DOCSLIB.ORG

A 16 Bar Cut: the History of American Musical Theatrean Original Script and Monograph Document

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A 16 Bar Cut: the History of American Musical Theatrean Original Script and Monograph Document University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2006 A 16 Bar Cut: The History Of American Musical Theatrean Original Script And Monograph Document Rockford Sansom University of Central Florida Part of the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Sansom, Rockford, "A 16 Bar Cut: The History Of American Musical Theatrean Original Script And Monograph Document" (2006). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 1070. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/1070 A 16 BAR CUT: THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATRE An Original Script and Monograph Document by ROCKFORD ALLEN SANSOM B.F.A., Acting, University of West Florida, 2003 B.A., English Literature, University of West Florida, 2003 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in the Department of Theatre in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Summer Term 2006 © 2005 Rockford Sansom ii ABSTRACT Believing that a thesis should encompass all aspects of a conservatory training program, I will write and perform—in collaboration with my classmate Patrick John Moran—a new musical entitled A 16 Bar Cut: The History of American Musical Theatre as the capstone project for my Master of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre. A 16 Bar Cut will be a two-man show that tells the entire history of American musical theatre from the ancient Greeks to today in a tongue-in-cheek manner. The goal of the project is to pay homage to an original American art form in a night of zany silliness and hilarity. The show will feature an informative perspective on the rise and current status of American musical theatre, several new songs, complete irreverence, and grown men singing, dancing, and making utter fools of themselves. Creating my thesis show will test and stretch my knowledge base of the musical theatre art form and virtually every skill that I have developed in my course of study. Since A 16 Bar Cut centers on the historical journey of musical theatre, constructing the new work will demonstrate my understanding of musical theatre history and literature. Performing the show will also challenge my ability and craftsmanship as an actor, singer, and dancer. Not only will I create a through-line character—a heightened, silly, professorial version of myself, but I will also create approximately fifty additional characters used throughout the show. The vocal and dance requirements for my track will also be numerous and demanding. And since the show travels through the major movements of musical theatre history, I will have to dance, sing, and act in the various styles and qualities of each movement and time period. Other significant challenges will center on script development. The first obstacle will be synthesizing music theatre into a single evening while maintaining an arc, storyline, and Patrick iii and my specific point of view about the genre. Another complexity to the show will be accessibility to the audience—how to be respectful to and informative about musical theatre, while at the same time being entertaining and funny to a wide array of audience members who will vary in musical theatre knowledge. In addition, developing a two-man thesis will require a complete collaboration with Patrick Moran. Since musical theatre is rarely—if ever—a solo art, working as a team will expand and exercise my collaborative abilities. And producing the show with Patrick will test supplementary skills such as marketing, resourcefulness, design and technical elements, etc. The Research and Analysis portion of my monograph document will be structured according to the M.F.A. Thesis Guidelines as applicable to my specific project. The (A) Research section will consist of a biographical glossary on all of the composers and lyricists referenced in A 16 Bar Cut. Librettists’ information will be included when their work is pertinent. Additionally, each composer, lyricists, and librettists will be discussed in regards to their significance in musical theatre history. The (B) Structural Analysis section will describe the show’s organization and construction and how the structural problems mentioned above are solved. The (C) Role Analysis section will have three sub-sections focusing on my different roles in the production as a playwright, producer, and actor. iv For my mother, Brenda For my father, Jerry For my sister, Katie And for my brother, Patrick v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In every creative and collaborative effort, there are always a plethora people that give so much of their time, energy, and effort, and they never receive enough thanks and glory—such is the case with my thesis. I never could have succeeded in my thesis project nor could I have survived the last ten months of my life without each of these wonderful people. This acknowledgment page is my feeble attempt to give them the thanks and glory that they so richly deserve. In no particular order, many thanks go to: Justin Fischer for his talent, genius, musical guidance, and willingness to be paid pennies instead of what he is really worth; Chris Staffel and Josephine Leffner for offering to house manage; Debbie Tedrick for generously offering her vast musical theatre library and for her willingness