Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess, America’s first opera opened on the 10th of October in 1936. Porgy and Bess chronicles the unlikely romance between Porgy and Bess and takes place in the fictitious town of “Catfish Row” in Charleston South Carolina. The opera is based on “Porgy”, a novel written by Dubose Heyward and the play also written by Heyward and his wife Dorothy Heyward.
The story begins in “Catfish Row” a small coastal town based on the real town of Cabbage Row in Charleston, South Carolina during the 1920’s. The main protagonist of the story and leading man is Porgy, a disabled beggar man who is known for riding his goat cart around Charleston. Bess is the leading lady of the opera and is in an unhealthy relationship with Crown, a powerful, violent, alcoholic, short-tempered stevedore (dockworker). Act I starts with a lullaby being sang to a small baby by a young mother named Clara, as she sings the men of Catfish Row prepare for a crap game, prior to the game, Crown purchases whisky and Cocaine from the Sportin’ Life, the local drug dealer of the town, during the crap game, Crown who is very drunk kills a local man named Robbins, Crown flees Catfish Row and leaves Bess to fend for herself. Sportin’ Life who is attracted to Bess, he gives her cocaine and asks her to join him in New York, Bess refuses and is now alone, she has no where to go, she is rejected by all of the Catfish Row resident, all except for Porgy who takes her in. A funeral takes place for Robbins, Serena, Robbins’ wife acts very coldly towards Bess when she offers her donation to help pay for Robbins’s funeral cost until Bess explains that she is no longer with Crown, and now lives with Porgy. Soon after, a detective enters and tells Serena that if...
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...icial production of Porgy and Bess began in 1933 when Heyward and Gershwin signed a contract with The Theatre Guild. Gershwin worked on the opera in both New York and South Carolina, where he went to get a feel for the music there. George Gershwin wrote the music, Dubose Heyward wrote the libretto and also wrote the lyrics with the help of Ira Gershwin. The original production of Porgy and Bess opened on Broadway in the fall of 1935 and ran for 124 performances. Porgy and Bess was not considered a true opera until 1976, there have been several productions since it opened. The most recent Broadway production of Porgy and Bess opened on January 12th, 2012, it starred Audra McDonald as “Bess” and Norm Lewis as “Jake”. It received positive to mixed reviews, Audra was praised for her portrayal of “Bess” and even won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.
The plot, Jackie navigates the life of a preteen in New York during the 1960s. This plot begins late in Jackie’s life since her story begins 12 years prior which is when she was born but begins at the most present moment in the play which is the now. Although all of the characters are being depicted through one phenomenal actress, the characters are limited to her parents, Perespone and her family, and the friends she makes along the way. As well as the scenes and locales are fairly limited all of the scenes take place on a geographic scale in New York, and on Erickson Street or Manhattan at her private school. This shown the privileges of a small set reaffirms the focus and tightness of the
Both Broadway shows Porgy and Bess and Showboat show that the portrayal of stereotypes was necessary to blacks’ involvement in entertainment. Porgy and Bess is a three act play first performed in 1935 that takes place in the fictitious Catfish Harbor, Charleston, South Carolina. George Gershwin, the composer, when preparing to write the music travelled to Folly Island, South Carolina in order to learn about the African-American culture in the state from a group of Geechees whose ancestors had been slaves. Gershwin’s good experience with the Geechees caused to him to express a need for change in the social system within the music for the show. However, not many people understood Gershwin’s approach at the time, and were very offended by the
The play is set in the present time during the month of September. It is about the midday and the sun is out. A house is located between Trenton and Princeton New Jersey, pretty much where the corn fields meet the highway. The play itself takes place in the living room of an old farmhouse. A lady by the name of Marjorie is at home by herself going though her everyday actions when she approached by a strange man that enters her kitchen. The man appears to act as if he is confused and at the wrong house and enters deeper into Marjorie's home. She tries to be safe and acts like she has a husband upstairs, but the man is well educated and knows better than that. He knows that it is a lie and travels deeper into Marjorie's personal space. When Marjorie finally realizes that her trickery isn't going to work she tries to escape out the door, but the strange man blocks her way. This man is Raul and his main goal is to rape and possible kill Marjorie. A struggle of power breaks out between the two and in the end Marjorie's using the strongest muscle she has against Raul. She tricks him into thinking that she really does like him, when all that time she is trying to reach for a can of wasp spray to use in defense. Raul is fooled and as his weakness of pleasure shines though Marjorie blocks it out by spraying Raul in the eyes with the wasp spray. She then locks him up into the fireplace and that is the end of act one. As act to progresses Raul brings up the point that the cops would arrest Marjorie before him, because he is the victim of the fight. As the day progresses Marjorie's roommates Terry and Patricia come home from work. By this time Marjorie wants to kill Raul and bury him in the back yard, the obstacle to made when her two roommates don't think that is the right thing to do.
