It is a cliché in American culture that if you are not doing well you can always head west in search of more prosperous pastures. The West has always loomed very large in the American imagination. It is, in part, a psychological Shangri-La where life's grubby problems can be magically transcended by striking it big in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, or, 160 years ago, the gold mines of California. Musicals Tonight! is presenting a revival of Lerner and Loewe's musical tribute to westward dreaming , Paint Your Wagon.

Musicals Tonight! is a theatre company that specializes in performing valuable but little revived musicals. When Paint Your Wagon opened on Broadway in November 1951, it ran for a not so stellar eight months and has not had a Broadway revival since. That is a pity because it is a musical of tremendous charm and energy. It has a number of what continue to be very memorable songs including They Call the Wind Mariah, I Still See Elisa, and I Was Born Under a Wand'rin' Star. The latter became something of a hit when the film version of the musical was released in 1969.

Paint Your Wagon is set in a gold mining town in California in the early 1850's, and follows the adventures of miner Ben Rumson and his beautiful, 20ish daughter Jennifer. At the beginning of the musical, Jennifer is in the interesting position of being the only female in a camp filled with 400 males. The men in the camp behave with admirable if at times agonizing self-restraint towards her. The situation receives an added twist when Jennifer falls in love with Julio Valveras, a young prospector of Mexican descent. An inter-ethnic romance might have been a subject of some-controversy when the musical was first performed in the early 1950's, but Learner and Loewe treat the relationship with great tenderness and sympathy. The musical also has a humorous sub-plot in which Rumson literally bids for the hand of Elizabeth, one of two Mormon wives that her current husband is eager to auction off. (They didn't call it the Wild West for nothing.)

The cast of Paint Your Wagon is uniformly charming and strong. Paul Carlin plays the role of Rumson with an amiable gruffness and authority. Jillian Louis (Jennifer) and Jaime Zatarain (Julio) are both very charismatic as the two lovers. Crystal Mosser (Sarah) and Michelle Pruiett (Elizabeth) have a very comic turn as the two bickering wives of their Mormon husband.

Eli Budwill as Steve gives a strong rendition of "They Call The Wind Mariah", one of the particularly memorable songs of the evening. The number captures what must have been at times immense lonely anguish of the California miners. The sense of isolation would have been intensified knowing that loved ones may have been thousands of not easily traveled miles away.

It is particularly interesting to see this original version of the stage play because it substantially differs from the 1969 film version. In the movie, the Julio and Jennifer characters were cut. In their stead, a love-triangle was introduced between Lee Marvin (Rumson), Clint Eastwood (playing a new character, Pardner), and Jean Seberg (Elizabeth). The triangle between Marvin, Eastwood and Seberg was creatively resolved by both men simultaneously marrying Seberg. This novel arrangement probably reflected the imaginative social standards of the late 1960's when the film was produced. Indeed, there is a sly counter-culture subversiveness to both the film and stage version of Paint Your Wagon. It is as if people headed West in part to escape the confining social strictures of the East. (A number of actual hippies were apparently used as extras on the film set.)

A number of the songs from the original stage version were eliminated in the film and new songs were added. Andre Previn composed these new numbers with lyrics by Frederick Loewe. The film has been maligned in some quarters for reasons this writer has never quite understood. The cinematography often hauntingly captures the moodiness and grandeur of the West and Marvin's portrayal of the curmudgeonly Rumson is particularly memorable.

Tickets for the musical are a recession friendly $20. The sets are sparse but effectively set the tone. The actors perform the musical with book. However, they rarely refer to the script and perform the musical with mastery and élan. The audience's energy on opening night was very focused and enthusiastic.

Paint Your Wagon runs through November 1 at the The McGinn/Cazale Theatre located 2162 Broadway between 76th and 77th St. Musicals Tonight! is also presenting Cole Porter's Silk Stockings for a two week run beginning on November 3. Noel Coward's Sail Away is being mounted in February. For a full listing of their current season, check the organization's web site www.musicalstonight.org.

While the atmosphere of Paint Your Wagon is often exuberant, there is an underlying melancholy to the work. The musical seems to recognize the allusiveness of dreams. Gold mines may dry-up. Silicon Valley expectations may never materialize. Hollywood hopes may vanish. At the end of the day you may be only left with the company of a wander'in' star to guide you to your next adventure.

Paint Your Wagon
Book and Lyrics by Alan J. Lerner
Music by Frederick Loewe

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