to help with anything; Chris Layton for proving to me that there are voices in my head; the Orlando Repertory Theatre for hiring and promoting artists; James Cleveland for having the most talented ears I know and for getting paid in vodka; Dave Upton for picturesque lighting and for getting paid in beer; Simone Smith for seamless sewing and for getting paid in chocolate; John Bell for admitting me into the MFA program, helping to make me a theatre artist, agreeing to chair my committee, taking extra time from his life to workshop the script, encouraging me to always do my best, keeping me sane this year, and for being my friend; Jim Brown for many deep discussions at Subway, letting me be your teaching assistant, and for serving on my committee; Nick Wuehrmann for opening up the world of operetta, connecting me to myself as a performer, and for serving on my committee; Steve Chicurel for teaching me to sing more than the vowels; Gary Flannery for being the only person that truly took the time to teach me to dance; Earl Weaver for making me a historian and for all the free therapy; all the UCF professors I’ve mentioned for making me proud to be their student; my classmates: Mark vi Hardin, Rebecca Johnson, Katie Kelly, Chris Layton, and Patrick Moran for learning with me, teaching me, and putting up with me for two years; Rebecca Johnson for joining Patrick and my crazy roommate world and for letting us use your furniture; Isaac and Lizzy Kreiger for the vocal and life coaching; Karen Hiscoe for knowing all the answers; Gary Cadwallader for being a shining beacon of hope in an otherwise maddening sea of insanity; Musetta Jensen for being my dearest friend and costume advisor; Linda Esser-May for kicking me around in my youth and for the brilliant poster; Mark Hardin for knowing that true friends will take pictures of you in drag; Donna and Daniel Moran for making me feel so welcome in their family, sewing my dresses, and helping with the set; my crazy extended family for being you; my best pal Patrick for being the best collaborator and friend I could ever wish for; my dad, mom, and sister for unconditional love, driving across the country to hear me sing, and encouraging me to follow my dreams (I’ll be sure to tell Larry King that you were supportive.); and any one I have forgotten. I will remember you when I get the book deal. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................................................................xiv LIST OF TABLES.....................................................................................................................................................xv INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................................1 A 16 BAR CUT: THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATRE ........................................................3 ACT ONE ...................................................................................................................................................................7 Pre Show ..............................................................................................................................................................7 Opening: “It’s Greek To Me, Me, Me”................................................................................................................9 Scene One: “Cirque du Sucker” ........................................................................................................................13 Scene Two: “Vaude-strelsy”..............................................................................................................................17 Scene Three: “The Operetta Opus”...................................................................................................................22
Load more

Recommended publications
  • American Love Stories: Narrative Ethics and the Novel from Stowe to James
    American Love Stories: Narrative Ethics and the Novel from Stowe to James By Ashley Carson Barnes A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Dorothy Hale, Chair Professor Samuel Otter Professor Dorri Beam Professor Robert Alter Fall 2012 1 Abstract American Love Stories: Narrative Ethics and the Novel from Stowe to James by Ashley Carson Barnes Doctor of Philosophy in English University of California, Berkeley Professor Dorothy Hale, Chair “American Love Stories” argues for the continuity between two traditions often taken to be antagonistic: the sentimental novel of the mid-nineteenth century and the high modernism of Henry James. This continuity emerges in the love stories tracked here, from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps’s The Gates Ajar, through Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Blithedale Romance and Herman Melville’s Pierre, to Elizabeth Stoddard’s The Morgesons and James’s The Golden Bowl. In these love stories—the other side of the gothic tradition described by Leslie Fiedler—desire is performed rather than repressed, and the self is less a private container than a public exhibit. This literary-historical claim works in tandem with the dissertation’s argument for revising narrative ethics. The recent ethical turn in literary criticism understands literature as practically engaging the emotions, especially varieties of love, that shape our social lives. It figures reading as a love story in its own right: an encounter with a text that might grant us intimacy with an authorial persona or else spurn our desire to grasp its alterity.
