George & Ira Gershwin's Lady, be Good!

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 3rd Floor, CDs 2-week checkout	CD Musicals Gershwin Lady 1992	2-week checkout	Due 05-08-2024

Musical comedy.
Music by George Gershwin ; lyrics by Ira Gershwin ; book by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson ; restored by Tommy Krasker.
"The Leonore S. Gershwin-Library of Congress Recording and Publishing Project"--Booklet.
Compact disc.
Program notes by Tommy Krasker, John Mueller, and Deena Rosenberg, synopsis by Evan Ross, and lyrics (60 p. : ill.) inserted in container.
Overture -- Hang on to me -- A wonderful party -- End of a string -- We're here because -- Fascinating rhythm -- So am I -- Oh, lady be good! -- Finale Act I -- Linger in the lobby -- The half of it, dearie, blues -- Juanita -- I'd rather Charleston -- Reprises -- Little jazz bird -- Carnival time -- Swiss miss -- Finale ultimo.
Lara Teeter, Ann Morrison, Jason Alexander, Michael Maguire, John Pizzarelli ; with supporting cast, chorus and orchestra ; Eric Stern, conductor.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

A Musical Ahead of Its Time submitted by Meginator on August 12, 2020, 7:48pm This musical theater re-recording offers one version of the Gershwins’ “Lady, Be Good!”, reconstructed from original scores and other primary source materials; the liner notes provide background information that places this recording in context. The score feels very much in line with George Gershwin’s best-known work, directly quoting some iconic phrases from “Rhapsody in Blue” and constantly evoking his signature, jazz-infused orchestral style. The piano parts are delightfully complex and the music alone is worth listening to even without the lyrical content. The overall structure is more familiar than that of, say, “Porgy and Bess”: the album begins with a traditional overture, several songs include spoken word interludes that directly advance the plot, and the break between acts is firmly marked in music and lyrics. The use of, and interplay between, the chorus and soloists comes straight from the first golden age of the Broadway Musical, and the lyrics themselves are riddled with humor, heightened by exaggerated, nearly campy, performances from the cast. Yet the whole thing comes together quite well, definitive or not, and feels like classic American musical theater, surprisingly beyond its time.