Is OF THEE I SING a good show?

[Luckydave14]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 11:17pm

Is this a good show? I am thinking of going to the Encores performance next week because I love Jen Thompson and Jenny Powers, but is it worth my time? Thanks in advance. Updated On: 5/5/06 at 11:17 PM

[theatreguy]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 11:21pm

Yes, go see it.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 12:15am

It was the first Broadway musical to win the Pulitzer Prize. It is very funny and in many ways, very contemporary, especially with the vipers currently in power. And the music is by The Gershwins. Ira won the Pulitzer with Kaufman and Hart, who wrote the book, but astonishingly, George Gershwin, who only wrote the entire score, was excluded.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 12:20am

You won't like the show unless you appreciate a great book, excellent music, and wonderful lyrics

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 2:24am

And the funniest concept joke ever written about the position of Vice-President, which in the original show was played by the absolutely beloved comedian Victor Moore, who brought a whole new meaning to the word 'befuddled."

The Vice Presidency has never been taken seriously before Darth, er, Dick Cheney. Hannibal Hamelin, Lincoln's first veep said "The job isn't worth a bucket of warm spit." And he was so obscure that during the Civil War, he served as a cook in the army and nobody recognized him. (I mention all this to give you insight to the humorous way Vice President Alexander Throttlebottom is treated in the musical....)

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 8:40am

allofmy life said:

"Hannibal Hamelin, Lincoln's first veep said 'The job isn't worth a bucket of warm spit.'"

From everything I've read, it was John Nance Garner, one of FDR's Veeps who made that remark.

[Charmed I'm Sure]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 11:27pm

god couldnt pay me enough money to see another encore stink bomb. everyone should spend their time and money on something more productive, more meaningful and certainly more artistic. encores should call it quits

[jasonf]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 11:57pm

Hey Charmed, can you give me a lesson in how to win friends and influence people?

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:03am

It is comic operetta in style, and great fun. Clever script, literate lyrics.

Grab Capitol's 1952 revival cast CD (it's been reissued by DRG) for a fantastic 40 minute tour through the score. The chorus is the real star - there to react to every scandal. "She can't make corn muffins!" they sing with ominous tones. Paul Hartman and the other leads do not have great singing voices but the performances are loaded with character.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:24am

I like the show, it has a great, great score, but I feel that much of the book is very dated. I imagine that Encores will cut down the book a good deal, and this is one time that I think cutting would be advisable.

The revival recording has much to recommend it (including some surprisingly good singing from Jack Carson, terrific singing from the little-known Betty Oakes, and an insane and delightful performance from Lenore Lonergan, who probably never could sing and certainly couldn't on the day the recording was made), as does the concert recording from the 1980s, which I think is out of print now and was only ever available as part of a two-CD (or two-record or two-cassette) paired set with the show's sequel, Let 'Em Eat Cake. The concert recording would be much closer to what you wiii be likely to hear at Encores.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:35am

This show is brilliance. It stands the test of time, even though its subject is about politics. You will laugh amazing hard and have a great time! I hope you go and have fun!

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:48am

I was excited when I heard teh concert recording wa scoming and it was disappointing. It had no life, no sparkle. It was als draggy and dull. The revival cast thanks to millions of tiny trims - were they for the record or was the text trimmed that way for the '52 revival? - zips along at an entertaining pace. And, as fun as it was to hear the (almost) complete LET 'EM EAT CAKE, it isn't a show you return to often. The Overture is the best part. Yes the 2 CD set is out-of-print now. There were rumours it would be reissued as two single discs but that never happened.

One other OF THEE I SING recording (on LP, never on CD) is the 1972 TV cast with Carroll O'Connor and Cloris Leachman. The sound quality is preyy grim and the performances are dreadful. I remember seeing this TV telecast and enjoying it but not so much on record.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 2:59am

I agree that the cast (or at least the people in the three biggest singing roles) on the concert recording isn't ideal, but I love the score so much that I love the recording. The cast is at least competent. And the tempos for the most part are pretty fast, though in some cases the tempos on the revival recording are even faster (a little insanely so, I think, in a couple of places).

There are relatively few '30s scores (at least of those have received substantial recordings) that I love, but Of Thee I Sing is one of them, all of it. I find it very theatrical. Much as I like the 1952 recording, I wish it had more material on it. And much as I usually like Don Walker's work, I much prefer the original orchestrations.

