I Married an Angel @ Encores

It seems the choices for this season are uninspired and the production values are not as professional as usual.The summer Encores looks more promising and should create a little more buzz.

I don't doubt the story is ridiculous, but sitting here 3,000 miles away I was inspired by this reading to buy the one "studio recording" available on iTunes.

It's a minor score, maybe, but lovely enough when heard out of context.

Maybe if others expect less, thanks to the reviews above, they will discover the Rodgers & Hart score offers pleasures of its own.

I think the restoration productions depend largely on money -- like they did with The New Yorkers, Lady Be Good, Paint Your Wagon, etc.

I wonder if Ben Franklin in Paris is another one of those untouchable shows because of Jerry Herman's contributions to the score?

I'm still bummed The New Yorkers didn't get a cast album! Maybe this one will? Or High Button Shoes?

It seems likes it's REALLY time for new leadership at Encores. Jack Viertel has clearly run out of ideas, and has been scraping the bottom of the barrel (or just repeating past shows) for years now. Maybe some new blood is in order?

I like Jesse Green a lot, but sometimes I think he takes things too seriously. One of the charms of the Encores series is that occasionally, for a few days, with minimal preparation, they let us see what it’s like to watch a one-time hit show from another era that could never play Broadway again, a light whimsical piece meant for pre-television audience merely wanting a diverting couple of hours of tunes, jokes, and dancing after a long day at the office. Where else can you have that experience? Some great masterpiece it is not, but I enjoyed myself very much.

By the way, the level of singing is high, and Sara Mearns, one of the great ballerinas of today, proves to be pretty good at delivering lines.

Made it through the first act, but my friend and I bolted almost as soon as the lights came up. A stinker if there ever was one. Sexist and mysoginistic without the humor or charm to make us forget we’re watching something so blatantly distasteful. And the less said about the score, the better.

Honestly can’t believe someone thought this was worth seeing the light of day. By far the worst Encores offering I’ve seen by a very wide margin.

Updated On: 3/21/19 at 09:07 PM

And the less said about the score, the better.


I haven't yet seen this incarnation, but was involved in two past versions of I MARRIED AN ANGEL. I also saw an enchanting version—beautifully cast with Marin Mazzie, Victoria Clarke, Kim Criswell, and Jason Graae—which got across-the-board raves.

It takes someone with little historic tolerance—or appreciation of classic musical theatre—to write off a score that includes "Spring Is Here," "I'll Tell the Man In the Street," the title song, and "At the Roxy Music Hall" (with its references that were VERY timely and funny when the show opened). It's also very subjective for anyone to prefer the scores of HENRY SWEET HENRY (which did have a funny libretto, but a spotty score) and BEN FRANKLIN IN PARIS.

- Michael Colby (researcher for Dorothy Hart's "Thou Swell, Thou Witty: The Life and Lyrics of Lorenz Hart" )

Updated On: 3/22/19 at 08:03 PM

EdEval said: "Encores staff must read our postings if they are real fans of vintage Broadway Musicals Many of us have posted wonderful suggestions of shows for Encore revivals, but they haven't listened."

When they had suggestion cards in the Playbills, I wrote Finian’s Rainbow several times and they actually did it (and better than I could have hoped). Maybe we just need to ask nicely.

If the score of I Married an Angel is a hill theatre historians are willing to die on, I’m happy being “historically intolerant.” And a musical from the 30s needn’t be “woke” to be enjoyable, but it should at least be fun. Fun this production ain’t.

It may very well be an enjoyable enough evening under perfect circumstances, but there are so many better shows out there to mount that don’t require quite so much heavy lifting.

Updated On: 3/22/19 at 10:50 PM

I'm on the most beautiful cloud this evening.

I just saw
I Married an Angel.
This heavenly night will be
Always dear to me.

Spring is here.

Thank you, Rodgers and Hart.

People forget that the mission of Encores! is to revive musicals of the past that wouldn't necessarily be done today. I'd rather have the chance to revisit the work of giants like Rodgers, Hart, and Joshua Logan than see another staging of Hair or Bye Bye Birdie. Hearing the "lost" orchestrations of Hans Spialek (a genius in his field) is worth the price of admission for me. My favorite Encores! presentation ever was Pardon My English, an "un-revivable" Gershwin flop that proved to be delightful—in spite of notorious flopdom and a completely insane plot. If that's not "your thing," don't go. I myself avoid Broadway's Jukebox Musicals, because I know they won't meet my preferences of what a musical should be.

For years, aficionados for clamoring for Encores! to do The Golden Apple, then many chat board regulars trashed it. You just can't win.

I Married an Angel is in the tradition of screwball musicals like the films of Lubitsch, Mamoulian, and Rene Clair. Many were not what would be called politically correct today. It's like analyzing the plots of Fred & Ginger films, picking apart their storylines, and not appreciating songs that were very popular in their time.
- Michael Colby

Updated On: 3/23/19 at 08:31 AM