{"id":79127,"date":"2017-10-06T09:20:32","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T13:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=79127"},"modified":"2024-02-09T11:53:59","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T16:53:59","slug":"love-politics-satirized-theatre-ucfs-gershwin-musical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/love-politics-satirized-theatre-ucfs-gershwin-musical\/","title":{"rendered":"Love, Politics Satirized in Theatre 麻豆原创’s Gershwin Musical"},"content":{"rendered":"
Theatre 麻豆原创 presents a hilarious and timeless all-American classic, Of Thee I Sing,<\/em> in the theatre\u2019s Main Stage starting Thursday, Oct. 12. The musical by George and Ira Gershwin is a story of an American presidential candidate who promises to marry the partner chosen for him at a beauty pageant but ends up falling for a different woman instead, sending him into political hot water.<\/p>\n Mark Brotherton, associate professor of theatre and director of the production, is presenting this production as originally intended when it was written in 1931. It was the first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not updating anything,\u201d Brotherton said. \u201cI am not trying to connect it to present day because the nation is too polarized. Everything old is new again and that speaks for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n Brotherton is focused on sharing the style and humor of the 1930s to today\u2019s audiences.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fast paced. We never let the audience get ahead,\u201d Brotherton said. \u201cThe audience must check their brain at the door. Yes, this is as stupid as you can imagine but you must believe it. Yes, love can happen in a second. Yes, French guards of the ambassador do all the sudden break out into dance. It was in the style of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n Sarah Schreck, a senior theatre student and dramaturg of Of The Thee I Sing<\/em>, gives some background on the time that this musical takes place.<\/p>\n “Of Thee I Sing<\/em> takes place during the Great Depression and in the middle of the dry desert known as prohibition,\u201d Schreck said. \u201c1930 was a lovely year unless you were a farmer, a citizen with money in the bank and pretty much anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n Schreck said the play is a satire not a parody. \u201cThe two main goals of a satire are that they take themselves seriously and they make a moral judgment,” she said. “John and Mary really do fall in love. To them it is serious, but to us it is funny.\u201d<\/p>\n The show will be performed on the Theatre 麻豆原创 Main Stage. On opening night, audience members are invited to join the cast and creative team for a post-show reception.<\/p>\n Tickets are available for $20 for the general public and $10 for those with a valid 麻豆原创 ID. They can be purchased online at http:\/\/theatre.cah.ucf.edu\/tickets.php or at the box office.<\/p>\n