The American Musical
European Opera vs American Musical
Both are stories told in music. The European Opera essentially appeals to lovers of Classical Music versus the appeal of the American Musical is more to lovers of popular (not pop) Music.
So many operas involve love triangles, seduction, and tragedy (e.g, Don Giovanni, Madame Butterfly and Carmen) while the musical typically has up-beat and happy endings (e.g. Oklahoma, Showboat, Sound of Music).
Don’t know the reason for this but one may speculate that the American Musical was the product of the Depression and hence it was an attempt to recover from it rather than ponder on it.
The great composers of Opera were individuals: Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Bizet. Note they all created the music. Few know who the writers of the librettos were. The music dominated opera, not the lyrics.
The great creators of the American Musicals were teams: Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, George and Ira Gershwin, Bernstein and Sondheim. Very few were written by individuals, examples of which are Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. Except for the latter two, one wrote the lyrics and the other wrote the music.
Here are some stories about American Musicals:
My Fair Lady
Lyrics by Alan J Lerner and Music by Fredric Loewe
The rights to the movie were purchased by Jack Warner of Warner Bros. When casting for the movie Mr. Warner needed big name stars for the main roles. The creators of the roles on Broadway (Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison) were not big enough for the studio, even though Andrews was nominated for the Tony Award and Harrison actually won Best Actor, plus the musical was itself a smashing success winning the award for Best Musical.
Audrey Hepburn was selected to play Eliza Doolittle, and finally after much back and forth Rex Harrison was selected to play Professor Henry Higgins (Cary Grant and Rock Hudson were deep in the running for the role.) Much as I like the two, I am grateful that Rex Harrison was chosen who Btw. won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the movie won Best Picture.
The singing voice of Audrey Hepburn was dubbed by Marni Nixon (Hollywood’s version of Lata Mangeshkar). Thank God for that as Hepburn is no singer. She supposedly did one song (Wouldn’t it be Loverly). If true, she shouldn’t have. Just compare her version with that of Julie Andrews. Night versus Day for aficionados of voice.
Audrey Hepburn
Julie Andrews
Jack Warner and Walt Disney
At the same time My Fair Lady was being shot, Walt Disney was searching for an actress to play Mary Poppins. He was told about Julie Andrews who was playing Queen Guinevere opposite Richard Burton’s King Arthur in Camelot on Broadway. Disney flew from LA to NY just to see her perform. He was so taken by her performance that at the end of the play he went backstage and offered her the role of Mary Poppins on the spot. She was flattered but said:
“Mr. Disney I cannot do it”
“Why”? he exclaimed
“I’m pregnant”
“Is that all? Not a problem, we’ll wait”, said Disney
When Disney was was told that Julie Andrews was not a star, Disney said he did not need one. His name on the top of the billboard, “Walt Disney presents” was enough to carry the movie.
Note the difference between Jack Warner and Walt Disney.
To end this story, Julie Andrews won the Academy Award for Mary Poppins followed by the nomination for Best Actress for Sound of Music which Btw. she did not win. In her memoirs, Ms. Andrews writes that when she was driving by Warner Bros Studios, she stopped at the entrance and shouted out aloud, “Thank You Jack Warner for not choosing me to do My Fair Lady. My career took off after that”. So true!
Here is Julie Andrews singing Walt Disney’s favorite song in Mary Poppins, titled, “Feed the Birds”.
When deciding on the actress to play the bird woman, Disney said:
“Get Ma Joad! Get Ma Joad!”
“Who the heck is Ma Joad,” his assistants exclaimed
“She was Henry Fonda’s mother in the Grapes of Wrath, a film made twenty five years earlier.”
His assistants went scrambling to find out who the actress was. It was Jane Darwell who was then in her mid-eighties. She was initially reluctant to accept the role but agreed only when Disney personally called her.
Disney told his assistants, “Treat her like a Queen”.
She was flown first class, put up in 5-star hotels and limousine service door to door.
Btw. she had only one line in her role: “Feed the birds! Feed the birds.”
SOUTH PACIFIC
Music by Richard Rodgers and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein
This my favorite musical by far. Here’s why.
To me a great story needs these five elements: Laugher, Humor, Pathos, Romance and Tragedy. This musical had them all, plus a superb setting. Impossible to beat the islands in the South Pacific for scenery.
The background is the war in the Pacific between the Americans and the Japanese. Lots of humor, laughter and colorful characters (Luther Billis and Bloody Mary). There were two romances in this movie, one inter-racial and the other cultural. The inter-racial one was between a marine Lieutenant from Princeton and a beautiful Polynesian girl, the other was between a middle aged cultured French Planter and a young nurse from Arkansas. I have never seen a love scene better than this one between the Princetonian and the Tonkinese girl. There is a difference between the emotions of love versus sex. This one is all love, and I love it.
When the decision came as to whether the Lieutenant from Princeton would marry the beautiful Polynesian girl, he demurs because of the inter-racial difference. On the other hand, the nurse (Nellie Forbush) from Arkansas turns down the French Planter (Emile Debecque), but for cultural reasons. She says “He is a cultured Frenchman, I’m a little Hick”. Except the real reason why she turns him down is because he was married to a Polynesian, long since dead, but had two dark children by her. Nellie the nurse tells Emile Debecque she cannot help it because her prejudice is born in her. Here is an extremely powerful song that explains prejudice in both failed romances:
Now this musical was written in the mid-40’s when inter-racial marriage was taboo. The story goes that the financiers of the musical were fearful that the song would kill the musical and wanted it removed. They did not realize whom they were dealing with. R & H were both Jews, who came from a community which had a history of persecution. To their eternal credit they refused to take out the song. In fact, they said if that song goes, the musical goes with it. The financiers capitulated and the musical turned out to be a smashing success.
