Sing Your Heart Out, Bill

Fiction: in 1931, the President creates a scandal by running off with a secretary. Fact: in 1998-99, a scandal develops out of the President's affair with an intern. Whoever had the idea of doing Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing this year must have seen and savored the parallel. The Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players have delivered a show with timely jokes and timeless tunes.

Saturday's performance was satisfying, but, despite the elegant conducting of Music Director Jon Russell '00, one of the most versatile musicians on campus, the overture was rocky enough to have my seatmate, who is blessed and cursed with perfect pitch, squirming in pain. This warped sound abated in a flurry of political posters during the first choreographed number, "Wintergreen for President"--incidentally, a longtime favorite of the Harvard Band. As John P. Wintergreen, Jordan Cooper '99 owned the stage with his fantastic voice and commendable acting ability, while Todd Plants '01, who looks eerily like a grown-up Ralphie from "A Christmas Story," won our sympathy as the simpleton with reservations about being Veep ("what if my mother found out?"). Joe Nuccio '00 commanded a range of priceless facial expressions as Fulton, the head party man. Meara McIntyre was sweet and never shrill as Mary Turner, the gal who made "Corn muffins or justice?" into a more-than-rhetorical question. It is fitting that, as the leads, McIntyre and Cooper had the best voices.

Sara Yellen '00's Diana Deveraux stole more than a few scenes, however, not least because of her Monica Lewinsky go-down getup. Cheers to friends Joanna Guldi '99 and Meghana Bhatt '00, as well as to their co-designers, for such subtle costuming. Dana Scardigli '00's French ambassador was impressive as she sustained a wicked accent.

The set, which fans out between two gigantic American flags, can only be described as minimalistically jingoistic--Kudos to Robert Schlesinger '00 and Alan Symonds. The choreography, especially the tap routine in ACT One, was weak, but then a slew of swing dancing stunts came along. By this time the ensemble players' performance had improved dramatically.

Ira Gershwin's rhymes and wordplays are magnificent; a sampling of memorable ones might include the description of Wintergreen as "the ruler of our Government/the one who taught what love meant' and the description of the First Baby as a "Dictator-tot." As Lisa Olmos notes in the program booklet, "Of Thee I Sing/ is a florid testament of Ira's skill at "letting the melody fit the rhyme."

Beyond the verbal comedy, what you will take home with you is the tune to the title song. You'll be humming it after you see the show. Yes, you will. Although the Gershwin centennial has come and gone, Harvard feels like a Georgian place.