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North American Works Directory Listing
| Composer: |
Marc Blitzstein
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| Librettist: |
Marc Blitzstein
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| Other Artistic Personnel: |
Dedicated to Orson Welles
Bernard Hermann (Conductor)
Irving Reis (Director)
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| Original Cast: |
Marc Blitzstein (Mr. Musiker)
Shirley Booth (Beetzie)
Adelaide Klein (Madame Arbutus)
Kenneth Delmar (Captain Bristlepunkt)
Norman Lloyd (Private Schnook)
Lotte Lenya (The Suicide)
Hiram Sherman (Choral Director)
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| Premiere Date: |
October 24, 1937
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| Producing Company: |
Columbia Broadcasting Corporation
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| Description: |
The one-act play tells the story of a composer who has a tune, but is seeking the words to give it meaning.
After a series of cartoon-like encounters, with a "high-art" salon, a group of fascists, a suicidal woman, and tin-pan alley, Musiker's tune is ultimately transformed by a group of high school kids into an anthem of hope and freedom:
Because this is our day!
We're singing songs of May!
That's why we sing today!
Because we'll rule the world tomorrow, we can sing today!
It's certainly a touch naive, but the honesty of Blitzstein's music, and its deceptive simplicity are quite moving and its message that art can help to change the world oddly refreshing in these dark times.
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| Character List (Major): |
Mr. Musiker (t)
Beetzie (mz)
Madame Arbutus (mz)
Captain Bristlepunkt (t)
Private Schnook (t)
The Suicide (s or mz)
Choral Director (t or bar)
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| Reviews: |
Institute for Studies in American Music, Howard Pollack, Fall 2006; Anuario Interamericano de Investigacion Musical, Vol. 6, (1970), pp. 51-66, Robert J. Dietz; American Music, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Winter, 1985), pp. 413-428, John D. Shout;
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| Chorus: |
Chorus
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| Orchestration: |
1 fl, 1 ob, 2 cl, 1 asax, 1 bsn - 2 hrn, 1 tpt, 1 tbn - timp.perc(1):xyl/SD/chime/tgl/wdbl/ratchet/ tom-t/BD/cym/tuning whistle/bell gong(or tam-t) - pft - harp - strings: 4 vln1, 2 vln2, 2vla, 2 vc, 1 db
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| Contact: |
Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
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| Address: |
229 W 28th Street, Floor 11
New York, NY 10001
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| Phone: |
212-358-5300
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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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