Cast of “Glee” in Washington Square Park. (zimbio.com)

Who hasn’t seen a musical that makes you want, in the spirit of the moment, to leap up and dance down that stone balustrade past the water fountain and into the dappled park, singing a Broadway tune to beat the band? S.J. Perel- man catches that feeling in the opening of his humorous bit from The Most of S.J. Perelman called “Amo, Amas, Amat, Amamus, Amati, Enough.” The feel- ing doesn’t quite carry though to the end. “It is hardly surprising that when these golden lads and lasses finally have at one another, they produce an effect akin to the interior of a blast furnace.” No. But that lead-in, hey, my toes are twinkling! Shot above may not quite catch the moment, but it tries.

The other day I surfaced in a pool of glorious golden sunshine laced with cracker crumbs to discover that spring had returned to Washington Square. A pair of pigeons were cooing gently directly beneath my window; two squirrels plighted their troth in a branch overhead; at the corner a handsome member of New York’s finest twirled his night stick and cast roguish glances at the saucy0eyed flower vendor. The scene could have been staged only by a Lubitsch; in fact, Lubitsch himself was seated on a bench across the street, smoking a cucumber and looking as cool as a cigar. It lacked only Nelson Eddy to appear on a penthouse terrace and loose a chorus of deep-throated song, and, as if by magic, Nelson Eddy suddenly appeared on a penthouse terrace and, with the artistry that has made his name a word, launched into an aria. A moment later, Jeanette MacDonald, in creamy negligee, joined the dashing rascal, making sixty-four teeth, and the lovers began a lilting duet. The passers-by immediately took up the refrain; windows flew up at the Brevoort, flew down again; the melody spread rapidly up Fifth Avenue, debouched into Broadway, detoured into Park, and soon the entire city was humming the infections strain in joyous tribute to Jeanette’s and Nelson’s happiness.

Spring may not be cooperating quite yet, but this Perelman bit can get us there ahead of the weather.