The movie ends with the Lieutenant being killed on a Japanese held island, the Frenchman survives. He returns to his stunningly beautiful home on the top of the hill to find the nurse with his two children. They embrace. Here is the beautiful closing scene in the movie:
I told you, American musicals, unlike opera, must end happily. This one did.
Porgy and Bess
Music by Ira Gershwin and Lyrics by George Gershwin
Not much to report on this musical but comment on one song and the politics behind the play. The most famous song is “Summertime”. Here is a beautiful rendition of it.
This play (Opera?) is being shown at the Metropolitan Opera this season. I plan to see it.
Ashok, my offer still stands if you want to accept it.
Now the politics of the show. You are not going to believe this one. Apparently the powers that be in the Black Community (BLM?) have decided to boycott the musical. Their claim is that the story about the deep south has been “culturally appropriated” by two Jewish songwriters (George and Ira Gershwin). The story was written by Dubose Heyward, a white man. Is this madness or what? Go figure!
Opera versus Broadway (The Sets)
If you have not seen an opera, I urge you to see at least one, preferably at the Met in New York’s Lincoln Center. The scale is simply staggering. The orchestra pit houses at least three times as many musicians as a Broadway play and the stage is probably, at a minimum, twice as large. It is therefore a treat for sight and sound.
In opera if a scene requires a church they will build one, if a mountain they will erect one, if a villa they will construct one. In Carmen they do them all. Here is the opening scene in Carmen:
Act II is in Lilas Pastia’s Tavern where you see beautiful gypsies dancing. Act III is at a mountain pass with smugglers. Act IV is at the Plaza del Toros which concludes with the tragic ending.
If for nothing else, watch it to see the amazing sets.
Fiddler on the Roof
Lyrics By Sheldon Harnick and Music by Jerry Bock
Another favorite of mine and the only one I have seen with a sad ending. If they asked me I would have given them a happy one (More on this later).
It had four of the five elements required for greatness in a musical, laughter, humor, romance and pathos.
Saw it twice, once with Zero Mostel who created the role of Tevye on Broadway and the other with Topol who did it in the movie.
The most touching song in the movie was titled “Sunrise Sunset” which is sung to celebrate the marriage of the eldest daughter to the tailor. The authors auditioned it for Sheldon Harnick’s wife who was standing fifteen feet behind them at the piano. When they completed it they turned around only to see Harnick’s wife with her hands covering her face, uncontrollably sobbing. Here’s why:
The most interesting part of this musical was the ending. American musicals almost invariably end on a happy note. This one did not. The authors agonized over it. They finally stuck with it. Cannot complain as sometimes there is beauty in pathos.
However, if they wanted a happy ending, they should have consulted ME. Here it is:
In the miidle of the musical Tevye’s middle daughter, Chava, falls in love with a Marxist, today’s social justice warrior. Much to the dismay of her parents Chava marries him and moves to Siberia. I always remember Winston Churchill’s famous dictum, “if you are not a Marxist when you are twenty you have no heart. If you remain a Marxist when you are forty you have no head”. The daughter is around twenty when she marries her Marxist.
As the villagers start their sad trek out of Anatevka, there are two figures in the distance running towards the villagers. You don’t know who they are, but as they approach one of them cries aloud “Papa! Papa! Papa”! It’s none other than Tevye’s daughter, Chava, now thirty, back from Siberia. With tears streaming down her face she hugs and kisses her father all over his face and body.
With her head on his shoulder and his arm around hers, the trek resumes. The sun rises and the movie ends to the strains of “Sunrise Sunset”!
SOUND of MUSIC
By Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein
Not much to report on this beautiful musical which ran for two years in Bombay versus one week for West Side Story. Here is an incredibly romantic song by Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer after he proposes to her. It is titled “Something Good”. The tenderness displayed is pure gold.
The Processional (Church)
This scene had to be re-done as during the first take Julie Andrews’s daughter, Emma, came running down the aisle to meet her mother.
Here is another Rodgers and Hammerstein classic from FLOWER DRUM SONG. It probably would not pass muster in this age of Women’s Liberation and Political Correctness. I love it nonetheless. It is titled “I Enjoy being a Girl”.
Great Actors vs Great Singers
Man of La Mancha was a superb musical which I saw more than once. The second time was with the actor, Richard Kiley, who created the role on Broadway.
When they were casting for the movie I was delighted that they chose Peter O’Toole to play Don Quixote and Sophia Loren to do Aldonza. How could they go wrong? THEY DID! They allowed them to sing. Absolute disaster. Here is Peter O’Toole vs Richard Kiley and Sophia Loren vs Joan Diener. See, listen and weep. The box office confirmed the disastrous decision. Was it Jack Warner and Warner Brothers once again?
Peter O’Toole
Richard Kiley
Sophia Loren
Joan Diener
West Side Story
Music by Leonard Bernstein and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Barbara Streisand doing “Somewhere” from Bernstein’s West Side Story. The play ends with this song. Maria’s lover Tony has just been shot by a member of her own gang. As his life leaves his body she holds him in her arms. With tears running down her face she sings this song. Impossible not to get tears running down yours. Mine always does.
The song has been adopted by the Gay Nation as their National Anthem. Easy to see why, just listen to the lyrics. I also ended my tribute to Brian Siqueira (“Memories of Brian Siqueira”; https://link.medium.com/1lvcq5Ugmjb) whom I dearly loved with this song.
THE END