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Jul. 4th, 2012 09:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatReturned from seeing the Broadway Revival of Porgy and Bess - which unfortunately had an understudy performing Bess. Which was disappointing. But it was still quite good. The understudy had a great voice. Porgy and Bess is the Great American Opera - a mix of blues and jazz by George and Ira Gershwin. This version has a lot of dance numbers - so as a result I enjoyed it more than the film version or most operas. People standing still and singing...tend to bore me. I prefer dance numbers.
At any rate - here's a historical note regarding Porgy and Bess.
From Playbill: In the spring of 1936, the production went on tour to Philadelphis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC. When the cast arrived at the National Theater in DC, they discovered the theater was segregated and only allowed white patrons. Todd Duncan refused to perform under this condition. [Duncan was a classically trained singer and Professor of Voice at Howard University - he performed the role of Porgy]. When the theater manager offered Wednesday and Saturday matinees to black patrons, Duncan would not compromise. The theater manager then offered to open the second balcony to blacks for every performance, but Duncan stood his ground, with Anne Brown and the rest of the cast at his side. In March of 1936 - thanks to the resolve of Duncan and company - the National Theater became desegrated for the first time in its history.
The musical is brilliant in places, sluggish in others. I wasn't moved to tears like in other musicals or plays I've seen. I don't know why. It may well be the melodramatic story.
Or it was hard for me to care a great deal about either Bess or Porgy. And at times
when the singers sang over each other - it was hard to determine what was being sung.
That said, there were moments that blew me away and sent a chill down my spine. The set's sparseness and the lighting - resulted in a shadow play on the walls behind the actors in two pivotal scenes...and rousing spiritual numbers. The music alone is beautiful. And moving. Performed by everyone from Billie Holiday to Sarah Vaughn and Louis Armstrong.
David Alan Grier and Norman Lewis are amazing in the lead roles of Sporting Life and Porgy.
The understudy was good, but not great as the dope addicted Bess. I will always wonder what Audra McDonald would have been like in the role. But C'est La View. Had excellent seats - five rows from the stage, and the seats were staggered. But, the seats are bloody uncomfortable at the Richard Rodgers Theater. No leg room. And tightly situated. Made for people who are 5 feet tall, so if you are that height...you'd probably love them.
It once had a running time of 4 hours, but George Gershwin shaved time off of it back in the 1930s, so now it's only 2 and 1/2 hours. I was home by 5:15.
Just finished watching 1776 on TMC. It's pretty much what this Holiday is about - on July 4th, 1776, the American Colonies declared their independence from the British Empire. Note, we didn't win the War on that date, that came later. All we did was declare our independence - which inevitably lead to the War, because the British weren't about to pull out meekly. Great Britain had colonies in Australia, Canada, and Africa, amongst other places. Not to be outdone, France and Spain and Italy and Germany did too. Europe was going through its imperialistic period, which it would live to regret over 150 years later. Those pesky colonies...have been more trouble than they were worth. Teach you to go around grabbing land. Britain would have been better off letting the Americans go their own way. But hind-sight is regrettably 20/20. And well...pride goeth before the fall.
I honestly don't know if the US is better off or not. My ancestors to the best of my knowledge did not fight in the Revolutionary War, they immigrated to the US much much later. Did have one, on my mother's side, who was a drummer boy in the Civil War.
I do know that the Brits, along with the rest of Europe, stopped the whole slavery business before The US and their colonies did. At the time, the colonists declared independence because they felt that they had no control over their lives, were paying high taxes to support war efforts and financial interests of a country that was an ocean away and they could care less about. Not everyone agreed of course. Quite a few people didn't. The people not paying taxes most likely did not care. The Colonies were split over the decision. And the Revolutionary War lasted a long time and resulted in a lot of deaths on both sides. It was a bloody war. OTOH...the declaration of independence is an achievement. Jefferson and John Adams were interesting and incredibly bright people. Thomas Jefferson was a Unitarian Universalist and agonistic...he was persuaded to put the God bit in there by Congress. And the US Constitution remains to this day one of the better written documents.
How do we celebrate? The same way the French celebrate Bastille Day and the Canadians celebrate Canada Day, and the Brits celebrate...some patriotic holiday. We have fireworks,
barbecues, the day off for most businesses and all government agencies (except the people who have to run the railroad). And it's all very patriotic. The last three years I did the barbecue/fireworks thing. This year, I did the musical and relaxation thing. It's too bloody hot to go to the beach. Was far more comfortable at the musical.
Too tired to respond to all the deep meaningful comments I've been receiving. Except to thank you for them. They are interesting. But my mind is tired and not all that coherent, yes, still. Not helped by lack of sleep...had a horrible headache last night which would not go away for at least two hours - think sinus plus tension, with a touch of migraine.
So..Give me a few days...;-)
At any rate - here's a historical note regarding Porgy and Bess.
