On Jul 1, 4:06=A0pm, MaryLyon <MaryL...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> 1. On this album, "Garcon, S'il Vous Plait" begins with the famous
> lick from "An American in Paris" - is this reference in the original
> score, or unique to this production?
It's in Gershwin's original score.
> 2. Does anyone ever do this show anymore? It seems like a natural
> suggestion to do in an election year, yet I've never known a theatre
> to do it.
I get the impression that it's done all the time! OK, not really, but
it is indeed a natural for election years, and community theaters seem
to think of it from time to time. I'm always hearing about productions
I've missed, and I've seen... 4 different productions over the years,
and been pit pianist for a fifth. It's funny how different parts of
the plot seem to "light up" in different political cir***stances: for
a while the Throttlebottom-as-vague-nonentity jokes didn't make much
sense because our vice presidents tended to be substantial men -- and
then we had Dan Quayle. And of course the woman-appearing-to-accuse-
the-president stuff went electric not long ago.
I second the recommendation of the Sony/CBS recording of the score in
authentic form (with the sequal on CD 2). The 1952 recording has its
charms, and a somewhat fuller text than I'd remembered
(reorchestrated, as was the style of the time, and with some new
lyrics by Ira that have mostly not been felt to be improvements). But
some weird things happen, including the re-voicing of Diana Devereaux
(a second soprano in the original) as a female-baritone rasper.
JAC
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