The Downey Civic Light Opera presents “Paint Your Wagon” at the Downey Civic Theatre. 8435 E. Firestone Blvd., Downey, CA 90241.
Box office: 562-923-1714 e-mail:
May 30 – June 16, 2013
A Musical Play. Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Music by Frederick Loewe.
Original Dances Created by Agnes De Mille.
In musicals such as “Gigi” and “My Fair Lady,” lyricist Arthur Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe established themselves as incomparable sophisticates of the theater. In 1951’s “Paint Your Wagon” however, they showed an equally matchless ear for the haunting music of the California wilderness. Set in the Gold Rush era, Lerner’s book is amazingly contemporary in its depiction of wealth-obsession, the Hispanic-American cultural divide, the dream of a western El Dorado, the ache for love, and the unrelenting restlessness that characterizes western life, as dramatized in songs like “I Talk to the Trees” and “They Call the Wind Mariah.” Agnes DeMille was choreographer for the original production of this often overlooked musical, and Clint Eastwood seemed uncannily right for the 1969 Josh Logan film.
