''Magdalena: a Musical Adventure'' is a folk operetta in two acts with music by

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...

, original book by

Frederick Hazlitt Brennan Frederick Hazlitt Brennan (September 23, 1901 – June 30, 1962) was an American screenwriter of more than thirty films between 1929 and 1953 and the director of the ABC/Desilu western television series, ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp' ...

and

Homer Curran Homer F. Curran (1885–1952) was an American theatrical producer on the West Coast of the United States during the first half of the 20th century. Born in Springfield, Missouri, he was educated at Stanford University. After graduating, he purchas ...

, and lyrics and musical adaptations by Robert Wright and George Forrest.

Performance history

''Magdalena'' premiered at the

Los Angeles Civic Light Opera The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera (LACLO) was an American theatre/opera company in Los Angeles, California. Founded under the motto "Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner" in 1938 by impresario Edwin Lester, the organization presented fifty season ...

on 26 July 1948, pursuant to a commission from

Edwin Lester Edwin Lester (30 March 1895, in New York City – 13 December 1990, in Beverly Hills, California) was an American theatre director, impresario, and producer. He was the longtime general director of the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, which he founde ...

, president of that organization. Arthur Kay conducted Irra Petina,

Dorothy Sarnoff Dorothy Sarnoff (May 25, 1914 – December 20, 2008) was an American operatic soprano, musical theatre actress, and self-help guru. She had an active performing career from the late 1930s through the 1950s, during which time she sang in sev ...

John Raitt John Emmet Raitt (; January 29, 1917 – February 20, 2005) was an American actor and singer best known for his performances in musical theatre. Early years Raitt was born in Santa Ana, California, United States. He got his start in theatre ...

Hugo Haas Hugo Haas (19 February 1901 – 1 December 1968) was a Czech film actor, director and writer. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1926 and 1962, as well as directing 20 films between 1933 and 1962. Life and career Haas was born in B ...

, Gerhard Pechner, A. Garcia, Melva Niles, Henry Reese, Ferdinand Hilt, J. Arthur, Betty Huff, Christine Matsios, Leonard Morganthaler, John Schickling, Lorraine Miller, Gene Curtsinger, Patrick Kirk, Betty Brusher, and Jack Cole (soloists).

Jules Dassin Julius "Jules" Dassin (December 18, 1911 – March 31, 2008) was an American film and theatre director, producer, writer and actor. A subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, he subsequently moved to France, and later Greece, whe ...

directed, Jack Cole was the choreographer, assisted by

Gwen Verdon Gwyneth Evelyn "Gwen" Verdon (January 13, 1925October 18, 2000) was an American actress and dancer. She won four Tony Awards for her musical comedy performances, and served as an uncredited choreographer's assistant and specialty dance coach for t ...

, and the chorus was prepared by Robert Zeller. Broadway veterans Howard Bay (settings and lighting) and Irene Sharaff (costumes) were also part of the creative team. It was also presented in San Francisco at the Curran Theatre (San Francisco Light Opera) for several performances beginning August 16, 1948. The same production opened in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

at the Ziegfeld Theatre on September 20, 1948, and closed on December 4 after 88 performances. Raitt, Sarnoff, and Haas reprised their roles. No recording was made due to a strike. ''Magdalena'' was revived in concert form under conductor Evans Haile on November 24, 1987, at Alice Tully Hall in New York's

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

; a recording with a slightly different cast was made in RCA's studios in 1988 and issued by CBS (later Sony) in 1989 (ASIN: B0000026QF). In 1992, Ohio Light Opera, a summer festival in Wooster, Ohio, presented a fully-staged revival, the first since 1948. The work was performed in Australia in the 1990s as part of the Opera Festival in Ballarat, Victoria, again under Haile. More recently the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a s ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

announced a production to open in May 2010, with

Kate Whoriskey Kate Whoriskey (born 1970)
by Misha Berson, Seattle Times, September 4, 2010 is a freelance thea ...

directing and Warren Adams supplying choreography.

Critical reception

The play received a withering review from

Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theatre critic. He worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his ...

of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', who called it "one of the most overpoweringly dull musical dramas of all time" and compared its slow plot to "being hit over the head with a sledge hammer repeatedly all evening," adding: "It hurts." He was kinder to Villa-Lobos's score: "Disentangled from the appalling libretto and lyrics of 'Magdalena,' the score might be stimulating, especially since the orchestrations are unhackneyed and an accomplished singing actress, like Irra Petina, can give her numbers brilliance and eloquence." Other critics were far more positive. John Chapman in the

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

, while dismissing the book as "secondary," called the play "a bold and stunning departure in the musical theater ... a flaming, opulent, disturbing and imaginative work which does not fit into any of the standard patterns." He praised Villa-Lobos' score as "busy, immensely intricate and strangely, fascinatingly orchestrated.""'Magdalena' a Bold, Fascinating and Dazzling Musical Adventure," by John Chapman, New York Daily News, Sept. 22, 1948, p. 79

Musical numbers

:''As presented in 1948'' ;Act I * Women Weaving * Petacal * The Seed of God * The Omen Bird * My Bus and I * The Emerald * The Civilized People * Food For Thought * Come to Colombia * Plan It by the Planets * Bon Soir, Paris * Travel, Travel, Travel * Magdalena * The Broken Pianolita * Greeting * The River Song * Chivor Dance * My Bus and I (Reprise) * The Forbidden Orchid ;Act II * Ceremonial * The Singing Tree * Lost * Freedom! * Vals de Espana * The Emerald (Reprise) * Piece de Resistance * The Broken Bus * The Seed of God (Reprise)

References

External links

Internet Broadway Database listing
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121022184858/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799264,00.html?promoid=googlep ''Time Magazine'' review October 4, 1948
Red Deer Public Library page about the play
{{Heitor Villa-Lobos Compositions by Heitor Villa-Lobos Operas by Heitor Villa-Lobos English-language operas Operas 1948 musicals Broadway musicals

Performance history

Critical reception

Musical numbers

References

Further reading

External links