THEATRE: Stanley Peskin
Presented on Broadway in 1992 and now by Pact Opera as its Christmas attraction, Crazy for You is modelled on Girl Crazy (1930). The original musical comedy followed the bright, witty pattern of the old Princess Theatre attractions — only, according to Guy Bolton, the librettist of Girl Crazy, on a larger scale.
In a refurbished and indeed spectacular version of the original show, the action alternates between Broadway and a has-been mining town called Deadrock in Nevada. In new librettist Ken Ludwig’s adaptation, the time is still the 1930s, the period of the Great Depression, but innocence and charm are the key-notes.
The plot is simple and its ingredients are familiar. The hero, Bobby Child, comes to Deadrock to close down the old Gaiety Theatre. He falls in love with the postmistress Polly, whose father owns the theatre and he decides (disguised as Broadway impresario Bela Zangler) to restore it and put on a show.
Whatever reservations one might have about the book, George Gershwin’s glorious score and Ira Gershwin’s inventive lyrics have not dated. The first Girl Crazy, which established Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman on Broadway, was a cornucopia of splendid songs. To six of the most noteworthy of these (including Embraceable You and But Not for Me) have been added some great songs from other Gershwin shows such as Primrose and O Kay.
Gershwin’s music is rhythmic and pulsating, romantic and peppy, jazzy and lyrical, and he also makes witty use of barbershop and rag. In short, the score is quintessentially American and a constant source of pleasure. The roots of the new version remain in vaudeville. This is particularly evident in robust numbers such as I Got Rhythm and Slap That Bass which are rousingly staged and performed.
There is a very entertaining shoot-out and an even more amusing passage in which Bela Zangler and Bobby Child, disguised as Bela Zangler, perform an achingly funny routine similar to the mirror sequence in the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup.
Ludwig has also introduced some neat topical jokes. There is, for instance, a witty reference to Mickey Rooney who appeared with Judy Garland in the 1943 film version of the Broadway show.
Playing Bobby Child/ Bela Zangler as a would-be song-and- dance-man who woos the heroine in song and dance, Ian von Memerty is a triple pleasure as singer, dancer and actor. Samantha Peo is an appealing Polly, more capable as a dancer than as a singer. Paddy Canavan is a splendid dowager mother and she delivers her lines with gusto. David Dennis is amusing as the real Bela Zangler and Brendan Grealy is effective as Lank Hawkins.
Best of all is Kate Normington, whose vampy delivery of Naughty Baby is one of the highlights of the evening.
The sets (Robin Wagner) and costumes (William Ivey Long), as well as lighting designs (Paul Gallo), are from the 1992 Broadway production. They are ingenious and attractive, with only an occasional lapse into vulgarity.
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THE WEEKLY E-MAIL
AN ELECTRONIC SERVICE OF THE WEEKLY MAIL AND GUARDIAN JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
ISSUE DATED DECEMBER 9, 1994
# NEWS AND OPINION
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