Crazy for You, which opened on Broadway in 1992, is loosely based on the 1930 musical Girl Crazy, which had music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin and a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. Very loosely. Most of the musical hits of the 30s have books or librettos that, to modern audiences, are, at best, only slightly funny, and at worst, offensive. Playwright Ken Ludwig said of the book of Girl Crazy, "it was dumb, silly, beyond silly. And full of ethnic humor that wasn't funny at all."

So why revisit this work at all? Simple, because of the brilliant songs.

With permission from the Gershwin estate to interpolate songs from other Gershwin musicals, Ludwig and director Mike Ockrent set about to create an essentially new show. Little remains of the original, besides the general concept of New York gentlemen sent to a sleepy Western town, and 7 wonderful songs including Embraceable You, But Not For Me, and I Got Rhythm. In the 1930 production, a young Ginger Rogers introduced the first two of those songs, and the latter tune stopped the show when a 21-year old ex-secretary belted it out. She was Ethel Merman making her Broadway debut. John Ardoin wrote, "The song made her, it made Girl Crazy, and it made history."

Ockrent and Ludwig added 13 other Gershwin songs to the show, borrowing from musicals the brothers had written for both stage and screen. Ludwig recounts, "We wanted audiences to believe that each song was written especially for Crazy for You, that they couldn't possibly have come from anywhere else. One night we overheard a couple talking about the show. The woman asked, 'Are George and Ira Gershwin still alive?' And her husband said, 'They must be. They're still writing musicals.'"

The remodeled Crazy for You delights us with a clever new book and score of glorious Gershwin tunes, united in a celebration of Broadway-style singing and dancing. Who could ask for anything more?