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North American Works Directory Listing
| Composer: |
Kurt Weill
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| Composer Bio: |
Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900 – April 3, 1950) was a German-Jewish composer, growing up in a religious household. He began piano lessons at 12 and immediately began experimenting with his own compositions. His early success came with his non-stage works though he gravitated toward vocal music and musical theatre. He fled Nazi Germany in 1933, denounced for his socialist views despite being a popular composer. Traveling to Paris, London, and the US he eventually became a United States citizen in 1943. His ideals of writing music that served a socially useful purpose followed him in his travels and he wrote Down in the Valley and other songs in support of the American war effort. Weill died of a heart attack in New York City. His music is still popular sixty years after his death.
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| Librettist: |
Maxwell Anderson
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| Other Artistic Personnel: |
Kurt Weill, Orchestrator; Maurice Levine, Conductor; Rouben Mamoulian, Director; La Verne French, Choreographer; George Jenkins, Set Designer; Anna Hill Johnstone, Costume Designer; Edward Brinkmann, Stage Manager
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| Original Cast: |
Original Broadway Cast: Todd Duncan as Stephen Kumalo; Inez Matthews as Irina, Frank Roane as Leader, Shelia Guyse as Linda; Herbert Coleman as Alex
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| Premiere Date: |
October 30, 1949
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| Producing Company: |
Music Box Theatre, New York (Playwrights' Company)
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| Description: |
A young black man emigrates from the country to Johannesburg. During a robbery, he panics and kills a white liberal and, although repentant, is executed for his crime. The moral center of the work, the young man's father, Stephen Kumalo, regards his son's crime and subsequent punishment as the ultimate test of his faith.
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| Reviews: |
The New York Times, Bernard Holland, 11-15-87; The New York Times, John Rockwell, 6-4-86; The New York Times, Mel Gussow, 4-30-86
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| Total Acts: |
Not Available
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| Chorus: |
Double Chorus
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| Orchestration: |
Reed 1 (fl, cl, asax), Reed 2 (ob, Eng hrn, cl, tsax), Reed 3 (clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax), trumpet, piano (accordion), harp, timpani and percussion, 2 violas, 2 cellos, bass
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| Ballet/Dance: |
Dancers
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| Musical Style: |
A hybrid of straight theater and sung musical, with dialogue accompanied by the orchestra. The harmonic language has been likened to that of a superior Hollywood film score of the time.
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| Contact: |
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archive
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| Phone: |
212-541-6600
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Schedule of Performances Listings
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What is OPERAAmerica.org?
Spring 2013 Magazine Issue
- Letter from the President/CEO
- Of One: The Quest for Asian Fusion in the Opera House
- Vancouver: Where Nature Nurtures Art
- Inheriting the Wind
- My First Time
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