    [Show full text]
  • Jake Owen “Life’S Whatcha Make It” Tour Live at the Ted Constant Center October 5, 2018, with Special Guests David Lee Murphy and Morgan Wallen
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JAKE OWEN “LIFE’S WHATCHA MAKE IT” TOUR LIVE AT THE TED CONSTANT CENTER OCTOBER 5, 2018, WITH SPECIAL GUESTS DAVID LEE MURPHY AND MORGAN WALLEN Tickets Available Friday, August 24th at 10AM Exclusively Through YnotTix.com Norfolk, VA-(August 20, 2018) The Ted Constant Center, located at Old Dominion University and operated by Spectra Venue Management, announces Jake Owen to perform his “Life’s Whatcha Make It Tour,” live on October 5, 2018. Special guests David Lee Murphy and Morgan Wallen will join the multi-platinum entertainer. Tickets go on-sale this Friday, August 24, 2018, at 10am to include price levels of $25.00, $39.75, and $59.75, and are available at Ynottix.com, by calling 877-YNOT-TIX, or by visiting the Constant Center Box Office located at 4320 Hampton Blvd. Norfolk, Virginia 23508. About Jake Owen: Owen is a dynamic entertainer who has had seven No. 1 singles to date and is an ACM award-winning artist. “I Was Jack (You Were Diane)” recently reached the No. 1 position on the country airplay charts, marking his seventh career No. 1 hit, with over 25M streams. His other six No. 1’s include the 2X PLATINUM anthem “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” PLATINUM-certified hits “Beachin’,” “Anywhere with You,” “Alone with You,” “The One That Got Away,” and, GOLD-certified “American Country Love Song.” Owen's fifth studio album, AMERICAN LOVE, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and No. 4 on the Billboard 200 all-genre chart. Most recently, Owen signed a new label deal with Big Loud Records, reuniting him with award-winning producer Joey Moi.
    [Show full text]
  • “Kiss Today Goodbye, and Point Me Toward Tomorrow”
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Missouri: MOspace “KISS TODAY GOODBYE, AND POINT ME TOWARD TOMORROW”: REVIVING THE TIME-BOUND MUSICAL, 1968-1975 A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School At the University of Missouri In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy By BRYAN M. VANDEVENDER Dr. Cheryl Black, Dissertation Supervisor July 2014 © Copyright by Bryan M. Vandevender 2014 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled “KISS TODAY GOODBYE, AND POINT ME TOWARD TOMORROW”: REVIVING THE TIME-BOUND MUSICAL, 1968-1975 Presented by Bryan M. Vandevender A candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy And hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Dr. Cheryl Black Dr. David Crespy Dr. Suzanne Burgoyne Dr. Judith Sebesta ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I incurred several debts while working to complete my doctoral program and this dissertation. I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to several individuals who helped me along the way. In addition to serving as my dissertation advisor, Dr. Cheryl Black has been a selfless mentor to me for five years. I am deeply grateful to have been her student and collaborator. Dr. Judith Sebesta nurtured my interest in musical theatre scholarship in the early days of my doctoral program and continued to encourage my work from far away Texas. Her graduate course in American Musical Theatre History sparked the idea for this project, and our many conversations over the past six years helped it to take shape.
