Of Thee I Sing

It may be a little too strange and precious for a Broadway revival. You know... revolving around corn muffins the way it does. (In fact, the Broadway revival in the 1950s expired quickly). But I stumbled across the script for Of Thee I Sing in the 80s, and loved its quirky satire, and then adored the complete rendering of the score in the Larry Kert/Maureen McGovern/Jack Gilford version (along with Of Thee I Sing's sequel, Let 'Em Eat Cake). But those dazzling long song sequences with truly loopy and witty Ira Gershwin lyrics are wildly inventive while they also seem to be Ira's tribute to Gilbert and Sullivan. There are all sorts of clever use of musical reprises, or just plain eccentricity. "Some Girls Can Bake A Pie" ends with what I can only call a musical nervous breakdown as the chorus runs around shrieking "There's none but Mary Turner/Could ever be his mate" I believe eight times in the score (six times on the Kert/McGovern recording).

At any rate, try to track down the full recording and experience it. There is also the Broadway revival recording on EMI/Angel which is a colorful rendering of the score, but greatly pared down.

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Yes, the '87 CBS recording is the one. Kert is a little underwhelming as Wintergreen, but he gets by. Do take a listen...to Let 'Em Eat Cake too, which in some ways is even more startling, but less sunny than Of Thee I Sing.

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Updated On: 12/21/04 at 07:29 AM

The Gershwin's Brother's "Of Thee I Sing", the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Sorry, I have a final in an hour in my theater class lol. Thats a question

Redhot - it must have been another show that our Garrett's did together (Papermill) - my best friend, whom I told you worked with Garrett Long at MTW, did that production as well. Small world this theatre thing :)

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Didn't it have Jeffrey Denman?

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