In James Baldwin’s ‘Sonny’s Blues,” an unnamed narrator attempts to understand his brother’s way of life. The two men experience the suffering that goes along with living in the projects of Harlem, New York. After a conversation with his mother, the narrator promises he will take care of his brother, Sonny. The story in and of itself is a constant struggle between the narrator trying to keep the promise to his mother and trying to understand Sonny’s life choices. When Sonny is arrested for using a dealing heroin, one of his friends gave the narrator full disclosure when he tells him Sonny’s life has and always will be difficult. The narrator writes to Sonny on jail after he experiences grief. Sonny writes back, trying to describe how his choices have led him to this point in life. At the end of the story, the two brothers watch a street revival. Sonny relates the revivalist’s voice to how heroin feels and explains his drug addiction and suffering. Following that, Sonny invites the narrator to watch him play. The narrator hears Sonny’s struggles within the music and understands why music is life or death for Sonny. The ability to cope with suffering is explored. The short story Baldwin’s
Oklahoma! The first collaboration of Rodgers and Hammerstein was entitled Oklahoma! The idea of the musical came from a play called Green Grow the Lilacs, written by Lynn Riggs in 1931. This story is about the state of Oklahoma at the turn of the century, when the Indian Territory joined the United States. It is the story of a girl named Laurey Williams and her (sort of) love triangle with two boys by the names of Curley McClain and Jud Fry. Laurey is in love with Curley, but she attends a dance with Jud instead. At the dance, Curley surprised Laurey by bidding an enormous amount on the basket of food she has prepared. They soon marry, and after the wedding, Jud starts a fight with Curley, but he loses. Jud is accidentally stabbed, but Curley was acquitted. Curley and his new wife live happily ever after in the great place of Oklahoma.
The play’s major conflict is the loneliness experienced by the two elderly sisters, after outliving most of their relatives. The minor conflict is the sisters setting up a tea party for the newspaper boy who is supposed to collect his pay, but instead skips over their house. The sisters also have another minor conflict about the name of a ship from their father’s voyage. Because both sisters are elderly, they cannot exactly remember the ships name or exact details, and both sisters believe their version of the story is the right one. Although it is a short drama narration, Betty Keller depicts the two sisters in great detail, introduces a few conflicts, and with the use of dialogue,
Chicago is a must see film for anyone who likes to spoil themselves with an outstanding award-winning musical composed of a catchy plot, truly superb acting, commendable direction, and a clever soundtrack. Bob Fosse’s dazzling adaptation of the plot is a key element that contributed greatly in making Chicago achieve the success it did. Set in the 1920’s, Chicago is based on the real-life murders of two women who were eventually exonerated for their alleged crimes. The film’s main characters are Roxie Hart, a housewife who often fantasizes about becoming a Vaudeville star, and Velma Kelly, a vaudeville queen who desires far more fame than she already has. They both find themselves in the Cook County Jail on “murderous charges”.
A comedic fictional story of two murderesses on death row in the 1920’s, Chicago follows Roxie Hart, the main character, through the journey of her case. Roxie has always wanted to be on the stage, but after being tricked by a local furniture salesman, she had been having an affair with, she finds herself in prison with a hanging case. When she arrives on “Murderess Row” she finds not only is her Jazz idol, Velma Kelly, there, but five other woman accused of killing their boyfriends or husbands(Chicago). Roxie soon learns about a lawyer, Billy Flynn, that has never lost a case, and at the time was also Velma’s lawyer. Roxie and Velma fight to be the star of the Chicago newspapers not just for the fate of their verdict, but for the chance to perform on the stage once they get out. Chicago is a great comedic musical with a solid message. Chicago portrays how thin fame is by using symbolic color schemes and themes in the musical numbers.
