Curtain Call: Crazy for You

The SIU Department of Theatre, in collaboration with the SIU School of Music, opens the 2010 performance season by celebrating the legacy of George and Ira Gershwin with Crazy for You.

The Gershwins’ Tony Award-winning musical will take place October 15 through October 17 in the SIU Communications Building’s McLeod Theatre. Evening performances take place at 7:30 p.m., and the Sunday afternoon matinee begins at 2 p.m.

For nearly ninety years, the Gershwin brothers dominated the marquees of Broadway and silver-screen theaters around the world. From 1924 to 1937, they captivated fans of stage and screen musicals around the world with infectious, toe-tapping dance anthems and tear-jerking love songs. The unforgettable catalog of songs that they created together— “Summertime,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” and “I Got Rhythm”— live on.

One of the Gershwins’ most enduring musical masterpieces, Crazy for You is based on the 1930 Gershwin musical smash Girl Crazy, which made its debut at New York’s Alvin Theater in 1930. The original production featured a debut by two young, unknown singers named Ethel Merman and Ginger Rogers, who would go on to become synonymous with the Great White Way and the golden era of the movie musical. Girl Crazy would, through numerous Broadway revivals, become one the most enduring Gershwin shows, adapted three times for the silver screen.

Courtney Self and orchestra director Laurie Lewis lead a cast of more than twenty-five performers in the SIU production of Crazy for You, based on the retooled 1992 version that took three Tony Awards.

In addition to songs “I Got Rhythm,” “Embraceable You,” and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” audiences find the story of New York playboy and banking tycoon Bobby Child. The son of a wealthy New York financial family, Bobby has always had one dream in life— to dance. When dispatched by his financially motivated parents to serve as the evil foreclosure agent for a struggling performance theater in the tiny western town of Deadrock, Nevada, Bobby reluctantly makes the journey. Upon arriving in Deadrock, Bobby soon encounters Everett Baker, the town banker and chief financier for the Gaiety Theater, and his beautiful daughter Polly. It’s love at first sight when Bobby encounters the spunky dancer and town postmistress. In an effort to win Polly’s heart, Bobby disregards his family’s order to close the musical hall and instead masquerades as a Broadway producer sent from New York to save the theater by staging a musical extravaganza. As plans for the show get underway, Bobby and Polly’s obvious affection for one another deepens— until Polly discovers Bobby’s true identity as the banker sent to destroy the town’s only source of culture and excitement.

Tickets are $16 for adults, $14 for seniors, and $6 for students of all ages, and are now on sale at the McLeod box office. For tickets, visit <http://SouthernTicketsOnline.com>, call (618) 453-6000, or stop by ticket outlets weekdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. or one hour before performances. There are no service charges for in-person purchases, though phone and online purchases will carry service charges.

Visit <http://www.theater.siu.edu> for more information.

who: SIU Theatre Department

what: Crazy for You (live musical theater)

where: Communications Building McLeod Theatre

when: October 15 through October 17