    [Show full text]
  • Lister); an American Folk Rhapsody Deutschmeister Kapelle/JULIUS HERRMANN; Band of the Welsh Guards/Cap
    Guild GmbH Guild -Light Catalogue Bärenholzstrasse 8, 8537 Nussbaumen, Switzerland Tel: +41 52 742 85 00 - e-mail: [email protected] CD-No. Title Track/Composer Artists GLCD 5101 An Introduction Gateway To The West (Farnon); Going For A Ride (Torch); With A Song In My Heart QUEEN'S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA/ROBERT FARNON; SIDNEY TORCH AND (Rodgers, Hart); Heykens' Serenade (Heykens, arr. Goodwin); Martinique (Warren); HIS ORCHESTRA; ANDRE KOSTELANETZ & HIS ORCHESTRA; RON GOODWIN Skyscraper Fantasy (Phillips); Dance Of The Spanish Onion (Rose); Out Of This & HIS ORCHESTRA; RAY MARTIN & HIS ORCHESTRA; CHARLES WILLIAMS & World - theme from the film (Arlen, Mercer); Paris To Piccadilly (Busby, Hurran); HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA; DAVID ROSE & HIS ORCHESTRA; MANTOVANI & Festive Days (Ancliffe); Ha'penny Breeze - theme from the film (Green); Tropical HIS ORCHESTRA; L'ORCHESTRE DEVEREAUX/GEORGES DEVEREAUX; (Gould); Puffin' Billy (White); First Rhapsody (Melachrino); Fantasie Impromptu in C LONDON PROMENADE ORCHESTRA/ WALTER COLLINS; PHILIP GREEN & HIS Sharp Minor (Chopin, arr. Farnon); London Bridge March (Coates); Mock Turtles ORCHESTRA; MORTON GOULD & HIS ORCHESTRA; DANISH STATE RADIO (Morley); To A Wild Rose (MacDowell, arr. Peter Yorke); Plink, Plank, Plunk! ORCHESTRA/HUBERT CLIFFORD; MELACHRINO ORCHESTRA/GEORGE (Anderson); Jamaican Rhumba (Benjamin, arr. Percy Faith); Vision in Velvet MELACHRINO; KINGSWAY SO/CAMARATA; NEW LIGHT SYMPHONY (Duncan); Grand Canyon (van der Linden); Dancing Princess (Hart, Layman, arr. ORCHESTRA/JOSEPH LEWIS; QUEEN'S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA/ROBERT Young); Dainty Lady (Peter); Bandstand ('Frescoes' Suite) (Haydn Wood) FARNON; PETER YORKE & HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA; LEROY ANDERSON & HIS 'POPS' CONCERT ORCHESTRA; PERCY FAITH & HIS ORCHESTRA; NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA/JACK LEON; DOLF VAN DER LINDEN & HIS METROPOLE ORCHESTRA; FRANK CHACKSFIELD & HIS ORCHESTRA; REGINALD KING & HIS LIGHT ORCHESTRA; NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA/SERGE KRISH GLCD 5102 1940's Music In The Air (Lloyd, arr.
    [Show full text]
  • Leonard Bernstein's MASS
    27 Season 2014-2015 Thursday, April 30, at 8:00 Friday, May 1, at 8:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Saturday, May 2, at 8:00 Sunday, May 3, at 2:00 Leonard Bernstein’s MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers* Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin Texts from the liturgy of the Roman Mass Additional texts by Stephen Schwartz and Leonard Bernstein For a list of performing and creative artists please turn to page 30. *First complete Philadelphia Orchestra performances This program runs approximately 1 hour, 50 minutes, and will be performed without an intermission. These performances are made possible in part by the generous support of the William Penn Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the Presser Foundation. 28 I. Devotions before Mass 1. Antiphon: Kyrie eleison 2. Hymn and Psalm: “A Simple Song” 3. Responsory: Alleluia II. First Introit (Rondo) 1. Prefatory Prayers 2. Thrice-Triple Canon: Dominus vobiscum III. Second Introit 1. In nomine Patris 2. Prayer for the Congregation (Chorale: “Almighty Father”) 3. Epiphany IV. Confession 1. Confiteor 2. Trope: “I Don’t Know” 3. Trope: “Easy” V. Meditation No. 1 VI. Gloria 1. Gloria tibi 2. Gloria in excelsis 3. Trope: “Half of the People” 4. Trope: “Thank You” VII. Mediation No. 2 VIII. Epistle: “The Word of the Lord” IX. Gospel-Sermon: “God Said” X. Credo 1. Credo in unum Deum 2. Trope: “Non Credo” 3. Trope: “Hurry” 4. Trope: “World without End” 5. Trope: “I Believe in God” XI. Meditation No. 3 (De profundis, part 1) XII.
