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| Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| Interested in plays about the world of opera. I know the obvious ones (Amadeus, the plays of Terence McNally), but any suggestions would be welcome. Plays about singers, composers, fans, opera productions, etc. | |
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| re: Mentions in musicals | |
| Posted by: MFeingold 07:18 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| In reply to: Plays about opera - commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| Not exactly "about opera," but the lyrics of many musicals contain references to opera and/or opera singers - often about the length of Wagner's operas. Larry Hart and Cole Porter were particularly fond of such references. Some instances: "I Blush" (cut from A CONNECTICUT YANKEE but restored for the Encores! version) contains a stanza about Tristan and Isolde. ("What they did was wrong beyond a doubt / If it took so long to sing about") The title song of Porter's RED HOT AND BLUE - "I've no desire to hear / Flagstad's Brunnhilde, dear" A line in Rodgers & Hart's ON YOUR TOES refers to Shostakovich's "Lady Macbeth from Minsky's" [ref to his then-new opera LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK]] In Porter's OUT OF THIS WORLD: "The dove each moment grows bolder / The lark sings "Ich liebe dich"/ Tristan is chasing Isolde / But nobody's chasing mich!" And in HIGH SOCIETY: "Who wants an opera box, you bet / To sleep through Wagner at the Met." Noel Coward used an elegant running joke in SAIL AWAY, where Stritch as Mimi Paragon makes several references to LA BOHEME. "They christened me Mimi / My tiny heart is frozen" in "Come to Me" and, in the verse of "Useful Phrases," "...muttering 'si, si' and 'mi chiamano Mimi.' like some aging Metropolitan soprano." Pedantically, if Mimi Paragon spoke proper Italian she would say "il mio nome e Mimi," (My name is Mimi), and not "mi chiamano" (they call me Mimi), but the joke is too good to quibble at, and everyone does call her Mimi, so why not? Also a lot of lyrics in old musicals reference the Wedding March from Wagner's LOHENGRIN, though this really has to do not with opera but with its widespread use by church organists as brides came down the aisle to be married. Cf. for instance the verse of "Makin' Whoopee" and Ira Gershwin's "I hope they Lohengrin and bear it" in the Wedding Dream of LADY IN THE DARK. There are probably unnumerable other references in Broadway lyrics. Also note that in the 1940s, in addition to CARMEN JONES, Broadway saw MY DARLIN' AIDA, which reset the opera's story at the time of the Civil War and used Verdi's melodies. ("Possente Ftah" became a chorus of slaves singing "Why ain't we free?") |
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| re: Mentions in musicals | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 07:50 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 07:45 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Mentions in musicals - MFeingold 07:18 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
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| The singer Marion Talley is mentioned in the song "It's You" in "Dames At Sea". Talley was a coloratura soprano at the Met -- about 200 or so leading citizens from her hometown of Kansas City including the Mayor chartered a train to NY and gave tons of publicity to her debut. A telegraph was set up backstage during the opera so her father could send dispatches to the Associated Press. She got reasonable notices that called her promising, but she couldn't live up to all the pre-performance hype and didn't last too many seasons at the Met. Cole Porter's "They Couldn't Compare to You" from "Out of This World" mentions Brünnhilde: After her, I met Calypso, Who was definitely a dipso, Then I fled to Big Brünnhilde, she was German. After snitching Eve from Adam, I attended Call Me Madam And shortly began to nestle Essel Merman. |
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| re: Mentions in musicals | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 09:14 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:08 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Mentions in musicals - PlayWiz 07:45 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
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| And some others: "It's An Art" from Working has the waitress comparing herself to Madama Butterfly (vocalizing a bit of "Un Bel Di") and Carmen (dancing to a pastiche of the opera's final Entr'acte), as well as to a swan dancer in Swan Lake. "Everybody's Girl" from Steel Pier also refers to Carmen, with a quote of the gypsy song that opens Act II. "West End Avenue" from The Magic Show mentions a soprano in an upstairs apartment who "tries to sing the Waltz from La Boheme." "The Germans At The Spa" from Nine quotes the iconic opening figure from Tristan Und Isolde at the lyric "be sure there's lots of German music playing." There's "Catch Our Act At The Met" from Two On The Aisle, and As Thousands Cheer has a number about the new donors at the old Met (with a quote from Pagliacci near the end. The latter revue also has a bizarre but funny scene where a radio broadcast of Lucia Di Lammermoor, a family radio drama, and a mustard sauce commerical vie for airtime simultaneously. In Passion, Lt. Torasso is an opera fan who decries the terrible local productions, singing a line from L'Elisir d'Amore. In "Come Up To My Place" from On The Town, when Chip suggests going to the now-defunct Hippodrome, Hildy explains that "Aida sang an A and blew the place away." In Carnival during "The Rich," Marguerite (the diva puppet) makes claims of her singing "Carmen in Aida", her Barbara of Seville, and "The Madame in Butterfly." The aforementioned "The 3 B's" from On Your Toes not only has the reference to Lady Macbeth From Minsky (no possessive on the name), but also "Puccini wrote 'Poor Butterfly.'" And a very honorable mention to Jonathan Tunick's clever throwing in the opening horn figure from Der Rosenkavalier at the final modulation in "A Weekend In The Country." Inexplicably and unforgivingly, the most recent Broadway revival cut that modulation, throwing away Tunick's fun quote with the bathwater. |
