Ziegfeld Follies of 1936
The folks who run the Encores! series in New York have added a revue to their ever-growing list of restored shows.Ziegfeld Follies of 1936actually works a lot better on record than it did on stage--let's face it, a lot of the skits haven't aged very well and we're better off focusing on the songs. And the songs certainly warrant rediscovery. Written by lyricistIra Gershwinand composerVernon Duke, they cover a wide range and include romantic duets ("That Moment of Moments"), torchy solos ("Words Without Music"), comic narratives ("The Economic Situation"), and "tropical" numbers ("Island in the West Indies"). The cast (led by Ruthie Henshall, Karen Ziemba, Howard McGillin, Mary Testa, and Christine Ebersole) is uniformly fabulous in roles created by such actors as Fannie Brice, Bob Hope, Josephine Baker, and Eve Arden.Ziegfeld Follies of 1936is definitely the kind of show in which the sum doesn't produce a masterpiece, but the parts are absolutely lovely.--Elisabeth Vincentelli