    [Show full text]
  • Completeandleft
    MEN WOMEN 1. BA Bryan Adams=Canadian rock singer- Brenda Asnicar=actress, singer, model=423,028=7 songwriter=153,646=15 Bea Arthur=actress, singer, comedian=21,158=184 Ben Adams=English singer, songwriter and record Brett Anderson=English, Singer=12,648=252 producer=16,628=165 Beverly Aadland=Actress=26,900=156 Burgess Abernethy=Australian, Actor=14,765=183 Beverly Adams=Actress, author=10,564=288 Ben Affleck=American Actor=166,331=13 Brooke Adams=Actress=48,747=96 Bill Anderson=Scottish sportsman=23,681=118 Birce Akalay=Turkish, Actress=11,088=273 Brian Austin+Green=Actor=92,942=27 Bea Alonzo=Filipino, Actress=40,943=114 COMPLETEandLEFT Barbara Alyn+Woods=American actress=9,984=297 BA,Beatrice Arthur Barbara Anderson=American, Actress=12,184=256 BA,Ben Affleck Brittany Andrews=American pornographic BA,Benedict Arnold actress=19,914=190 BA,Benny Andersson Black Angelica=Romanian, Pornstar=26,304=161 BA,Bibi Andersson Bia Anthony=Brazilian=29,126=150 BA,Billie Joe Armstrong Bess Armstrong=American, Actress=10,818=284 BA,Brooks Atkinson Breanne Ashley=American, Model=10,862=282 BA,Bryan Adams Brittany Ashton+Holmes=American actress=71,996=63 BA,Bud Abbott ………. BA,Buzz Aldrin Boyce Avenue Blaqk Audio Brother Ali Bud ,Abbott ,Actor ,Half of Abbott and Costello Bob ,Abernethy ,Journalist ,Former NBC News correspondent Bella ,Abzug ,Politician ,Feminist and former Congresswoman Bruce ,Ackerman ,Scholar ,We the People Babe ,Adams ,Baseball ,Pitcher, Pittsburgh Pirates Brock ,Adams ,Politician ,US Senator from Washington, 1987-93 Brooke ,Adams
    [Show full text]
  • Immigrant Musicians on the New York Jazz Scene by Ofer Gazit A
    Sounds Like Home: Immigrant Musicians on the New York Jazz Scene By Ofer Gazit A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Benjamin Brinner, Chair Professor Jocelyne Guilbault Professor George Lewis Professor Scott Saul Summer 2016 Abstract Sounds Like Home: Immigrant Musicians On the New York Jazz Scene By Ofer Gazit Doctor of Philosophy in Music University of California, Berkeley Professor Benjamin Brinner, Chair At a time of mass migration and growing xenophobia, what can we learn about the reception, incorporation, and alienation of immigrants in American society from listening to the ways they perform jazz, the ‘national music’ of their new host country? Ethnographies of contemporary migrations emphasize the palpable presence of national borders and social boundaries in the everyday life of immigrants. Ethnomusicological literature on migrant and border musics has focused primarily on the role of music in evoking a sense of home and expressing group identity and solidarity in the face of assimilation. In jazz scholarship, the articulation and crossing of genre boundaries has been tied to jazz as a symbol of national cultural identity, both in the U.S and in jazz scenes around the world. While these works cover important aspects of the relationship between nationalism, immigration and music, the role of jazz in facilitating the crossing of national borders and blurring social boundaries between immigrant and native-born musicians in the U.S. has received relatively little attention to date.