From Playbill: In the spring of 1936, the production went on tour to Philadelphis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC. When the cast arrived at the National Theater in DC, they discovered the theater was segregated and only allowed white patrons. Todd Duncan refused to perform under this condition. [Duncan was a classically trained singer and Professor of Voice at Howard University - he performed the role of Porgy]. When the theater manager offered Wednesday and Saturday matinees to black patrons, Duncan would not compromise. The theater manager then offered to open the second balcony to blacks for every performance, but Duncan stood his ground, with Anne Brown and the rest of the cast at his side. In March of 1936 - thanks to the resolve of Duncan and company - the National Theater became desegrated for the first time in its history.
The musical is brilliant in places, sluggish in others. I wasn't moved to tears like in other musicals or plays I've seen. I don't know why. It may well be the melodramatic story.
Or it was hard for me to care a great deal about either Bess or Porgy. And at times
when the singers sang over each other - it was hard to determine what was being sung.
That said, there were moments that blew me away and sent a chill down my spine. The set's sparseness and the lighting - resulted in a shadow play on the walls behind the actors in two pivotal scenes...and rousing spiritual numbers. The music alone is beautiful. And moving. Performed by everyone from Billie Holiday to Sarah Vaughn and Louis Armstrong.
David Alan Grier and Norman Lewis are amazing in the lead roles of Sporting Life and Porgy.
The understudy was good, but not great as the dope addicted Bess. I will always wonder what Audra McDonald would have been like in the role. But C'est La View. Had excellent seats - five rows from the stage, and the seats were staggered. But, the seats are bloody uncomfortable at the Richard Rodgers Theater. No leg room. And tightly situated. Made for people who are 5 feet tall, so if you are that height...you'd probably love them.
It once had a running time of 4 hours, but George Gershwin shaved time off of it back in the 1930s, so now it's only 2 and 1/2 hours. I was home by 5:15.
Just finished watching 1776 on TMC. It's pretty much what this Holiday is about - on July 4th, 1776, the American Colonies declared their independence from the British Empire. Note, we didn't win the War on that date, that came later. All we did was declare our independence - which inevitably lead to the War, because the British weren't about to pull out meekly. Great Britain had colonies in Australia, Canada, and Africa, amongst other places. Not to be outdone, France and Spain and Italy and Germany did too. Europe was going through its imperialistic period, which it would live to regret over 150 years later. Those pesky colonies...have been more trouble than they were worth. Teach you to go around grabbing land. Britain would have been better off letting the Americans go their own way. But hind-sight is regrettably 20/20. And well...pride goeth before the fall.
I honestly don't know if the US is better off or not. My ancestors to the best of my knowledge did not fight in the Revolutionary War, they immigrated to the US much much later. Did have one, on my mother's side, who was a drummer boy in the Civil War.
I do know that the Brits, along with the rest of Europe, stopped the whole slavery business before The US and their colonies did. At the time, the colonists declared independence because they felt that they had no control over their lives, were paying high taxes to support war efforts and financial interests of a country that was an ocean away and they could care less about. Not everyone agreed of course. Quite a few people didn't. The people not paying taxes most likely did not care. The Colonies were split over the decision. And the Revolutionary War lasted a long time and resulted in a lot of deaths on both sides. It was a bloody war. OTOH...the declaration of independence is an achievement. Jefferson and John Adams were interesting and incredibly bright people. Thomas Jefferson was a Unitarian Universalist and agonistic...he was persuaded to put the God bit in there by Congress. And the US Constitution remains to this day one of the better written documents.
How do we celebrate? The same way the French celebrate Bastille Day and the Canadians celebrate Canada Day, and the Brits celebrate...some patriotic holiday. We have fireworks,
barbecues, the day off for most businesses and all government agencies (except the people who have to run the railroad). And it's all very patriotic. The last three years I did the barbecue/fireworks thing. This year, I did the musical and relaxation thing. It's too bloody hot to go to the beach. Was far more comfortable at the musical.
Too tired to respond to all the deep meaningful comments I've been receiving. Except to thank you for them. They are interesting. But my mind is tired and not all that coherent, yes, still. Not helped by lack of sleep...had a horrible headache last night which would not go away for at least two hours - think sinus plus tension, with a touch of migraine.
So..Give me a few days...;-)
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no subject
Date: 2012-07-05 02:31 am (UTC)It Ain't Necessarily So. (He's dead now...leukemia...died 20 years ago.)
And another gal, with an equally wonderful voice sang Summertime.
So right there with you. ;-)
no subject
Date: 2012-07-05 08:15 am (UTC)But, the seats are bloody uncomfortable at the Richard Rodgers Theater. No leg room. And tightly situated
"nods" Detroit Masonic Temple has seats like that, it badly needs to be modernized to fit today's taller and bigger population.