OF THEE I SING...a few quick thoughts

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 6:44am

I saw last night's performance of OF THEE I SING at City Center, and it is easily the best concert that Encores has mounted in a long while. After a pretty lackluster season so far, with a miscast KISMET and a completely unwatchable 70 GIRLS 70, it's great to see them end on a high note.

The entire cast is wonderful from top to bottom. Victor Garber is warm, funny and charming as Wintergreen, and Jennifer Laura Thompson shines as his corn muffin making wife, Mary. As the all-but-forgotten VP Throttlebottom, Jefferson Mays shows a wonderful comic flair that you never would suspect from such a seriously trained actor. He has a bright future in musical comedy. Jenny Powers is sultry and sexy as Diana Devereaux, and has a gorgeous voice. The ensemble is flawless.

Run to see this production, which only runs through Monday. You won't be dissapointed!

[Charmed I'm Sure]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 10:55am

i must agree i thought Mr. Garber put in a wonderful performance, but in general the show, as the entire Encores series this year struck a chord of that one wishes they woulndt play again. Encores lacks, as last night proved, imagination, musicianship and pure theatricality. They should really consider handing this series over to someone with stronger visions.
But, at least it was a Tarzan

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 1:02pm

I want to see this SO badly. However, my own show is conflicting with it.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 2:48pm

I'm really looking foward to this after getting stuck in a snow storm and missing Kismet. Can't wait to finally see Victor Garber perform.

[Luckydave14]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 2:54pm

So excited to see this tomorrow!

[jasobres]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 3:00pm

Me, too!

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 3:03pm

I'll be there tonight!

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:51am

Well, I was definitely not disappointed. I have a great time. Excellent music and performances. Weird book...but hey, it's a 30's musical. Victor Garber, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Jefferson Mays and Jenny Powers were all wonderful. JLT and Victor had a couple of lovely songs in Act 1 and I loved how Jenny Powers' script was the same color as her dress. Wonder if that was her idea or the director's. If you are able to go see this in the next three days, please do. The theater was not full at all. I would think that Encores shows would sell better...oh well. We moved up to the front row mezz for Act 2.

At the stage door, they were all extremely nice. Victor must have taken like 25 pictures with people. Also, the surprise of the evening...who walks out right behind Victor Garber...Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley!!! Great to see that they came to support their fellow actors.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 5/13/06 at 2:03am

Glad to hear folks liked it. My college opera company did a very truncated version of OF THEE I SING as part of my school's Gerswhin Centennial Celebration. I've never see a full production, so I'm excited to hear the whole score.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 5/13/06 at 7:41am

Charles Isherwood gave the show an out-and-out rave in today's Times (see link below).
http://theater2.nytimes.com/2006/05/13/theater/reviews/13sing.html

[Roscoe]

Posted: 5/13/06 at 11:01am

Okay score, lame dated book. I expected better from Gershwin and Kaufman. Some good barbed jabs that still hurt, but otherwise a waste of time.

[Luckydave14]

Posted: 5/13/06 at 6:47pm

Saw the show this afternoon. It was great! I had a wonderful time at the show. The book was hilarious and the score was great. All the performances were top-notch, especially those of Victor, Jennifer, Jefferson, and Jenny. I would love to see this transfer to Broadway.

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 5/13/06 at 10:59pm

I agree with Roscoe in that I didn't like the story of the musical, I didn't think it was anything AMAZING. Not bad of course, but it was at times almost boring. But that's just the story. The rest I enjoyed SO much.

What can I say of Victor Garber except that....wow. He's basically the reason why I went to go see the show and he did NOT disappoint. Jennifer Laura Thompson was cute and Jenny Powers. I think besides Victor, she impressed me the most.

Going back to the story, I enjoyed the jokes poking at the vice-president but there were just some jokes that really weren't THAT funny I thought but the audience made it into a HUGE deal. Good for them though, right? Nothing wrong with enjoying a show.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 5/14/06 at 2:38am

Saw the 830 p.m. performance on Saturday, May 13th, and I enjoyed it tremendously. Victor Garber was charming as usual but the true find here is Jenny Powers, who sang beautifully and was simply a knockout.

I thought Jennifer Laura Thompson was okay as the First Lady, but her singing was very weak, especially when compared to Powers's. But all in all, a fantastic evening. Glad to have finally seen a full production of this piece.
Updated On: 5/14/06 at 02:38 AM

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/14/06 at 3:05am

I guess having a weak singer in the first lady role is a tradition. The woman who played in the original could hardly sing. She was a movie star named Lois Moran who is probably most famous for being F. Scott Fitzgerald's muse. Guess she got to know Kaufman through Scott...

[broadway_show_fan]

Posted: 5/14/06 at 3:45am

was it worked into the story that garber's character was supposed to be so much older than his wife? or did it not even look awkward? because in pics I saw of the two of them together, I just couldn't help thinking.. ew and urgh. He looks like her father!

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 5/14/06 at 9:14am

You're just projecting, dear.





Atticus Finch
Maycomb, Alabama

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/14/06 at 2:43pm

The book probably would appear slow and dated now, especially in a concert setting. ENCORES really should look at streamlining the dialogue. (Just as the recent concert of SOUTH PACIFIC got condensed to less than 2 hours.) I think a full production with sets and costumes could work, but the direction would have to keep it very brisk.

On the 1952 Broadway revival cast (availble again thanks to DRG), the score has been trimmed - a few lines here, a line there - so it just zips along. (Although there were some needless lyric changes: Ire Gershwin replaced "Propserity is just around the corner" with "The Prsident is going to be a daddy." It does make the number more situation-related but loses the big picture.)

THIS is just the kind of show ENCORES should be staging. Not shows that are still staged as part of standard repretoire.

[Luckydave14]

Posted: 5/14/06 at 3:01pm

The book did NOT seem dated AT ALL. They probably changed a couple of lines to make the jokes apply to Bush, which many did. I think this show would do excellent with today's audiences.