    [Show full text]
  • VOL 30, ISSUE 8 / AUGUST 2021 Celebrate Broadway Celebrate André De Shields De André
    VOL 30, ISSUE 8 / AUGUST 2021 thirteen.org 1 EVENING AND NIGHT André De Shields Liza Minnelli Filmmaker Rick McKay (left) with Jane Summerhays, Tommy Tune, and Don Pippin. To view the monthly program guide on our website, visit thirteen.org/schedule CelebrateCelebrate BroadwayBroadway and click on “Program Guide.” ON JUNE 26, after a 15-month shutdown, Chita Rivera, Elaine Stritch, Jane Sum- 11:00 Thou Shalt Not 10:00 POV: “Pier Kids” Broadway officially reopened with Spring- merhays, Tommy Tune, Dick Van Dyke, SYMBOL KEY Kill The homicide of Black, homeless queer Guglielmo Mantovani and trans youth who call steen on Broadway. Hamilton, Hadestown, Ben Vereen, and more, touching on classic Premiere appears to be the New York’s Christopher and Wicked are set to open in September, Broadway shows including Once Upon a consequence of a home Street Pier their home Our productions with more shows welcoming audiences in Mattress, Bye Bye Birdie, Barefoot in the invasion gone wrong. work to carve out coming months. THIRTEEN celebrates this Park, Pippin, and 42nd Street. Aired earlier (Part 3 of 12) REPEATS autonomy and security this month momentous return to the theater with Donna McKechnie shares stories about 3RD, 3AM. in their lives. REPEATS To be announced specials spotlighting Broadway legends, the creation of A Chorus Line. Liza Minnelli 5TH, 4AM AND 9TH, 2:30AM. 8/02 EARLY MON AM hit musicals, and more. recalls stepping into the role of Roxie Hart 12:00 Beyond the Canvas [R] The festivities begin with Broadway: in Chicago in 1975 while Gwen Verdon was 1 SUNDAY 12:30 Austin City Limits: Beyond the Golden Age (Thu 19th, 8 p.m.) on vocal rest.
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix 3 Operettas with English Librettos by Composers for the German Stage
    Appendix 3 Operettas with English Librettos by Composers for the German Stage Fall, Leo The Eternal Waltz, Hippodrome, London, 22 Dec. 1911, 100 perfs. Clara Evelyn & Ackerman May (as Feo Lahll). Bk & lyrs: Austen Hurgon (one act); SD: Austen Hurgon; MD: Leo Fall. The Eternal Waltz, Palace Theatre, New York, 24 Mar. 1913 (12 perfs). Opening production at Palace Theatre. Fall, Richard Arms and the Girl, London Hippodrome, 29 Apr. 1912, 95 perfs. G. P. Huntley, May de Sousa, & Jean Aylwin. Bk & lyrs: Austen Hurgon. Felix, Hugo The Merveilleuses (later, The Lady Dandies), Daly’sTheatre,London,27 Oct. 1906, 197 perfs. Robert Evett (Dorlis) & Denise Orme (Illyrine). Bk: Basil Hood (after Victorien Sardou); Lyrs: Adrian Ross; P: George Edwardes; SD: J. A. E. Malone; MD: Barter Johns; DD: Willie Warde. Tantalizing Tommy, Criterion Theatre, New York, 1 Oct. 1912, 31 perfs. Bk: Michael Morton, after Paul Gavault’s play La Petite Chocolatière; Lyrs: Adrian Ross; P: A. H. Woods; SD: George Marion; MD: Hans S. Linne. The Pearl Girl, Shaftesbury Theatre, London, 25 Sep. 1913, 254 perfs. Bk & lyrs: Basil Hood; Music by Hugo Felix & Howard Talbot; P & SD: Robert Courtneidge; MD: Arthur Wood; DD: Willie Warde. 319 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.22, on 01 Oct 2021 at 18:51:19, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108614306 320 Appendix 3 Operettas with English Librettos Pom-pom, Cohan Theatre, 28 Feb. 1916, 128 perfs. Bk & lyrs: Anne Caldwell; P: Henry W.
    [Show full text]
  • From Guy Warren to Kofi Ghanaba: a Life of Transatlantic (Dis)Connections
    Individual Life From Guy Warren to Kofi Ghanaba: A Life of Transatlantic (Dis)Connections Robin D. G. Kelley “ here has never been anybody in the history of Jazz music like me . I am Tto Jazz music what Kwame Nkrumah was to modern African politics.”1 These bold words belong to the late Kofi Ghanaba, the Ghanaian-born drum- mer who pioneered jazz-African fusion music during the era of decolonization. Anyone familiar with Ghanaba and his music, whether as the wise African in Haile Gerima’s celebrated film “Sankofa,” or as the young, dynamic percussion- ist Guy Warren who had taken London, Chicago, and New York by storm in the 1950s, will immediately recognize his legendary hubris. But there is a grain of truth here beyond his conceit. Their lives might be read as parallel stories of two important Ghanaian-born intellectuals whose transatlantic travels between the United States, the United Kingdom, and West Africa profoundly shaped their politics, ideas, and identities. Both men studied at Achimota College in the Gold Coast; both men spent time in the United Kingdom where they encountered an African diasporic community whose politics and art widened their horizons; and both men spent several years in the United States, which they initially envi- sioned as a land of freedom and possibility in an era when the United Kingdom’s imperial fortunes were declining and the so-called American Century was beginning. Nkrumah first arrived in London in 1935, just after Italy invaded Ethiopia. Although he was passing through en route to the United States, Nkrumah fell in with a group of like-minded activists mobilizing against the occupation and demanding that the League of Nations protect Ethiopia’s sovereignty.
