Probably because I've always been a great Polly Bergen fan. (And she, of all people, certainly possessed the "fine eyes" that everyone in the novel attributes to Elizabeth Bennet.)
It isn't exactly a great score, but I find it fascinating because it's so extremely variable. It has one of the widest variations in song quality of any Broadway show I know. A few of the songs are really not quite good enough; a few more are adequate, competent, but just that; and then there are about half a dozen that are really brilliant and would have graced any show. I love "What a Day To Fall In Love," "Agreeable," and "This Really Isn't Me." Elizabeth's "Love Will Find Out the Way" really sounds like a period song from circa 1810, and Darcy's "The Heart Has Won the Game" is moving. On the other hand, Reverend Collins' proposal song to Elizabeth is a sadly missed opportunity, and the opening song, sung by Gingold as Mrs. Bennet, is okay as a song, but really should have been sung by Mr. Bennet. Mr. Bennet was the type who might criticize his daughters in this candid way; Mrs. Bennet isn't. Mrs. Bennet would never have called Lydia "a frivolous flirt" in the dismissive way she does here--Mrs. Bennet admires frivolous flirts and thinks Lydia is perfect.
So "This Really Isn't" Jane Austen either--but it's a lot of fun anyway. |
