The Shedd Institute continues its celebration of the golden age of musical comedy with 1927's madcap, sassy hit Funny Face, the last show that legendary siblings Fred & Adele Astaire made with the equally-renowned Gershwin brothers. A tale (as usual) about smart set youth living somewhere outside New York, Funny Face follows the trials of eligible bachelor Jimmy Reeve as he endeavors to dispatch his responsibilities as the guardian of three wards thrust upon him by the death of his mother -- three young ladies only slightly his junior and all full of spunk. Well, actually, his problem is totally with the youngest, Frankie, who has a horrible propensity for stretching the truth. He locks her scandalous diary in his safe, she enlists dashing aviator Peter Thurston to retrieve it, a pair of thieves show up to do a bit of stealing themselves, which brings in the local police, and the entire company launches off on one long chase that ends up (of course) in Atlantic City, with all shenanigans cheerfully forgiven and 3 young couples (of course) heading for marital bliss!
Look for fantastic Gershwin songs ("'S Wonderful", "How Long Has This Been Going On?", "He Loves And She Loves", "My One And Only", "Funny Face", "High Hat", and "The Babbitt and the Bromide") and plenty of dancing and wisecracks in this truly enjoyable and classically-whacko 1920s musical comedy with book by Fred Thompson and Paul Gerard Smith.
Funny Face has been produced only once in the last 35 years (and then only in concert version) due to an unusual legal restriction placed on it when it was used as the basis for 1983's Tommy Tune/Twiggy vehicle,
My One And Only. The Shedd Institute is extremely grateful to the Gershwin Estate, the rights holders of
My One And Only, and the Library of Congress for their assistance in making this rare full production possible.