Winning Ticket

TITLE: OF THEE I SING

AUTHOR: MUSIC BY GEORGE GERSHWIN; LYRICS BY IRA GERSHWIN; BOOK BY GEORGE S. KAUFMAN AND MORRIE RYSKIND

WHERE: ARENA STAGE, WASHINGTON

THE BOTTOM LINE: The first musical ever to win the Pulitzer Prize proves as sharp as when it opened in 1931.

POLITICAL SATIRE IS GENERALLY considered a fool's undertaking in the theater. Indeed, George S. Kaufman, who misfired with the genre a few times, used to say, "Satire is what closes on Saturday night." If satire is pointed enough to be good, it tends to alienate potential customers. It usually grows dated long before recouping...

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