Thu 3/4 @7PM
The 1943 film Girl Crazy is the classic “Hey kids, let’s put on a show” movie, although it doesn’t hurt if your show features Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney (both then in their early 20s), the Tommy Dorsey Band and tunes by George and Ira Gershwin.
Plot? Oh yeah, that! Rooney’s character is pulled out of Yale by his rich father because he’s spending too much time chasing girls and sent to an obscure college in an isolated region of the west which is in danger of closing. How to save it? Well, you know — put on a show! And it doesn’t hurt that the local postmistress, for whom he’s fallen hard happens to be Garland.
In 1943, moviegoers were in need of fluff like this, propelled by classic tunes such as “Bidin’ My Time,”“I Got Rhythm,” “Embraceable You,” “Fascinating Rhythm” and “But Not for Me” to offer a distraction from the discouraging news in the newsreels.
The film is still fun to modern audiences, in large part because of the vast talents of its two stars and the incredible score, and it’s the next topic of The Musical Theater Project’s Movies at Home series.
First watch TMTP artistic director Bill Rudman’s introduction to give you some hints as what to watch for; then watch the movie online. Finally, join Bill for a post film discussion on Thursday March 4 on Zoom here. It’s free.
MusicalTheaterProject.org/MoviesAtHome