Musical Theatre
Musical Theatre
Girl Crazy (#14)
The musical “Girl Crazy” was about a boy named Danny Churchill who lived in New York. His dad was worried about his way with women so he sent him to Custerville, AZ to get him away from them. Danny was to live on the family dude ranch called “The Buzzards.”
On his way to AZ, Danny rode in a taxi. The driver’s name was Gieber Goldfarb. He was known for his very bad Yiddish jokes. He eventually fell in love with a woman named Patsy West, who was also a nosey telephone operator.
After Danny gets to Custerville, he meets the post-girl named Molly Grey. He was in love with her, although he had just left his old girlfriend in New York. Her name was Tess Hardy. Danny had stolen Tess away from her old boyfriend; his name was Sam Mason. Sam was very upset at this, so when he heard of Danny’s whereabouts, he came to take Molly from him. It worked for a little while, until Molly realized she should be with Danny.
There were also two people named Slick and Kate Fothergill. Slick managed the gambling room at “The Buzzards” that Danny opened to make the place somewhat of a party house. Kate was a nightclub singer that sang in Danny’s club.
There were two other people in the story that made it interesting and comical. Their names were Lank and Pete. They were the town villains and local thugs. At the end, these boys end up in jail.
Holly Conant
Of Thee I Sing (#16)
In the musical “Of Thee I Sing,” there were many characters. The lead was probably John P. Wintergreen. It is a story of Wintergreen running for president and all the mishaps he had with women. There were a few people on his political committee. Their names were Louis Lippman, Francis X. Gilhooley, Sen. Robert Lyons, Sen. Carver Jones, and Matthew Arnold Fulton, the chairman of the committee. Alexander Throttlebottom was the vice-president.
The story was about a national beauty contest and the winner got to be the first lady. Just before the winner was announced, John met a girl named Mary Turner. Mary was the secretary for the beauty contest. The two immediately fell in love.
The winner of the contest was Diana Devereaux. After the winner was announced, John told everyone that he couldn’t marry her because he was in love with Mary. John did marry Mary, but Diana was not happy. She got the French Ambassador involved in the situation. He was upset because she was related to someone who was related to someone that had once had a lot of power in France.
At the end of the story, Wintergreen’s life was over, and he was sitting in front of the Supreme Court Judges when Mary came in and announced that she was pregnant. John got off easy, because of his pregnant wife. She ended up having twins and Diana ends up with Throttlebottom.
Holly Conant
Porgy and Bess (#20)
The story of “Porgy and Bess” was a very unique work. It involved an all black cast, which wasn’t very popular in 1935. Act I began in a place called Catfish Row. There are many people about, the men playing dice and the women watching. There is a woman named Clara, who is singing to her baby. Many men are sitting around the “bones” including Mingo, Jake (Clara’s husband), Sporting Life (a drug dealer), and Robbins.
A little while into scene one, Porgy enters. Porgy is a crippled beggar. Soon after Porgy enters, two people named Crown and Bess enter. Crown is a very large man that most people are scared of. Bess is “his girl.” The women don’t seem to like Bess very much. She is portrayed as a slut and an addict.
A little later Robbins gets into a fight with Crown. Robbins ends up dying, leaving his wife Serena, weeping over his body. Crown would soon be arrested for his murder, so he runs from the police, leaving Bess behind. Crown tells