July 08, 2002
Theater Review: 'Dear World'
ERIC D. SNIDER
The Daily Herald

SUNDANCE -- Jerry Herman's "Dear World" opened and closed on Broadway in 1969, suffering from a bloated production that ran contrary to the composer's vision of a small, intimate show.

Now, a mere 33 years later, Sundance is staging the premiere of a revised "Dear World" that is truer to Herman's original intent. The great outdoors setting at Sundance may not be what you'd call "intimate," but the performances are quirky and lovable, and so is the show.

I fear the beauty of "Dear World" may be lost on some people. It has fewer songs and more talking than some musicals, and its style is daft and sometimes surreal. The story is slight and parable-like. I didn't know what Herman meant when he described the show in an interview as "fragile." Now I know. It's like the child you feel is most precious because it's a little different from the others, and you're afraid the rest of the world won't appreciate it.

The show, directed by Philip Himberg, is set in Paris just after World War II, when the citizens are still sweeping up the last vestiges of the Nazi occupation -- physically, anyway. In every other way, the war has changed Paris forever.

That is not true for Countess Aurelia (Maureen McGovern), though, the madwoman of Chaillot for whom men's names change every hour and to whom "the sun is always shining, right behind the clouds." She takes Pollyanna's optimism and advances it to the next level: full-blown insanity. She lives life the way it used to be, not the way it is. When informed of how hearts have hardened since the recent travails, she sings a song called "I Don't Want to Know."

And then there is Maureen McGovern, filling the role originated by Angela Lansbury and, judging by the cast recording of the original production and with all due respect to Ms. Lansbury, doing a better job of it. McGovern's voice is fantastic; that was never in question. But the self-described "singer who acts" handles the acting with incredible grace, humor and fire. Aurelia does not seem like a delusional old fool who won't face reality; instead, she is an idealist who truly believes -- and convinces the audience -- that one person can change the world.

"Dear World" has ample great humor, but it is the gentle, poignant moments that will stick with you. Such a lovely show; I hope the world appreciates it.

Should you go? Definitely. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you might see Redford in the audience.