George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Herbert Fields, Morrie Ryskind
Pardon My English is a farce satirizing the Prohibition era, set in prewar Dresden. To promote consumption of beer and wine, the German government bans the sale of all non-alcoholic beverages. In protest, the thuggish Golo Schmidt opens a speakeasy serving forbidden drinks like cream soda and ginger ale. The Police Commissioner is determined to shut down the illegal operation. After Golo is knocked unconscious in a car accident, he awakens to believe he is Michael Bramleigh, a wealthy Englishman — Golo's polar opposite. As he is recognized by friends variously as himself or his English alter ego, comedic misadventures follow. The tuneful score by George and Ira Gershwin includes "Isn't It A Pity?," "Luckiest Man in the World," and the title song.
Details
George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn on September 26, 1898, and began his musical training when he was 13. At 16, he quit high school to work as a "song plugger" for a music publisher, and soon he was writing songs himself. "Swanee," as introduced by Al Jolson, brought George ...
Ira Gershwin, the first songwriter to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize, was born in New York City on December 6, 1896. In 1917 The Evening Sun published his first song (“You May Throw All The Rice You Desire But Please, Friends, Throw No Shoes”). Four years later, Ira enjoyed hi ...
Herbert Fields (1897-1958) was a celebrated librettist and screenwriter. The brother and sister team of Herbert and Dorothy Fields was part of a vibrant New York theatrical family that also included their brother, Joseph, a prolific librettist and playwright, and their father ...
Morrie Ryskind, the librettist of Louisiana Purchase, was born in New York City in 1895 and graduated from the Columbia University School of Journalism. His principal collaborator in the theater was George S. Kaufman, with whom he wrote the Marx Brothers musical Animal Cracke ...
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