“I Love a Piano:” A Review

Irving Berlin’s music filled the ears of the Luther community this past Friday, Oct. 23. The review of his music in “I Love a Piano” was a very popular show which drew a full house. This historical review of Irving Berlin’s music brought memories to older viewers and kept the younger crowd interested.

“We thought that it was something that the students would enjoy,” PAC President Martha Beggerly (‘10) said. “It’s our one musical of the year, and we like to have a lot of variety in the types of shows that we bring to the Center Stage Series.”

The audience seemed to enjoy the show as well.

“Singing, dancing, story-line, costumes, this show has all of it,” Director of Campus Programming and PAC Advisor Tanya Gertz said.

There was a full house for this show, staying with the successful trend the Center Stage Series has built since the beginning of the year. Gertz believes it may be because the shows are more appealing to audiences than in previous years.

“We have a phenomenal performing arts group who’s really working hard on getting the word out and all those things mean that more people are coming in to buy tickets,” Gertz said.

“I Love a Piano” reviewed 64 of the more than 1000 songs by Irving Berlin.

“You take a list of Irving Berlin songs and there’s a series of them that you almost have to do,” Jason Weitcamp, company manager, assistant director and performer in “I Love a Piano,” said.

Weitcamp confessed that when he started working with this production he didn’t even know that Irving Berlin had written “God Bless America.” Many members of the audience also expressed their surprise at some of the music.

“I realized that all these songs I always knew were by Irving Berlin,” Lisa Richter (‘12) said.

“I Love a Piano” follows the life of a piano through four decades, from the 1910’s through World War II. The storyline of the show was easy to follow and entertaining at the same time.

“I liked how they matched all the songs together and made everything really smooth,” Brenna Everson (‘12) said.

Weitcamp thinks the show may be more appealing to an older generation since it deals with a lot of events older people have gone through.

“Old people come to the show, and they sing through the show,” Weitcamp said. “They have a lot of memories that are associated with each song.”

In general, there was a good reception of the performance both by older and younger generations.

“I really enjoyed it,” Decorah resident Barbara Davidson said. “The music is nice, the singing is very good and the dancing is fun.”

Davidson also admitted that she wasn’t familiar with all the songs. Whether they knew the songs or not, the audience seemed to have a good time and, at the same time, learn a little more about America’s musical heritage.