Happy to see Ghostlight is making this available again. The original 1938 show wasn't successful, partly because this was the show Porter was working on when that horse crushed his legs and partly because the Shiberts exploded a chamber piece into a Shuberty extravaganza. I saw this reconfiguring by Paul Lazarus in 1991 at the Pasadena Playhouse, with Megan Mulally in the role sung by Chenoweth on the recording made ten years after that performance. Lazarus added four Porter songs from other shows to the two hits from the original ("From Alpha to Omega" and "At Long Last Love" but what really sells this piece are the comic chops of the leads. The byplay between Harry Groener and David Garrison as master and servant planning romantic strategy makes this worth getting, and everyone sounds like they're having so much fun.
Laura, who has spent too many hours researching the original 1938 show.... |