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| re: Mentions in musicals | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 09:19 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Mentions in musicals - Chromolume 09:08 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
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| Also "Johnny One Note" mentions "Aida" as well. | |
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| re: Mentions in musicals | |
| Posted by: andPeggy 08:35 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Mentions in musicals - PlayWiz 07:45 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
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| If we're going just with a mention: What a Waste from Wonderful Town Kid from Cape Cod Fisherman's family Marvelous singer Big baritone Rented his boat Paid for his lessons Starved for his studies Down to the bone Came to New York Aimed at the opera Sing "Rigoletto" his wish At the Fulton Market now he yells, "Fish!" |
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| re: Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: Peony 01:21 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| In reply to: Plays about opera - commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| Frank Wedekind (of SPRING AWAKENING fame): THE TENOR, a comedy in one act, English translation by André Trido, 1913. Originally produced by the Washington Square Players, 1915. New translation by Sidney Harold Landes, 2007. | |
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| re: Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: bearcat 12:17 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| In reply to: Plays about opera - commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| McNally wrote a play about a Bellini opera, I think it was first produced in DC a few years ago. did anyone see it - does it have something solid to recommend another production of the play? |
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| re: Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: MikeR 12:38 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Plays about opera - bearcat 12:17 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
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| That's The Golden Age, which was mentioned below. | |
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| re: Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: fidelio1010 09:21 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: Plays about opera - commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souvenir_(play) A very touching play that Judy Kaye starred in on Broadway |
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| re: Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: Ned3301 03:23 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: Plays about opera - commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| If you're counting musicals, there's an opera singer in Song of Norway, originally played by Irra Petina. She's one of the four main principals and comes off as a bit spoofy at times, but she brings a lot of opera into the storyline. |
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| Well, there's always ... | |
| Posted by: flaguy (footlites@aol.com) 03:08 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: Plays about opera - commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| Well, there's always MY new work, about the true story behind Verdi's 'A MASKED BALL,' which was read successfully last year at Jan McArt's New Play Readings at Lynn University, in Boca Raton, FL. It's called 'A KING! A PLOT! A GUN! A SHOT! And All That followed! Quite a lot!' Of course, it could be that you're not looking for an untested play that would come with "world premiere" status. ;) |
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| re: Well, there's always ... | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 06:21 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: Well, there's always ... - flaguy 03:08 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| Is it set in Boston or Sweden? :) | |
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| You asked for it! ... | |
