Sitting Pretty

SAN FRANCISCO (24 June 1999) -- 42nd Street Moon, San Francisco presenters of "lost" musical theatre, continues its seventh season ofconcert-style presentations with a Jerome Kern/P.G. Wodehouse classic from the 1920's: SITTING PRETTY. Charming and lively, the score for SITTING PRETTY also harbors a surprising emotional depth which clearly foreshadows Kern's work three years later in SHOW BOAT. SITTING PRETTY, directed by 42nd Street Moon founder Greg MacKellan with music direction by Brandon Adams, plays August 4 (press opening: August 6) through August 22 at San Francisco's New Conservatory Theatre Center. For tickets ($12-22), the public can call 415/861-8972.

Originally conceived as a vehicle for vaudeville's famous Duncan Sisters, SITTING PRETTY's unlikely but enjoyable plot line involves a family inheritance up for grabs, budding romances for a pair of orphaned twins, and a "New Yoik" con artist with plans to abscond with the family jewels. The lovely score by Jerome Kern (music) and P.G. Wodehouse (lyrics) includes "A Year From Today," "All You Need is a Girl," "On a Desert Island With You," the hilarious "Tulip Time in Sing Sing," and the delightful title song, and meshes beautifully with the romantic comedy of Guy Bolton's book.

Although SITTING PRETTY ultimately played in Broadway's Fulton Theatre, this 1924 show was designed to be the last of the great "Princess Theatre" musicals created by this trio, which set the standard for modern musical comedy. Between 1915 and 1918 the legendary triumvirate created VERY GOOD EDDIE, OH LADY! LADY!!, HAVE A HEART, OH, BOY!, and LEAVE IT TO JANE, creating the first set of shows which moved musical comedy away from its standard revue format while still keeping characters and scenarios familiar to American audiences. Each of these shows was created for the Princess Theatre, an intimate jewel box of a theater on 39th Street in New York City, and all were characterized by a delicate charm and close attention to detail. By 1920 the three had seperated to work on different projects. The score for SITTING PRETTY was actually intended to be composed by Irving Berlin; Berlin, however, delayed in beginning the project, which resulted in losing the services of the Duncan sisters, which in turn lost Berlin's interest in the show. Kern, whose own career was suffering from a series of flops, was eager to pick up the project, and the trio was happily reunited one more time.

SITTING PRETTY turned out to represent an important stage for Kern, whose style had been evolving in response to the changing attitudes of post-World War I audiences. Up until then, a Broadway score was composed mainly of dance tunes, which meant greater popularity for the show as dance orchestras outside the theater performed them. Kern, however, felt strongly that scores should be heard only in the theater, in the context for which they were created (he even issued an edict banning the score of SITTING PRETTY to be broadcast or recorded by dance bands). With SITTING PRETTY, he chose to create longer songs with greater vocal ranges, and more connection to the story line. This revolutionary new style, focusing on unity throughout the score, would take a leap forward in SITTING PRETTY, and would reach new heights in
his SHOW BOAT of 1927.

The cast chosen for this charming production features audience favorites Caroline Altman and Dyan McBride as the twins, May and Dixie Tolliver. Martin Lewis, fresh from the Curran Theatre cast of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA will play Bill Pennington, joined by Don Cima as family patriarch William Pennington, Steven Rhyne as Horace Peabody, and Stephen Pawley as "Uncle Jo." Rounding out the melodious cast will be Anandah Carter, Susan Powers, Greg Grabow, Catherine Sheldon, John-Elliott Kirk, Sara Clark, Karen Walsh, and Ed Simonick.