Paper Mill's Of Thee I Sing: A Landslide Victory

In a scant four year period of the early 1930's, sandwiched between the premieres of Show Boat and Porgy and Bess, George and Ira Gershwin, George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind created a type of musical theatre never seen on Broadway before and rarely seen since: the American political operetta. A rebellious yankee spawn of Gilbert and Sullivan, this trio of musicals greatly resembled the D'Oyly Carte repertory with their absurd plots, clever lyrics, lush choral sequences and extended musical scenes, but were infused with American jazz syncopation (George Gershwin was already famous for interpolating jazz into classical music by then.) and contemporary American characters displaying an irreverent mockery of authority (Kaufman and Ryskind were fresh from writing musicals for the Marx Brothers.)

The first of these operettas, Strike Up the Band, was cheered by the critics during its 1927 pre-Broadway try-out in Philadelphia, but audiences were unaccustomed to seeing anti-war themes in a musical, especially one that criticized the sheep-like mentality of nationalism, and the show never made it to Broadway until it was softened up a bit in 1930. The last of them, 1933's Let 'Em Eat Cake envisioned a fascist overthrow of the U.S. government and was a commercial failure, despite a score that was championed by several music critics of the day. (George Gershwin called that score his "claim to legitimacy.") But the overachieving middle sister, 1931's Of Thee I Sing, struck the proper chord of sophistication mixed with silliness and hit tunes. Not only did it enjoy the longest run of any Broadway musical of the 1930's, but it was also the first musical ever honored with the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Director Tina Landau has a wonderful knack for making you feel like you're watching a vintage musical in the time when it was first produced, as exemplified by her sparkling new Paper Mill Playhouse mounting of this under-appreciated classic which is traditional without ever seeming old-fashioned. The quick-paced screwball comedy sweeps any traces of sentimentality under the rug and will have you laughing and humming all the way to the voting booth until you stop to realize how little things have changed in 73 years.

John P. Wintergreen is the presidential hopeful for a vaguely fictitious party that passes as both Democrats and Republicans, depending on which state they're campaigning in. Slipping in the polls, the party leaders decide they must come up with a major issue for their boy to run on. "Something that everybody is interested in and that doesn't matter a damn.", says the party chairman.

Love, they decide, is the answer. They'll hold a beauty pageant in Atlantic City (This is a musical. They have to get the show girls in there somehow.) and Wintergreen will fall in love with the winner. He'll court her all across the campaign trail and the country will be so dazzled and touched that they'll vote for them as first couple in a landslide. (Interesting how the authors' farcical vision of love and marriage as a major campaign issue has now come true in 2004.) Well of course, while the judges are selecting the gal who looks best in a swim suit, Wintergreen winds up falling in love with his secretary Mary. Not only is she sweet, smart and the kinda girl you'd take home the mother, but the clincher is she makes the best darn corn muffins he's ever tasted. So Diana Devereaux, the Louisiana belle who wins the pageant, is tossed aside while John makes Mary the First Lady of the land. (Oh yes, Wintergreen does get elected, in case you were wondering.) When the Dixie lass confronts the first couple on their inauguration slash wedding day, The Supreme Court is needed to decide "Which is more important: corn muffins or justice." Since this is a musical, I don't have to tell you their decision. Miss Deveroux promises a scandalous revenge of Clintonian proportions. (She doesn't exactly say that, but you get the idea.)

What makes Of Thee I Sing so special among the many outstanding Gershwin scores is the sharp contrast between the lovely sentimentality of George's music and the cold-hearted cynicism behind Ira's lyrics. Was there ever a phonier sounding love song than this show's title tune? Its calculated words of romantic rhetoric ("Of thee I Sing, baby. / Summer, autumn, winter, spring, baby. / You're my silver lining. / You're my sky of blue. / There's a love light shining / Just because of you.") are appropriately sung to a sweet hummable melody as part of a campaign speech before a packed crowd in Madison Square Garden. The opening theme, "Wintergreen For President", is a rousing march with the politically incorrect, but certainly to the point, slogan "He's the man the people choose. / Loves the Irish and the Jews." The sassy, rhythmic "Who Cares?" has the President of the United States telling his true love, "Who cares what banks fail in Yonkers / Long as you've got a kiss that conquers." You can just imagine Ira Gershwin smirking, "Isn't that romantic?"

With only a few minor tweaks to the book to cut down some long stretches of dialogue and, unfortunately, a paired-down version of the show's fascinating overture (never, never alter a Gershwin overture) Landau's production is nimble, funny and unashamedly period. Ron Bohmer, as Wintergreen, despite being in a non-dancing role, always looks like he's going to break out into a tap routine any second. And since being President of the United States often requires a bit of song and dance, then why not? His youthful cockiness and pleasantly crooning voice make him perfect political timber for this satire of style-over-substance. As the All-American Mary, Garrett Long is that crisp, exacting prototype of the efficient woman behind the man. Sarah Knowlton, as the jilted Diana, has some very funny bits playing her comic melodrama, although she doesn't require the winking references (one of them literally winking) to Patti LuPone.

If any performance calls to mind one of Of Thee I Sing's original stars, it's Wally Dunn as the much-ignored Vice President Alexander Throttlebottom. Looking very much like the role's creator, the great Victor Moore, Dunn's docile demeanor and gentle delivery shows why this is one of musical theatre's great comic roles. As the man who nobody can remember in a job where nobody really knows what he's supposed to do, Dunn is an adorable man-child in a world of fast-talking tough guys.

In supporting roles, Adam Grupper is especially funny as the party big-wig who always speaks in a colorful shout as though he's addressing a packed arena through a megaphone and Fred Berman is a bundle of giddy comical energy as the French Ambassador. JoAnn M. Hunter and Sean Palmer offer some zesty song and dance, choreographed by Joey Pizzi, to one of the show's hit tunes "Love Is Sweeping the Country". (Musicals of that era often had a specialty couple whose job it was to hang around in the background until it was time for them to do a number.)

Walt Spangler's set pieces are highlighted by a glitzy Atlantic City boardwalk scene and an impressive Senate chamber which cleverly makes up for the fact that this production does not exactly have a cast the size of a typical 1931 musical, as do James Schutte's costumes which manage to make nine Supreme Court Judges out of only five actors. Together, they make fine use of reds, whites and blues. Scott Zielinski's lighting gets in on the cast-expanding hijinks, effectively using shadows to create crowds out of the relatively small chorus. And Jan Hartley's hilarious newsreel sequence is also eerily authentic looking.

Of Thee I Sing is unique among political satires, as its main target of attack is not a power-mad ruler or a greedy industrialist. No, this is a musical about we, the people. As ridiculous as Wintergreen and his co-horts may seem with their bogus issues, crazy accusations and mindless jingoism, we're the ones who keep electing them.

For an interview with star Ron Bohmer, click here.

Photos:
1) "Who Cares?" sing Garrett Long and Ron Bohmer as First Couple Mary and John Wintergreen in the Oval Office of The White House

2) Presidential candidate John P. Wintergreen (Ron Bohmer) sings the title song with his future wife (Garrett Long) as (from left to right) Adam Grupper, Richard Poe, JoAnn M. Hunter, Sean Palmer and Hal Blankenship look on.

 

For more information visit papermill.org

For Michael Dale's "mad adventures of a straight boy living in a gay world" visit dry2olives.com

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