"An American in Paris": A celebration of love, dance, and Gershwin
On the night of Feb. 20, 2020, Viterbo University’s Fine Arts Center was graced by the touring company of “An American in Paris,” Christopher Wheeldon’s stage adaptation of the 1951 movie. The Tony Award-winning musical wove lively beats and melodies of some of the Gershwin duo’s greatest hits into a story of love, art, and dance in post-World War II Paris, focusing on a community of people looking for peace and hope in the City of Love and Lights. Both personalities of the great French capital intertwined in a love “square” that began with three men—two American, one French—all falling in love with the same French woman in their own way.
As more characters entered the gorgeously simple scenes and threw their own hats into the story’s ring, Gershwin’s heartfelt melodies and the rich choreography became the words and steps of living, breathing people, including, but not limited to, a piano-playing veteran, a war-torn soldier turned painter, a hopeful American aristocrat, and a Frenchman with a secret love for the nightclub.
With each unfolding thread in the show’s fabric, dance and song were the two pillars that never ceased. Most poignantly, action without words found its voice in the graceful leaps and turns of ballet. The plot contained more dancing than simple movement; the entire cast was engaged in long and rich dance numbers, with influences of tap, jazz, and even a hint of tango making it into the mix—an outpouring of human expression set after the uncountable losses of war. Tunes of carefree love and somber contemplation, expressed by groups, individuals, and the entire chorus, represented the power of music to move human beings both on and off the stage.
In the end, the Gershwin standards “I’ve Got Rhythm,” “(I’ve Got) Beginner’s Luck,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” and many others were given new life with the characters and settings that have graced the fine arts centers and concert halls of the United States, England, and Italy. A story that begins with an American soldier missing his train home to pursue art ends with no less passion than it begins—musical or otherwise. If the tour ever finds its way to Viterbo University again, it would be a shame to miss even a single note.