Corrections or additions?
This review by Simon Saltzman was prepared for the October 6, 2004
issue of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Review ‘Of Thee I Sing’
The Paper Mill Playhouse is presenting a terrific revival of “Of Thee
I Sing.” In honor of the occasion, here is short recap of the social,
political, and economic events surrounding three U.S. presidencies
that undoubtedly inspired the writing of this winner of the 1931
Pulitzer Prize.
Washington politics went from bad to worse following President Woodrow
Wilson’s turbulent term. It wasn’t bad enough that Republican
President Warren G. Harding (1921 to 1923) gambled away the White
House during a card game, that he supported tax cuts for the rich,
opposed organized labor, stopped anti-trust suits, and used the
Fordney-McCumber Tariff to secure oil markets in the Middle East. But
the thing that perhaps made his presidency most notorious were his two
extramarital affairs. One was with Carrie Phillips, a known German
sympathizer during the war, who tried to blackmail Harding and was
instead paid hush money by the Republican Party.
The other affair was with a 30-years-younger blonde, who was given a
job in D.C. so she could be near the Oval Office, where she and
Harding often met throughout his term. But most sensational of all was
the rumor that Harding’s death from ptomaine (food) poisoning was
actually the work of his wife Florence (Flossie), who was trying to
save him from the accusations of corruption that had consumed his
administration. Harding is widely considered the worst president in
the nation’s history.
Audiences at “Of Thee I Sing” might be amused to know how closely the
character of the vice-president is derived directly from the
personality of Calvin Coolidge, the next Republican president of the
U.S. (1923 to 1929). Coolidge, who, when previously serving as
Harding’s vice-president, kept to himself, sat without contributing to
cabinet meetings and was seldom given to speaking. When Coolidge
became president, Americans were advised to “keep cool” with a more
aggressive Coolidge, as he blithely fueled the speculation behind the
stock market crash of 1929, supported economic imperialism, and put
200 corporations in control of the nation’s wealth.
Let’s just say that Herbert Hoover, the next Republican president
(1929 to 1933), did his best during the Great Depression to “put a
chicken in every pot and two cars in every garage.” He did this by
denying relief to the millions of unemployed and hungry.
And now on with the show: Master playwright and wit George S. Kaufman
and collaborator Morrie Ryskand joined forces with George and Ira
Gershwin to satirically skew the seemingly on-going and indefensible
policies, ethics, and platforms of the U.S. government. What a
delicious thought was theirs to create a politically-motivated musical
comedy. Considering that it was written in 1931 when the U.S. was
crippled by the biggest economic crises in its history, “Of Thee I
Sing” is still amazingly topical.
The play deals with a good-looking but bland not-very-bright candidate
hand-picked as presidential material and purposefully manipulated by
hard-line politicos, a Supreme Court that is forced to rule on an
issue outside its jurisdiction, and a “love” (instead of war) campaign
(“Love is Sweeping the Country”) launched to divert the people from
the real issues.
Although the style of the show is antiquated, the broad, almost Marx
Brothers physicality of the action gets plenty of assist from the
exuberant dancing, the witty lyrics, and the delightfully robust
score, including “Wintergreen for President.” This production, under
the direction of Tina Landau, is a winner. It deserves to get
everyone’s vote. Landau, a writer-director and ensemble member of
Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater, brings a fresh vitality to an old show
that cleverly exposes the guile of the campaign spinmeisters, as well
as the gullibility of the voters. (“We want to appeal to your hearts,
not your intelligence.”)
When the Presidential nominee, John P. Wintergreen (Ron Bohmer),
marries a White House secretary, Mary Turner (Garrett Long), because
she bakes the best corn, he wins the votes and hearts of the people on
his platform of love. He then discovers that his previous and
well-publicized commitment to marry the winner of a beauty contest is
taken seriously by contest winner, Diana Devereaux (played for all its
over-the-top Southern charm by Sarah Knowlton). Her demand for justice
generates a public outcry for impeachment. The show’s satiric flavor
is at its zestiest when the nine Supreme Court justices — in a
hilarious sight gag that includes four robed men, each with a
cardboard dummy at his side — plus the Chief Justice, rule that corn
cakes are more important than justice. The show ends with Wintergreen
free of charges and celebrating his impending fatherhood (even Mary’s
pregnancy is politically motivated), giving added dimension to the
song “Of Thee I Sing…Baby.”
Although the approach that Landau and company take is appropriately
comical, antic, and at times farcical, they must be commended for not
smirking or winking at the satiric material, but rather for playing it
winningly for all its trumped up silliness. The comely Bohmer is a
splendid singer and plays the easy to manipulate Wintergreen with a
wonderfully reckless panache that pays more than a little homage to
Groucho. Notwithstanding her lovely voice, shown to advantage in the
sparkling duet “Who Cares?,” Long’s performance as the easy-to-love
Mary is also filled with the conspiratorial nuances and necessities of
her role as first lady.
There is no better way to praise Joey Pizzi’s leggy chorus
girl-enhanced choreography than to say he’s watched a lot of 1930s
musicals and that he gave the genre an added punch. Walt Spangler’s
whimsically moderne scenic designs and James Shuette’s period perfect
costumes contribute to make this perfect entertainment during this
election year.
–Simon Saltzman
Of Thee I Sing, through Sunday, October 17, Paper MillPlayhouse, Brookside Drive, Millburn. For tickets ($31 to $68) call973-376-4343.Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
