Of Thee I Sing

Of Thee I Sing (1931), an operetta satire by George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind (book), George Gershwin (music), Ira Gershwin (lyrics). [Music Box Theatre, 441 perf.; Pulitzer Prize.] While campaigners march and sing “Wintergreen for President,” the staff for presidential candidate John P. Wintergreen ( William Gaxton), recognizing that he has no real issue on which to run, decides to build his platform on love. To that end they hold a beauty contest with the winner slated to wed Wintergreen. Although the Southern belle Diana Devereaux ( Grace Brinkley) wins the contest, Wintergreen has fallen in love with his secretary, Mary Turner ( Lois Moran), and marries her as he wins the election. But his ditching of Miss Devereaux brings a strong protest from the French Ambassador ( Florenz Ames) who protests that France has been defamed since Miss Devereaux is an “illegitimate daughter of an illegitimate son of an illegitimate nephew of Napoleon.” The Supreme Court and the Senate are eventually called in to pronounce on the case and impeachment hearings against Wintergreen begin, only to be halted when Mary announces that she is pregnant. Since the government has never impeached an expectant father, Wintergreen is cleared and Miss Devereaux gets to marry a man whom everyone has ignored and whose name no one recalls: vice president Alexander Throttlebottom ( Victor Moore). Notable songs: Love Is Sweeping the Country; Who Cares?; Of Thee I Sing, Baby; Because, Because. The first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize, it was hailed by George Jean Nathan as “the happiest and most successful native music‐stage lampoon that has thus far come the way of the American theatre. With it, further, I believe that American musical comedy enters at length upon a new, original and independent lease on life.” While the Sam H. Harris production was a hit, a sequel (involving all the same talents) called Let 'Em Eat Cake (1933) failed, as did a 1952 Broadway revival of the original musical. Yet the show remains delightfully pertinent and is occasionally produced by regional theatres, particularly in election years.