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Seven brides, seven brothers, and one classic musical at the Fireside

20.09.11

FORT ATKINSON — Old-fashioned musical theater ranks with silly rom-coms and beach novels for times-are-tough escapism.

Luck will be a lady. The sun will come out tomorrow. Even the young widow will never walk alone.

“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” a lesser-known classic brimming with optimism, emerges from that venerable tradition. A production directed by Ed Flesch runs at the Fireside Dinner Theatre through Oct. 23.

“Seven Brides” was released as a film with Howard Keel and Joan Powell in 1954. It has lyrics and music by Johnny Mercer and Gene DePaul and a story by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay.

The story begins when Adam, an Oregon trapper, half-jokingly “orders” a wife at the general store along with his supplies for the winter months. In the way of classic musicals, Adam and Millie, a local waitress, fall for each other instantly.

But instead of a honeymoon, Adam presents his bride to a partial alphabet of hyperactive brothers — six of them (Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, etc.). After wrestling briefly with disappointment, Millie rallies and sets to frying bacon, scrubbing long johns, and civilizing the boys so they can get wives of their own.

Source: Wisconsin State Journal