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Berlin To Broadway With Kurt Weill
''Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill'' is a musical revue with a book by Gene Lerner, music by Kurt Weill, and lyrics by various songwriting partners Weill worked with over his career. The plot follows Weill's life as he begins his career in Germany writing the music for controversial musicals, through his journey fleeing Nazi persecution, immigrating to the United States, and becoming successful on Broadway. Songs featured include those Weill collaborated on with Maxwell Anderson, Marc Blitzstein, Bertolt Brecht, Jacques Deval, Michael Feingold, Ira Gershwin, Paul Green, Langston Hughes, Alan Jay Lerner, Ogden Nash, George Tabori and Arnold Weinstein. Song List ''The Threepenny Opera'' (medley) *How to Survive *Barbara Song *Jealousy Duet *Useless Song (reprise) *Mack the Knife (Moritat) *How to Survive (reprise) '' Happy End'' (medley) *March Ahead to the Fight *Don't Be Afraid *Bilbao Song * Surabaya Johnny *Childhood's Bright Endeavor *Mandalay Song ''Rise and Fall of the City ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht. With Brecht, he developed productions such as his best-known work, ''The Threepenny Opera'', which included the ballad "Mack the Knife". Weill held the ideal of writing music that served a socially useful purpose,Kurt Weill Cjschuler.net. Retrieved on August 22, 2011. ''''. He also wrote several works for the concert hall and a number of works on Jewish themes. He became a United States citizen on August 27, 1943.
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Arnold Weinstein
Arnold Weinstein (June 10, 1927 – September 4, 2005) was an American poet, playwright, and librettist, who referred to himself as a "theatre poet". Weinstein is best known for his collaborations with composer William Bolcom, including the operas ''McTeague'', based on the novel by Frank Norris, '' A View from the Bridge'' based on the play by Arthur Miller, and '' A Wedding'', based on the film by Robert Altman. Bolcom described his work with Weinstein as a "true collaboration", and said about him that "He had such a gift for writing words that were singable, and that gave character. He was more influential on a lot of other people than people have taken into account." With some frequency, Weinstein's work involved adapting the writing of others. He said in an interview in 1992 that "An adaptation gives you a funny kind of limitation that makes it easier to improvise." His early work with Paul Sills, founder of the Second City Theater in Chicago, helped hone those improvisa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One Touch Of Venus
''One Touch of Venus'' is a 1943 musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the 1885 novella ''The Tinted Venus'' by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmalion myth. The show satirizes contemporary American suburban values, artistic fads and romantic and sexual mores. Weill had been in America for eight years by the time he wrote this musical, and his music, though retaining his early haunting power, had evolved into a very different Broadway style. Story Rodney Hatch, a barber, is engaged to Gloria Kramer. While visiting an art museum, he feels drawn to a sculpture of Venus the Roman goddess of love, though the other patrons dismiss it as out of step with the current art trends. On a whim, Rodney puts his engagement ring on the statue's finger, causing the statue to come to life. Venus falls in love with Rodney for giving her life and begins pursuing him, causing turmoil in his relationshi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lady In The Dark
''Lady in the Dark'' is a musical with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book and direction by Moss Hart. It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fictional fashion magazine who is undergoing psychoanalysis. The musical ran on Broadway in 1941, and in the United Kingdom in 1981. A film version was released in 1944, and a live television special followed in 1954. Story Liza Elliot (Gertrude Lawrence) finds herself constantly plagued by indecision in her professional and personal life. She is courted by two men, the already-married publisher Kendall Nesbitt who is trying to divorce his wife for Liza, and her advertising manager Randy Curtis, and cannot decide who to choose. When she begins seeing a psychologist, she delves into her dreams and memories of her unhappy childhood. She illustrates a dream of being put on trial for her indecision in a circus setting, with her photographer Russel Paxton acting as prosecut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
September Song
"September Song" is an American standard popular song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson. It was introduced by Walter Huston in the 1938 Broadway musical production ''Knickerbocker Holiday.'' The song has been recorded by numerous singers and instrumentalists. Origins The song originated from Walter Huston's request that he should have one solo song in ''Knickerbocker Holiday'' if he was to play the role of the aged governor of New Netherland, Peter Stuyvesant. Anderson and Weill wrote the song in a couple of hours for Huston's gruff voice and limited vocal range. ''Knickerbocker Holiday'' was roughly based on Washington Irving's ''Knickerbocker's History of New York'' set in New Amsterdam in 1647. It is a political allegory criticizing the policies of the New Deal through the portrayal of a semi–fascist government of New Amsterdam, with a corrupt governor and councilmen. It also involves a love triangle with a young woman forced to marry the governor Pet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knickerbocker Holiday
''Knickerbocker Holiday'' is a 1938 musical written by Kurt Weill (music) and Maxwell Anderson (book and lyrics); based loosely on Washington Irving's ''Knickerbocker's History of New York'' about life in 17th-century New Netherland (old New York). The musical numbers include "September Song", now considered a pop standard. History ''Knickerbocker Holiday'' is both a romantic comedy and a thinly veiled allegory equating the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt with fascism. (A Roosevelt ancestor is one of the characters on the corrupt New Amsterdam council in the play.) Playwright Anderson believed that government was necessary in society, but that it must always be watched because it is swayed by the self-interests of those in power. He saw FDR's New Deal as an American version of the corporatism and concentration of political power which had given rise to Nazism and Stalinism. Plot summary The action is narrated by 19th-century author Washington Irving, who announces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Johnson (musical)
