WRVP To Present ‘Of Thee I Sing’

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The White River Valley Players will present "Of Thee I Sing," the classic, Pulitzer Prize-winning musical comedy and political satire, with score by George and Ira Gershwin, and book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind April 23, 24, and 25, and May 1 and 2 at the Rochester High School Auditorium.

Directed by Ethan Bowen, with choreography by Karen Amirault and music direction by Lindi Bortney and Jerry Shedd, this hilarious musical for the whole family includes a number of well-known songs, including "Of Thee I Sing," "Love Is Sweeping The Country," and "Who Cares."

"Of Thee I Sing" tells the story of presidential candidate John P. Wintergreen, whose road to success is based not on the issues, but on surface politics. The year is 1931, and the United States is in the midst of its greatest economic crisis, the Great Depression, however there’s nothing depressing about this show, with a script written by two of the great comic minds behind many of the Marx Brothers’ zany movies.

Hailed by critics for its "brilliant satirical thrust" and the clever lyrics and melodic score composed by the immortal Gershwins, the play mocks ineffective politicians with empty campaign slogans, but also points a finger at an American populace willing to accept them and even elect them to office. Its humorous insights into the political arena are applicable to the present day.

The longest running musical of its decade, "Of Thee I Sing" entertained its audience, but never let it forget the crisis at hand. It is one of the first dramatically integrated musicals where the songs are as crucial to the plot as the dialogue is. Ira Gershwin’s lyrics for this show are considered by many to be the finest of his career.

"As a child of the 70s, whose first president was Richard Nixon, there is no subject more serious, even pain-filled, than the political history I’ve lived through," says Bowen. "This show sends up the whole institution of politics: Democrats, Republicans, etc. and makes fun of them all with a ridiculous (but almost possible) story in a cartoon world infused with some of the catchiest music ever written."

Bowen first became aware of this show when his school presented it when he was in ninth grade and he had the part of Louis Lippman, one of the political committeemen, ("although I always felt I should have played the lead John P. Wintergreen, as I had the better voice...") Last fall, when he was looking for a script, he pulled out his old ninth grade script, started reading and laughing and thought, "This is it." The rest is history.

Vocal director Lindi Bortney recently discovered that her family had an interesting historical tie to this show, which was told to her by her 87-year-old Uncle Sidney. After his mother, Rose, arrived at Ellis Island in NYC as an immigrant in 1912, she worked for two years as a nanny for two young boys, George and Ira Gershwin. She married and moved to California, and in 1938, when Sidney was a senior at the University of California at Berkley, his class musical was "Of Thee I Sing." George had died the year before, but Ira attended the show, as did Rose, and Sidney was able to arrange a very happy reunion between them.

2004 marks the 25th birthday of the White River Valley Players, and "Of Thee I Sing" is one of a number of events planned to mark that milestone. In addition to the annual Summernight performing arts festival July 24 in Rochester village, the children’s theater camp the second week of August, and Harvest Fair Sept. 11 on the Rochester park, the Players will host a Silver Anniversary Gala Oct. 16, with live music by the Vermont Jazz Ensemble.

Performances of "Of Thee I Sing" are Friday, April 23; Saturday, April 24; and Saturday, May 1 at 8 p.m.; plus matinees Sunday, April 25 and Sunday, May 2 at 2 p.m. at the Rochester H.S. Auditorium on Route 100 at the south end of Rochester village.

Tickets are available in advance for a lower price than at the door. To purchase reserved seat tickets, stop by Judy Jensen’s Clay Studio in Rochester village or call Ross Laffan at 767-3697.

By Martha Slater