| Posted by: flaguy (footlites@aol.com) 02:22 am EDT 05/29/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Well, there's always ... - PlayWiz 06:21 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| The play opens on the day after Verdi's opera 'A MASKED BALL' had its world premiere in Rome. We're in the Italian home of famed American actress Charlotte Cushman (a notorious lesbian, noted for playing men's roles) who, with her almost all-female household, reads through a new version of this story that claims to tell the shocking, unvarnished truth about that King, that masked ball, that assassination. And Charlotte, naturally, plays the part of the King. * TIME: The late morning of February 18th, 1859, and the very early morning of March 16th, 1792. PLACE: The garden terrace of a comfortable house in Rome, and the King's bedchamber in the Royal Palace of Stockholm. * CAST (in order of appearance): EUGENE SCRIBE / Old Rudy / Dr. Hartley / Chief Of Police Olson -- Youthful, successful playwright/librettist CHARLOTTE SAUNDERS CUSHMAN / King Gustav III -- Internationally famous lesbian American actress; middle-aged, living abroad SUSAN WEBB CUSHMAN / Princess Hedvig -- Charlotte's sister; a middle-aged, attractive actress MATILDA HAYS / Queen Sophia Magdelena -- Charlotte's companion; a middle-aged artist/sculptor of some renown SABESTINA / Crown Prince Adolph -- Charlotte's frumpy young Italian maid/servant EMMA STEBBINS / Count Axel Von Ferson -- Matilda's assistant; a lovely young artist/intern LA CONTESSA DE CASTIGLIONE / Dowager Queen Louisa -- Beautiful, wealthy older woman, and longtime friend of Charlotte's * |
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| re: You asked for it! ... | |
| Posted by: commedia 10:48 am EDT 05/29/18 | |
| In reply to: You asked for it! ... - flaguy 02:22 am EDT 05/29/18 | |
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| Looks like you've come up with a premise with strong theatrical possibilities. I would rethink that title, though. | |
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| commedia -- AGREED! ... But ... | |
| Last Edit: flaguy 12:42 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| Posted by: flaguy (footlites@aol.com) 12:31 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| In reply to: re: You asked for it! ... - commedia 10:48 am EDT 05/29/18 | |
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| But the play within a play is really about the two weeks the King spent dieing in bed, following the assassination attempt at the ball. So the title makes a little more sense (I hope) because of that. Still, it's a long, clumsy, silly title for something that's far closer to 'GAME OF THRONES,' I suppose. 'A KING! A PLOT! A GUN! A SHOT! And All That followed! Quite a Lot!' Hmmm. |
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| re: Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: Revned 02:21 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: Plays about opera - commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| Tom Rowan's play THE SECOND TOSCA is about a young soprano understudying the role of Tosca for an American regional opera company. It's been done Off Broadway and regionally. Great fun and with insights into the opera world. | |
| Link | Tom Rowan scripts |
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| re: Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: MFeingold 11:11 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: Plays about opera - commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| The romantic male figure in both Preston Sturges's STRICTLY DISHONORABLE and Istvan Orkeny's CATSPLAY is an opera singer. Mention of TWILIGHT OF THE GOLDS below reminded me that the opera singer Jessye Norman is one of the figures Anna Deavere Smith interviewed and played in her TWILIGHT: L.A. I'm pretty sure, though I couldn't find it on IBDB, that there's been a stage version of James M. Cain's SERENADE, in which the hero is an opera singer. Paul Rudnick's VALHALLA deals in part with the relationship of Wagner and Ludwig of Bavaria. A very funny one-act sketch on the same subject is Robert Patrick's LUDWIG AND WAGNER. In addition to GEMINI, mentioned below, Albert Innaurato wrote a play (I'm not sure if it was ever produced) called MAGDA AND CALLAS. (That makes three Maria Callas plays, with Ludlam's GALAS and McNally's MASTER CLASS.) The hero of John Guare's RICH AND FAMOUS has an encounter with a very eccentric composer (vaguely based on Leonard Bernstein) who wants him to provide an opera libretto. There are probably a great many more. Will post others if they come to mind. |
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| Valhalla | |
| Posted by: LloydT 04:29 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Plays about opera - MFeingold 11:11 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| Thank you for reminding me about Paul Rudnick's hilarious "Valhalla." In it King Ludwig becomes alarmed at his own obsession with opera. To prevent himself from going to the opera every night, he has himself chained to the throne. Then he begs for the key. | |
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| re: Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 10:18 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: Plays about opera - commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| Galas, by Charles Ludlam Living on Love, by Joe DiPietro, and the play it's based on, Peccadillo, by Garson Kanin Gemini, by Albert Innaurato If musicals are also of interest, an opera composer is a character in Comden, Green and Grossman's A Doll's Life, and the show includes excerpts from his opera. |
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| Also, Quartet by Ronald Harwood (nm) | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 10:21 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Plays about opera - AlanScott 10:18 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| nm | |