The original Broadway production premiered at the ANTA Playhouse owned by The American National Theater and Academy in 1964 (IBDB). The theater still stands to this day, but due to the plethora of times it has changed hands, it is now known as the August Wilson Theatre after its most recently deceased owner. Previews began on Tuesday, April 14th, just before the spring season on Broadway. Previews are a productions way of testing out a show before officially opening. Technical and acting changes may still be made and, in worse case scenarios, a show may be stopped mid-performance to fix something. For this reason, the tickets are usually cheaper. After 8 previews, the show of the show officially opened a week later on the Thursday the 23rd. The production lasted the whole season and closed on Saturday, August 29th of the same year with a total of 148 performances. This is not considered a particularly long run. ...
Maggie, the protagonist, lives in a slum on the lower East side of the Bowery in NYC. She lives in the tenement housing with her mother, Mary and her brother, Jimmie. It’s the turn of the 18th century and this Irish immigrant family is poor. Mary is a drunk and her brother, Jimmie drinks and fights with everyone. Maggie doesn’t go to school because everybody has to work. She works in the sweatshop, sewing clothes. Her life is filled with poverty and gloom. Maggie meets Pete and she is impressed that Pete wears nice outfits. Pete likes her too. He takes her to the live theater plenty of times. She’s sees his clothing as a symbol of wealth and that he takes her out to places where she never been before. She sees Pete and the money he spends on her as a way out of her dreary life. She leaves her home and goes to live with Pete to have a better life. She thinks he loves her, but she has gone to devil. Soon after Pete meets Nellie and he dumps Maggie. She has nowhere to go and so she goes home. Her family doesn’t allow her to come back. Mary tells her she is a disgrace and they ridicule her in front of all the neighbors. Even the little children are warned to stay away from her. Maggie leaves with nowhere to go. Pete tells her not to bother him; he doesn’t love her, now he’s in love with Nellie. No one is kind to her and so she begins to walk the streets. She turns to...
This is about what happened in The Opera House in Paris. The Opera House, which was begun to build in 1861 and finished 1875 year for seven million francs, had 17 floors, ten of them were above ground and seven of them were under ground. That mysterious event happened in 1880 year.
In both the short story “Sonny’s Blues” and play A Streetcar Named Desire, the main characters are siblings. Baldwin’s short story is based on two brothers whereas Williams’ play is about two sisters. Although they are opposite genders, the relationships between both pairs of siblings are similar. In both pieces, the siblings let a significant time lapse without having contact, there is a predominantly stable sibling, and one of each sibling is neglected during a time of need.
I went and saw the musical "Guys and Dolls" on May 8th, 2014. The musical was preformed at Holy cross high school. "Guys and Dolls" features music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and is based off a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. The book is based on Damon Runyon’s tales of Broadway, and uses characters from across his work.
Being an artist was a large struggle being that those jobs weren’t as easy to follow and make a living off of and the price for living in the city is a difficult one even with a steady job. This musical has drug addicts, homeosexuals, the poor, artists just trying to make a living, and just people who have AIDS/HIV, covering all of the major people found in the time of the actual epidemic. The Musical is also based off of Puccini's opera, La Boheme but Larson just took a twist and set it in modern day with different issues. In December 1995 Larson wrote a one-sentence summary of the show: "Rent is about a community celebrating life, in the face of death and AIDS, at the turn of the century." Rent was a huge breakthrough in musical theatre with the music and bring such an amazing and new relatable story to the young and struggling of the
The show is inspired by Maria Von Trapp and her family of Austrian origin, who became famous after fleeing their home country and becoming a touring musical ensemble. Director Vincent J. Donehue first gained inspiration for the musical from Maria Von Trapps memoir “The Trapp Family Singers”, along with the 1956 German film “The Trapp Family.”1, which was the first piece of work to tell the story of the family and slightly fictionalize it. With the thought of putting his good friend Mary Martin, a popular star of the time, in the leading role, Donehue enlisted the help of producers Leland Hayward and Richard Halliday (Martin’s husband). Ironically, they originally planned to create the show as a straight play with the exception of some Von-Trapp songs, and a couple of original numbers by Rodgers and Hammerstein. They quickly realized however, that to not musicalize the whole show would be next to impossible; thus sparking the creation of a full-fledged musical.