic chops would win them over!


3. Laura Benanti—11%
We already know she can handle the stress of a live production after her performance as Baroness Elsa in last year’s The Sound of Music (who else could trend on Twitter while playing “the other woman?”). Perhaps it’s time for the Broadway and NBC darling to play a leading lady in a live broadcast—especially because there aren’t really any good roles for her in Peter Pan. If she doesn’t do The Music Man, we’ll start a campaign for My Fair Lady in 2016. We've got your back, Benanti.