State Fair Reviews

The third version of STATE FAIR disappoints on several counts, despite its Rodgers-and-Hammerstein score. The story's rustic charm suffers from the switch in setting from rural Iowa to urban Texas, and the choice of Jose Ferrer to direct is questionable. Moreover, the players here--except for Alice Faye--don't measure up to their predecessors, although the young Ann-Margret shows some spunk. This time Ewell and Faye play the heads of the Frake family, and Tiffin and Boone are their two children. They are off to Dallas for the state fair, where Boone wants to beat his local rival in a sports-car race and Tiffin hopes to find novelty and romance. She does, in the form of TV personality Darin, while Boone falls for showgirl Ann-Margret. Whereas the sweetness of the story and apparent naivete of the actors charmed in the 1945 version, the 1962 STATE FAIR suffers from the cynicism of Darin's characterization and the listlessness of Tiffin's, and Ewell is no match for Will Rodgers or Charles Winninger, his forbears in the role of Abel. Most of the Rodgers-and-Hammerstein songs from 1945 are retained, with five additional numbers. Tunes include "Our State Fair" (performed by Ewell, Faye, Tiffin, Boone), "It's a Grand Night for Singing" (the company), "That's for Me" (Boone), "It Might As Well Be Spring" (Tiffin), and "Isn't It Kind of Fun?" (Ann-Margret, chorus). The songs written by Rodgers alone are "More Than Just a Friend" (Ewell), "It's the Little Things in Texas (Ewell, Faye), "Willing and Eager" (Boone, Ann-Margret), "This Isn't Heaven" (Darin).