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| re: Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: GabbyGerard 10:17 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: Plays about opera - commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| Living on Love by Joe DiPietro Old Wicked Songs by Jon Marans (if you’re willing to count Robert Schumann's song cycle Dichterliebe as opera) Opera figures prominently into Twilight of the Golds by Jonathan Tolins, even though it’s not even remotely about opera. I believe the Glenn Close film Meeting Venus is based on a play by its director, Istvan Szabo, but I’m not sure if it has the same title or not. |
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| LEND ME A TENOR, SOUVENIR nm | |
| Posted by: JayG 09:53 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: Plays about opera - commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| nm | |
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| re: LEND ME A TENOR and sequel | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 06:05 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 06:04 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| In reply to: LEND ME A TENOR, SOUVENIR nm - JayG 09:53 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| I think Ken Ludwig has written one or two followup plays to "Lend Me A Tenor" as well. I don't know how good or funny they are though, but I think they been done in regionals. | |
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| re: LEND ME A TENOR and sequel | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 09:26 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:24 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
| In reply to: re: LEND ME A TENOR and sequel - PlayWiz 06:04 pm EDT 05/29/18 | |
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| Well, really the pairing of Bobby and Bela Zangler in Crazy For You is the same essential joke. Could have titled the musical Lend Me A Zangler. ;-) There's also his Shakespeare In Hollywood, where the characters of Midsummer mingle with the film actors in Max Reinhardt's film of the play as he films it. Don't forget that later on, Ludwig wrote the book for an abandoned first attempt at a stage musical of An American In Paris, which was concepted to be about the filming of the original musical film, and featured a character named Hermia. (Not to mention the Gershwin score, of course.) Plus ca Ludwig, plus c'est la meme chose? ;-) |
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| THE LISBON TRAVIATA and THE GOLDEN AGE by Terrence McNally (NM) | |
| Posted by: Seth Christenfeld (tabula-rasa@verizon.net) 09:22 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: Plays about opera - commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| Seth, up far too early | |
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| re: THE LISBON TRAVIATA and THE GOLDEN AGE by Terrence McNally (NM) | |
| Last Edit: MockingbirdGirl 09:34 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
| Posted by: MockingbirdGirl 09:32 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: THE LISBON TRAVIATA and THE GOLDEN AGE by Terrence McNally (NM) - Seth Christenfeld 09:22 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| "I know the obvious ones (Amadeus, the plays of Terence McNally)..." Back to bed with you, Seth! :D Farinelli and the King is opera-adjacent, commedia, and might make your list. |
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| oy. (NM) | |
| Posted by: Seth Christenfeld (tabula-rasa@verizon.net) 03:03 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: re: THE LISBON TRAVIATA and THE GOLDEN AGE by Terrence McNally (NM) - MockingbirdGirl 09:32 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| Seth, post-nap | |
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| re: Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: stgmgr 08:53 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: Plays about opera - commedia 08:25 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| If you're willing to dip a toe into an actual opera giocoso, I've always had a soft spot for Donizetti's "Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali," which follows an opera company's hapless attempt to stage a new production. (There's an English-language version called "Viva la Mamma.") | |
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| re: Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: OldTheaterGuy 08:22 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Plays about opera - stgmgr 08:53 am EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| Going back to early in the previous century, there was a huge hit comedy, Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines that had an opera diva as the heroine. The role made a star of Ethel Barrymore. There have been several musical adaptations over the years. | |
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| re: Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 08:38 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Plays about opera - OldTheaterGuy 08:22 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| There have been several musical adaptations over the years. Including an opera (by Jack Beeson), naturally...;-) |
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| re: Plays about opera | |
| Posted by: whereismikeyfl 08:55 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Plays about opera - Chromolume 08:38 pm EDT 05/28/18 | |
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| Well, if we are going to go there, how about La Tosca by Victorien Sardou. | |
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