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The Reviews are in

You know your audience. They want big splashy musicals. You know your actors. They love singing songs from big splashy musicals. Trouble is - you know your budget. You've only got enough money for a 5 person, unit set, British drawing room farce. What's a producer to do?

Well, how about a small cast, one set musical with a big splashy score by Rodgers & Hammerstein or Rodgers & Hart or Cole Porter? Maybe you've got a few dancers you want to showcase and the bluesy rhythms of Duke Ellington would be perfect. Like songs with a more contemporary feel? Harry Chapin's songs sure fit the bill.

Revues could be your answer. Yes, A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING, SOME ENCHANTED EVENING, RODGERS & HART: A CELEBRATION, Ben Bagley's DECLINE AND FALLŠCOLE PORTER, SOPHISTICATED LADIES, LIES AND LEGENDS are just a few of the variously heartwarming, glossy, sophisticated, toe-tapping and thought-provoking revues in The R&H catalogue. Wait a minute, isn't there a name missing from that list of songwriters? Where is the composer of "White Christmas", "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and "Always"? Where's the lyricist of "Puttin' On The Ritz", "Heat Wave" and "Oh, How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning"? And how about the guy who set Fred Astaire and Judy Garland strolling down the Avenue (Fifth Avenue!) in "Easter Parade"? Well, he's right where he belongs - in The R&H Theatre Library catalogue. At last, we are thrilled to offer not just one - but two revues with songs by Irving Berlin. First produced in 1933, AS THOUSANDS CHEER is the topical and timeless satirical revue on political and social themes that has had thousands cheering once again. Recently presented Off-Broadway by the prestigious Drama Dept., AS THOUSANDS CHEER won rave reviews from New York critics and audiences alike. The sketches are by Moss Hart, who with George S. Kaufman wrote some of Broadway's most hilarious comedies. And the songs, of course, are by Irving Berlin. "How's Chances", "Lonely Heart", "Supper Time" and more provide the charming and touching musical moments while "Man Bites Dog", "Joan Crawford to Divorce Douglas Fairbanks, Jr." and "Betty Hutton To Wed" are among the 1933 headlines which inspired the side-splitting sketches by Moss Hart.

Our second Berlin revue (at present available to our Amateur customers only) takes its title from a classic Berlin song - THE MELODY LINGERS ON. This revue is based on the Irving Berlin biography by Mary Ellin Barrett. And who better to write about America's favorite songwriter than his daughter? Irving Berlin: A Daughter's Memoir recounts "the celebrated romance of the Catholic golden girl, born to millions, and the immigrant cantor's son from the Lower East Side." Through an endless list of Berlin favorites THE MELODY LINGERS ON shows how the Russian immigrant who started as a singing waiter at a saloon on the Bowery grew up to write the most popular songs of his era. It also provides, in the story of the Berlin's marriage, a compelling, contemporary love story. Jerome Kern's famous adage ("Irving Berlin has no place in American music. He is American music") is certainly proved true by this spectacular compilation of songs.

Incidentally, most of the revues in our catalogue are easily expandable for a medium or large size cast. So call, fax or e-mail The R&H Theatre Library today. See why thousands still cheer for melodies that linger on!