The Music Man is a musical set in the fictional town of River City, Iowa. The main characters are Harold Hill, a con man who poses as a boys' band leader, and Marian Paroo, the librarian and music teacher. The story takes place in the small town of Gary, Indiana. Gary is a city in the northwestern corner of Indiana, located on the shore of Lake Michigan. It is the county seat of Lake County and the second-largest city in the state.