[Charmed I'm Sure]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 10:36am

dear nobody home. i dont give lessons. and i dont care about charming anyone..you should charm me

[philcrosby]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 11:57am

The show is a classic piece of musical theater written by some of the greatest talents of the 20th century. That alone makes it worth two hours of your time, regardless. IMHO, of course.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 12:20pm

I think I'm going to buy a ticket to the Encores production. Very excited to see the first theater pultizer prize winner.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 12:25pm

"god couldnt pay me enough money to see another encore stink bomb. everyone should spend their time and money on something more productive, more meaningful and certainly more artistic. encores should call it quits"

Oh hooray! Charmed is back! So how often does God pay you to see shows? How many Encore "stink bombs" have you seen? Please tell us more! What do you recommend everyone should see? I am dying for suggestions.

"and i dont care about charming anyone"

Then you're doing a fine job.

"you should charm me"

Why? Your name already says you are Charmed, so obviously we are all charming you at once. All the time. You are endlessly charmed by everyone. Forever.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 12:27pm

Just to set the record straight. OF THEE I SING was not the first show to win the first Pulitzer Prize for Drama. That honor went to WHY MARRY? during the 1917-1918 season. The 1931-32 Pulitzer for Drama went to OF THEE I SING for it's book. It was the first *musical* to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, al though THE GREEN PASTURES, the 1929-30 winner had plenty of music.

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 12:34pm

You will LOVE Of Thee I Sing.

I have been listening to the concert CD since I was 6. Weird story, I know, but it's one of the best musicals I've heard.

And I CAN'T wait to hear it performed by one of the best groups EVER, with one of the best orchestras in New York. I can't wait.

I'm attending the dress rehearsal this Wednesday.

[dry2olives]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 12:50pm

Hearing a Gershwin overture with the original orchestrations is one of the great joys of musical theatre.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 1:01pm

Tom14850,

You were so correct and I was so wrong. I wrote about the "The Presidency isn't worth a warm bucket of spit" remark without doing my research and now that I have, I discover, as you astutely pointed out, spit warming buckets were not even invented when Hannibal Hamelin was vice-president and it WAS John Nance Garner who coined the phrase.

However, further research does suggest Hamelin said "The Vice-Presidency isn't worth a bed-warming pan full of Old Abe's used dandruff."

So I wasn't that far off.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 10/19/07 at 10:39pm

I just discovered this show in my Gershwin class. I'm really sad that I missed the opportunity to see this last year. I really can't believe how funny and original it was, a show written so long ago...and how much the satire took on real life in 1998 with the president getting impeached but not thrown out of office due to a scandal involving "another woman." freaky.

Yes, the VP jokes are hilarious, but I think when reading the libretto, the funniest part without a doubt was the election results. I was sitting on my couch in my apartment just laughing my ass off. My roommates were concerned.

Apparently, Ira kept his pulitzer in the bathroom of protest that George didn't get one at the time.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/5/08 at 9:30am

Although this is an old thread I recognise that some of you are still around, and so I'd like to extend the question in the thread title to Let 'em Eat Cake.

Opera North (who are a major opera company in the UK) are doing both Of Thee I Sing and Let 'em Eat Cake to coincide with the presidential election. They usually do good (though very much in the opera-company mould) productions and have attempted other obscure shows of the period before (LoveLife, Paradise Moscow, One Touch of Venus). They also do good artwork...



Don't they look lovely! Please may I have one?

This thread has convinced me I need to see Of Thee I Sing but what of its sequel? Is the score as good? Will the book stand the test of time? Or does it fall into the usual musical sequel trap?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/5/08 at 10:07am

Let 'Em Eat Cake is darker in spirit than Of Thee I Sing, even somewhat sinister, in place of Of Thee I Sing's wacky tone. I think the score is very good, even though "Mine" is the only song that came out of it. I wouldn't pass up a chance to see it.

Updated On: 10/5/08 at 10:07 AM

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 10/5/08 at 4:29pm

A chance to see a full production of Let 'em Eat Cake with a full orchestra? I'd say don't miss it, though it's probably a good idea to see Of Thee I Sing first. Why can't an American opera company do this stuff? Yes, it would have the problems that come with an opera company doing musicals, but it would also come with the good points of an opera company doing musicals.

I'd missed reading the comments in this thread that came after my comments on the recordings of Of Thee I Sing, so now I'm wondering if Charmed I'm Sure thought that I'd posted the comments that jasonf had posted.