Bucks County Playhouse takes on this Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, adapted from the 1945 film.
By: Stuart Duncan
State Fair is the only musical that Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II ever wrote directly for the screen. The 1945 film starred Jeanne Crain and Dana Andrews, but had lots of MGM’s "name" character actors tucked into comfortable roles, such as Percy Kilbride, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Fay Bainter and Donald Meek. Both Rodgers and Hammerstein insisted on staying in the East (Rodgers lived in Fairfield, Conn.; Hammerstein lived in Doylestown, Pa.) while the picture was filmed in California, pretending it was Iowa.
And then, 50 years later, in 1995, a couple of guys named Tom Briggs and Louis Mattioli decided to re-write Hammerstein’s movie script for the stage. The problem was that both Hammerstein and Rodgers were dead and therefore couldn’t write any new songs. No problem take the hits from the original film and grab any tunes that had been chopped from other shows written by the pair and glue them in, even if they didn’t make much sense. Of course, that satisfied almost nobody, and the show got decidedly lukewarm critical notices and soon closed.
And it’s that version, flaws and all, that Bucks County Playhouse is offering for a two-week run. It has the advantage of energetic performances from a company eager to please. It has the three songs that you may remember from the 1945 movie "It’s a Grand Night For Singing," "It Might as Well Be Spring" and "That’s For Me" plus a few more not nearly as memorable. It has a wonderful song-and-dance number in the middle of Act II to wake you up. Catchy title: "All I Owe Ioway." Director Stephen Casey really pours that number onto the stage and it almost saves the entire evening. Other than that, the show has some delicious talent struggling with mediocre dialogue and familiar situations.
Jessica Bradish has great fun as the spirited, restless Margy Frake; Penny Larsen does her usual thorough job as her almost-understanding mother. Ken Ritter, a newcomer to Bucks, is most impressive as the father, Abel Frake. Louis Palena has a wonderful time as Pat Gilbert, the aspiring newspaperman who falls hard for Margy. Marc Schaeffer plays Margy’s brother, just finding his hormones in time to be rejected. The most impressive moment for the company is the ending a dreadful piece of writing saved only by the fact that the actors make it look as if they actually believed it themselves.
You can see when the authors ran out of ideas. Right in the middle of both acts, they stop the plotline and introduce Emily Arden (Lorelei Prince) and The Fairtones (Dann Dunn, Jared Mancuso, Michael Munoz and Doug Orleski), who then proceed to sing a number you have never heard before and won’t want to hear again. It’s a waste of time since it stops whatever the story has going for it right in its tracks.
Not many stage plays are transferred from the movies this one should not have been.
State Fair continues at Bucks County Playhouse, 70 S. Main St., New Hope, Pa., through Sept. 4. Performances: Wed.-Thurs. 2, 8 p.m.; Fri. 8 p.m.; Sat. 4, 8 p.m.; Sun. 2 p.m. Tickets cost $22-$24. For information, call (215) 862-2041. On the Web: www.buckscountyplayhouse.com