Of Thee I Sing / Let 'Em Eat Cake
NOTE FROM PAIGE: "The Brooklyn Academy of Music staged concert versions of these two Gershwin political musicals of the 30s, one a sequel of the other, with Michael Tilson Thomas as music director and conductor and a cast including Maureen McGovern, Larry Kert, and Jack Gilford. The result is an exquisite recording that restores valuable Gershwin material to the record racks." ~ by William Ruhlmann (allmusic.com)
"An unorthodox recipient of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 1932 – the first musical ever so honored, though the prize was only for the book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, with both music and lyrics being totally ignored in the process – Of Thee I Sing, George and Ira Gershwin’s brilliantly incisive political satire, opened on December 26, 1931 at the Music Box Theatre in New York, and enjoyed a run of 441 performances. It has seldom been revived since, though it was seen again ever so briefly, with Jack Carson billed over the title, when it opened on May 5, 1952, at The Ziegfeld Theatre, for a disappointing run of 72 performances. A sequel, Let ’Em Eat Cake, which opened at the Imperial Theatre on October 21, 1933, only had a run of 90 performances, and disappeared altogether. Well, not entirely! In 1987, Gershwin expert, music archeologist, and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas brought together a reliable Broadway cast (including Maureen McGovern, Larry Kert, and Jack Gilford), and the excellent Orchestra and Chorus of St. Luke’s, and led a spirited reading of both works in staged concert versions at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and in this milestone recording." ~ Masterworks Broadway
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Recorded at RCA Studio A, New York City, 1987, Manufactured by CBS Records, CBS Inc. Available for purchase on Amazon.com.
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