GERSHWIN AT MARIAN

“I will sing a new song unto thee, O God:
upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings
will I sing praises unto thee.” (Psalm 144:9)

Last night my son Jon and I attended ‘SWONDERFUL, ‘SMARVELOUS, ‘SGERSHWIN, a Musical Revue at Marian High School.

I know, I know, there’s the whole connotation about “Showtunes” and especially pre-1940s showtunes, and the belief that “real men don’t like showtunes” etc. Well, I respectfully DISAGREE!

I absolutely LOVE the music of George and Ira Gershwin. (You may know that Ira “helped out” but George was the real genius.) When I was a member of the Canton Community Band almost forty years ago, we played quite a bit of Gershwin’s stuff and that’s when I began to LOVE his music. Last night’s Revue was written, directed, and staged by Marian’s outstanding Drama teacher Steve Flynn and Orchestrated by Marian’s Band director George Perrone.

We learned a lot about George Gershwin last night. I did not know that he didn’t participate in any kind of music until age 12, and was much more interested in sports as a kid. He took to the piano like few have, and was a natural. I also didn’t realize he was only in his 30s when he died of a brain tumor in 1937. WHAT A TALENT! I can only imagine the music he’d have produced if he had lived another twenty years!

Certainly this was a show that I think would particularly be appreciated by an over-75 crowd...however, there were folks of all ages, and the high school kids obviously LOVED what they were doing. This was NOT some “hokey” high school type performance. It was really a CLASSY and fun event that I could imagine people paying serious money to see! Just as many people are surprised and even shocked by the fact that such a small team as Marian fields such outstanding sports teams, Marian’s drama and music program is something you’d expect from an absolutely
top level prep school, or some sort of top level performing arts school- seriously.

Usually, they put on their shows on Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon. However, due to Mother’s Day, they’re NOT doing a Sunday show. That means tonight is “IT”! I honestly think they should have planned for a couple of shows next week and wish they had.

If you go to the Gershwin Revue tonight you’ll really enjoy it. Tickets won’t set you back too much! The show starts at 7:30. I’d plan to arrive a little before 7. Granted the parking lot fills up fast, but there IS on street parking around the school.

Hope you’ll want to go tonight!