"Please Take Your Medicine, Dear World!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please Keep Your Courage Up, DEAR WOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRLLLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDD!"

                      "Dear World, " which opened on February 16, 1969, at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, boasting a cast the likes of Angela Lansbury, Carmen Mathews, Jane Connell, and Milo O' Shea, was Jerry Herman's "Anyone Can Whistle."  It ran longer than Sondheim's 1964 musical, but the message was the same--those we call insane really are not, and vice versa.

                         Even the score seems influenced by 'Whistle'.  The song "I Don't Want To Know," nailed by Donna Murphy with technical perfection, recalls the earlier "There Won't Be Trumpets.

                         Miss Murphy has always been a technically perfect performer, but she fails to draw this viewer in emotionally, and if you listen to the Original Cast Album, with Angela Lansbury and Company, you will know what I mean.    Another song, "Tomorrow Morning," brought tears to my eyes.

                           But the score is not up to Herman's other works, and the book is meandering.  The plot is almost predictable.  However, count on ENCORES!  to liven things up.

              One of those moments, in Act One, comes when Samantha Williams, as Nina, stops the show with her heartrending rendition of "I've Never Said I Love You." Sign this girl up.  Under the right management, she could stand alongside Jessie Mueller and Lindsay Mendez.  One of the best reasons for going to ENCORES! is to discover magical talent like this.  I will not soon forget Miss Williams' thrilling rendition , which also brought tears to my eyes.

              Another performer who scores is Anna Hardara  whose mini-showstopper, "Dickie," about her imaginary dog, is equal to the great Jane Connell in the original.

                Adapted from Jean Giraudoux's "The Madwoman Of Chaillot, it gets the madness, the "save the world" anthem, but not the "Dear."  Again, this is partially due to Murphy who, leading the company, should draw the audience in, but she is not able to.  She hasn't the warmth needed for the role.

               But I have to hand it to Murphy.  Having missed rehearsals due to Covid, she skillfully, almost without notice, did the dialogue from book, but when it came to the blocking and musical numbers, she was on the mark every time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                  I was grateful for this opportunity to see "Dear World," a chance I surely will not get again.  Despite ENCORES! pouring its high standard all into it, the show misses, mainly because of a flimsy book, which can be overlooked, but not a leading lady who does not exude warmth.

                 And any Theater Queens who want to attack me about Donna Murphy, all I can say is--"Get off my stage!  I am taking up where BARBRA left off!  Wait till you hear my rendition of "Coronet Man."

                    Still, the show points out it is a "Dear World," and we must make the most of it while we live in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!