On Stage Tonight - "George M!"

The musical George M! hits the stage at Marshall University tonight.

Who's George, you ask? He's one of the giants of Broadway, immortalized in the movie Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Here's the story from the Herald-Dispatch as written by my pal Beth Hendricks:

There's election year patriotism. And then there's pre-21st century patriotism.

George M!, with tunes by "pre-21st century" patriotic music maestro George M. Cohan, is presented by the Marshall University Theatre Department at 8 p.m. Oct. 15-18 and at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 19 in the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center.

"This is more a play about show business than it is politics," said director Gene Anthony, "though Cohan is generally known for generating this great patriotic fervor. It's his claim to fame."

The two-hour show tells the story of Cohan, creator of songs such as "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "You're A Grand Old Flag," over a 60-year period from childhood to Vaudeville to Broadway.

It is, Anthony said, a big, huge, behemoth of a show.

"It's a giant song and tap dance show. It's got huge costumes, huge sets, huge theatrical effects. It's very stimulating to the imagination and very engaging," Anthony said. "My guess is this is a premiere of this work in the state."

Anthony himself has been previously involved in George M! onstage, winning a Joseph Jefferson award in Chicago for his involvement.

"This is something that's been in my back pocket that I've wanted to do, so we've trained for three years for this. We've been pointing to this, giving our time in off-credit work to make it ready to happen," he said. "Everyone from 12 to 25 in this show has tap shoes on, and I think these kids are going to shock people."

For more information and tickets, call 304-696-2787.