''Johnny Johnson'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Paul Green and music by Kurt Weill. It premiered in 1936 on Broadway. Based on Jaroslav Hašek's 1921–1923 satiric novel ''The Good Soldier Švejk'', the musical focuses on a naive and idealistic young man who, despite his pacifist views, leaves his sweetheart Minny Belle Tompkins to fight in Europe in World War I. He first tries to stop the war after meeting a young German sniper of the same name, who believes that the soldiers must unite. However, the commanders of the allied forces intend to use the discontent with the war among the German soldiers as a perfect time to advance in the war. Johnny then manages to bring the skirmish to a temporary halt by incapacitating a meeting of the generals with laughing gas, but once they recover they promptly reinstate the war, resulting in hundreds of thousands of fatalities. Meanwhile, Johnny finds himself committed to an asylum for ten years. He returns home to discover Minn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
J'attends Un Navire
"J'attends un navire", also known as "I Am Waiting for a Ship", is a song written in 1934 by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Jacques Deval. The song was written for the musical ' but later became an unofficial anthem of the French Resistance. Background The song was one of a number of musical numbers prepared by Weill for the stage adaptation of Deval's bestselling novel ''Marie Galante'', about a French prostitute who becomes stranded in Panama and must work as a spy to earn enough money to return to France. Weill entered into the project enthusiastically, since he needed the work as a recent refugee from Nazi Germany, but the collaboration with Deval was contentious, with the two barely communicating. Nevertheless, after a year of writing, the play premiered at the Théâtre de Paris on 22 December 1934. Poorly received by audiences and critics, the play ran only three weeks, but the song took on a life of its own through sheet music sales and a popular recording by the show's star F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pirate Jenny
"Pirate Jenny" (German: "") is a well-known song from ''The Threepenny Opera'' by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht. The English lyrics are by Marc Blitzstein. It is probably the second most famous song in the opera, after "Mack the Knife". Content and context The song depicts Low-Dive Jenny (German: Spelunken-Jenny), a character based on Jenny Diver (1700–1741). Low-Dive Jenny is a lowly maid at a "crummy old hotel", imagining avenging herself for the contempt she endures from the townspeople. A pirate ship – with eight sails, and with 50 cannons – enters the harbor, fires on the city and flattens every building except the hotel. The pirates come ashore, chain up all the townspeople, and present them to Jenny, who orders the pirates to kill them all. She then sails away with the pirates. The song was originally placed in the first act and sung by Mackie's bride, Polly Peachum, who resents her parents' opposition to her trying her luck with Mackie and is fantasizing a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alabama Song
The "Alabama Song"—also known as "Moon of Alabama", "Moon over Alabama", and "Whisky Bar"—is an English version of a song written by Bertolt Brecht and translated from German by his close collaborator Elisabeth Hauptmann in 1925 and set to music by Kurt Weill for the 1927 play '' Little Mahagonny''. It was reused for the 1930 opera ''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' and has been recorded by the Doors and David Bowie. Original version The "Alabama Song" was written as a German poem and translated into idiosyncratic English for the author Bertolt Brecht by his close collaborator Elisabeth Hauptmann in 1925 and published in Brecht's 1927 '' Home Devotions'' (german: Hauspostille), a parody of Martin Luther's collection of sermons. It was set to music by Kurt Weill for the 1927 play '' Little Mahagonny'' (') and reused for Brecht and Weill's 1930 opera ''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' ('), where it is sung by Jenny and her fellow prostitutes in Act I. Although ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rise And Fall Of The City Of Mahagonny
''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' (german: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, links=no) is a political-satirical opera composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was first performed on 9 March 1930 at the in Leipzig. Some interpreters have viewed the play as a critique of American society. Others have perceived it as a critique of the chaotic and immoral Weimar Republic, particularly Berlin of the 1920s with its rampant prostitution, unstable government, political corruption, and economic crises. Composition history Weill was asked by the 1927 Baden-Baden music festival committee to write a one-act chamber opera for the festival. He ended up writing ''Mahagonny-Songspiel'', sometimes known as ''Das kleine Mahagonny'', a concert work commissioned for voices and a small orchestra. The work was written in May 1927, and performed in June. It consisted of eleven numbers, including "Alabama Song" and "Benares Song". Weill then continued to re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Surabaya Johnny
''Happy End'' is a three-act musical comedy by Kurt Weill, Elisabeth Hauptmann, and Bertolt Brecht which first opened in Berlin at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm on September 2, 1929. It closed after seven performances. In 1977 it premiered on Broadway, where it ran for 75 performances. Production history After the success of Weill and Brecht's previous collaboration, ''The Threepenny Opera'', the duo devised this musical, written by Hauptmann under the pseudonym of Dorothy Lane. Hauptmann's sources included, among others, ''Major Barbara.'' The première took place in Berlin on 2 September 1929. The story is reminiscent of, but not the source of, the better-known musical ''Guys and Dolls'', which is based on Damon Runyon's short story, "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown". Brecht tried to take credit for the whole work but Hauptmann ensured that the truth was known. The original production was not well received. There were reports that cast member Helene Weigel (Brecht's wife) read fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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