Theatre UCF presents a hilarious and timeless all-American classic, Of Thee I Sing, in the theatre 麻豆精品 S檚 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.

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.

麻豆精品 S淲e are not updating anything, 麻豆精品 S Brotherton said. 麻豆精品 S淚 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. 麻豆精品 S

Brotherton is focused on sharing the style and humor of the 1930s to today 麻豆精品 S檚 audiences.

麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 fast paced. We never let the audience get ahead, 麻豆精品 S Brotherton said. 麻豆精品 S淭he 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. 麻豆精品 S

Sarah Schreck, a senior theatre student and dramaturg of Of The Thee I Sing, gives some background on the time that this musical takes place.

“Of Thee I Sing takes place during the Great Depression and in the middle of the dry desert known as prohibition, 麻豆精品 S Schreck said. 麻豆精品 S1930 was a lovely year unless you were a farmer, a citizen with money in the bank and pretty much anyone else. 麻豆精品 S

Schreck said the play is a satire not a parody. 麻豆精品 S淭he 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. 麻豆精品 S

The show will be performed on the Theatre UCF Main Stage. On opening night, audience members are invited to join the cast and creative team for a post-show reception.

Tickets are available for $20 for the general public and $10 for those with a valid UCF ID. They can be purchased online at http://theatre.cah.ucf.edu/tickets.php or at the box office.

For more information about Theatre UCF and the UCF School of Performing Arts, visit .

 

Production-at a-Glance

Of Thee I Sing

Book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind

Music by George Gershwin

Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

Directed by Mark Brotherton

Choreography by Mayme Paul

Oct.12, 13, 14, 19, 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 15 and 22 at 2 p.m.