    [Show full text]
  • Ronald Davis Oral History Collection on the Performing Arts
    Oral History Collection on the Performing Arts in America Southern Methodist University The Southern Methodist University Oral History Program was begun in 1972 and is part of the University’s DeGolyer Institute for American Studies. The goal is to gather primary source material for future writers and cultural historians on all branches of the performing arts- opera, ballet, the concert stage, theatre, films, radio, television, burlesque, vaudeville, popular music, jazz, the circus, and miscellaneous amateur and local productions. The Collection is particularly strong, however, in the areas of motion pictures and popular music and includes interviews with celebrated performers as well as a wide variety of behind-the-scenes personnel, several of whom are now deceased. Most interviews are biographical in nature although some are focused exclusively on a single topic of historical importance. The Program aims at balancing national developments with examples from local history. Interviews with members of the Dallas Little Theatre, therefore, serve to illustrate a nation-wide movement, while film exhibition across the country is exemplified by the Interstate Theater Circuit of Texas. The interviews have all been conducted by trained historians, who attempt to view artistic achievements against a broad social and cultural backdrop. Many of the persons interviewed, because of educational limitations or various extenuating circumstances, would never write down their experiences, and therefore valuable information on our nation’s cultural heritage would be lost if it were not for the S.M.U. Oral History Program. Interviewees are selected on the strength of (1) their contribution to the performing arts in America, (2) their unique position in a given art form, and (3) availability.
    [Show full text]
  • Prólogo La Figura Del Gran Buster Keaton Está Actualmente Un Poco
    Prólogo La figura del gran Buster Keaton está actualmente un poco olvidada ya que las últimas genera- ciones de espectadores no es demasiado cinéfila y está más acostumbrada al cine (?) de la última hornada. El cinéfilo refinado, sibarita, está en crisis y los amantes del cine mudo pade- cen de sequía en los “video-clubs”, donde muy rara vez y con cuentagotas se encuentran aque- llos títulos míticos que tanto nos interesan. Años atrás, sobretodo a partir de los años 30, Kea- ton sufrió un eclipse debido al culto excesivo que se hacía entonces al gran Charles Chaplin. Por si fuera poco, en España, se le conocía por un horrible apodo, “Pamplinas”, del cual prefie- ro no hablar por que lo considero sumamente vulgar. Después están los falsos mitos que siempre han rodeado la filmografía de Buster Keaton. Por ejemplo, que estuvo encerrado varios años en un manicomio lo cual es completamente falso. Si es cierto que tenía una excesiva afición al juego y a la bebida que terminaron por destruir su reputación y su carrera. Puesto en la “lista negra” por Louis B.Mayer, ningún estudio quería darle trabajo condenándolo a un ostracismo injusto. Aquí se ha escrito mucha (mala) literatura al respecto. Mayer y Keaton tuvieron problemas personales y diferencias respecto a lo que debía ser un buen film cómico sonoro. El tiempo le ha dado la razón a éste, porque los cómicos que el zar Mayer aupó hoy no son más que un recuerdo. ¿Quién se acuerda hoy de Eddie Cantor o de Jimmy Durante por citar a alguien? Al llegar el sonoro a Keaton le reprocharon tener una voz ronca, muy grave, y Mayer le quiso marginar para proteger a Jimmy Durante, quién tenía una voz aún más ronca, y pretendieron encerrarle en las comedias de boulevard importadas desde Broadway en vez de desarrollar películas más estrictamente cinematográficas que los talkies de aquella década.
    [Show full text]