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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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