By George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin AN EDUCATOR’S GUIDE TO THE OPERA LOOK-IN LESSON STARTERS Music Many solo vocalists and instrumental- illustration by Richard Waldrep ists have recorded Gershwin’s “Summertime,” from jazz saxophon- Porgy and Bess ist John Coltrane to rock star Janis Joplin to rhythm and blues singer HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE Fantasia Barrino (of television’s American Idol fame). This classic Opera offers a unique teaching opportunity—to explore music American song is actually based on through many different disciplines from literature and drama to the blues, the same unique musical history and art. This guide and accompanying CDs prepare the style in which Jasbo Brown, the students for the Opera Look-In and can also be used as stand-alone pianist in Porgy and Bess, plays. To classroom activities and resources for teachers. For applicable assist you with these listening activi- National Standards, please contact Washington National Opera at ties, please cue your Porgy and Bess 202.448.3466 or at [email protected]. excerpt CD to Track 1, Introduction: “Summertime” (4:53). WHAT WILL YOU SEE? Have your students listen carefully Based on a story by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward and set to to see if they can identify which music by George and Ira Gershwin, Porgy and Bess takes center instruments (strings, xylophone, stage for the 2005-2006 Opera Look-In. You and your students horns) are featured in the action- will experience demonstrations of musical and technical special packed introduction (which in the effects, as well as a performance of scenes with full staging, cos- full-scale opera leads into "Jasbo tumes, and orchestra. The performance will be sung in English Brown's Blues"). Ask them ques- with English supertitles projected above the stage. The estimated tions such as: “How do the rhythms running time for the Opera Look-In: Porgy and Bess is 50 minutes make you feel?” and “What wood- with no intermission. wind instrument (clarinet) comes in continued on page 2 WHAT DO YOU WEAR? AND OTHER STUFF… The following list will help your students enjoy the experience of a day at the opera: •Dress in what is comfortable, whether it is jeans or a fancier outfit. “Fun casual” is usually what people wear—unless it is opening night, which is typically dressier. Attending an evening opera performance can be an opportunity to get dressed in formal attire. •Arrive on time. Latecomers will be seated only at suitable breaks—often not until intermission. •Please respect other patrons’ enjoyment by turning off cell phones, pagers, watch alarms, and other electronic devices. •At the very beginning of the opera, the orchestra’s concertmaster (the violinist who sits closest to the conductor) will ask the oboe player to play the note “A.” Listen carefully. You will hear that all the other musicians in the orches- tra will tune their instruments to match the oboe’s “A.” • After all the instruments are tuned, the conductor will arrive. Be sure to applaud! • Feel free to applaud (or shout BRAVO!) at the end of an aria or chorus piece to signify your enjoyment. The end of a piece can be identified by a pause in the music. Singers love an appreciative audience! • Go ahead and laugh when something is funny! •Taking photos or making audio or video recordings during a performance is not allowed. • Do not chew gum, eat, drink, or talk during the performance. If you must visit the restroom during the perform- ance, please exit quickly and quietly. When you return, an usher will let you know when it is appropriate for you to go back to your seat. • Let the action on stage surround you. As an audience member, you are a very important part of the process that is taking place. Without you, there is no show! • Read the English supertitles projected above the stage. Usually operas are performed in their original language. Opera composers find inspiration in the natural rhythm and inflection of words in particular languages. Use the supertitles to gain better understanding of the story. •Listen for subtleties in the music. The tempo, volume, and style of the music and singing depict the feelings or actions of the characters. Also, notice repeated words or phrases; they are usually significant. Have fun and enjoy the show! continued from page 1 Language Arts/Theater at the end of this syncopated (edgy, off the beat sound- The dialect spoken by the characters in Porgy and Bess has ing) introduction and calms things down?” similarities to the Gullah language and African words. Gullah is a mixture of English and African languages such After your students listen to “Summertime,” ask them to as Vai, Mende, Twi, Ewe, Hausa, Igbo, and Kikongo. You reflect: “What do the music and lyrics tell you about may recognize some Gullah words that we use today, such what is happening on stage and at that time of year?” as the church song, “Kum Ba Yah,” which in Gullah means Challenge: Ask your students to listen to “Summertime” Come By Here. In the South, people often call peanuts again. This time, encourage them to imagine a picture goobers. Sometimes in restaurants, you can hear music on and descriptive words that come to mind when they hear jukeboxes. All these words come from the Gullah language. this music. Then have them draw their pictures, sur- In small groups, have your students select a scene from Porgy rounded by their illustrative words. The words can even and Bess and read or act out the libretto. See if they can read be arranged into a particular shape that reflects how the the libretto with and without dialect. You may want to chal- students feel when they listen to “Summertime.” lenge your students to rewrite part of the libretto in their own words and then act it out. Encourage your students to discuss how the opera would change if the libretto had no dialect and 2 how the dialect helps the Ask your students to read the quote and discuss the audience understand the following: “What is your reaction to what Ms. Brown characters and setting. said?” and “How do her words make you feel?” In teams, have your Have your students research the very famous mezzo- students collect regional soprano who was the first African-American to perform a ways of naming or major role at The Metropolitan Opera (Marian prounouncing particu- Anderson). Ask them to write about how this operatic lar words (e.g., soda, heroine overcame society’s limitations by singing on the sub sandwich, etc.). steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Challenge: Encourage Visual Art/Technology your students to When George and Ira Gershwin were children, silent explore the question of films were popular. In their teens and early 20s, the “Where does ‘standard Gershwins had the opportunity to enjoy sound films (or English’ come from?” Gullah Rhythm, from the Carolina Low Country Portfolio, talkies). In the same year Porgy and Bess premiered, 1934-35, by Palmer Schoppe, lithograph on paper, 1992.02.10 and have them the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was created. Gibbes Museum of Art/Carolina Art Association research and locate It was the largest and most comprehensive New Deal dialect regions on a map of the United States. agency-providing jobs and income to the unemployed during the Great Depression, including many artists. Extended Study: Ask your students to read the folktales, Br’er Rabbit, Bo Rabbit Smart for True, and DuBose In order to give your students perspective on the Great Heyward’s The Country Bunny and the Little Golden Shoes. Depression, take a class trip to Old Town Greenbelt in Have your students create a comparison chart of similarities Maryland—a place that showcases Art Deco architec- and differences of these regional rabbit tales. Challenge ture and WPA sculptures. It also has a museum with your students to identify the moral in each story and how Depression-era glass dishware and other artifacts. each story reflects human strengths and weaknesses. Your Please see HELPFUL RESOURCES for a link to obtain students might also enjoy learning about Gullah culture by further information about the Greenbelt Museum. viewing an episode of PBS Kids’ “Postcards from Buster,” where the animated rabbit Challenge: The Greenbelt Theatre opened on character travels to St. Helena September 21, 1938. The opening attraction was Island. There, Buster visits a “Little Miss Broadway” with Shirley Temple. Watch young man who shares his silent, early sound, and popular films of the 1930s with Gullah traditions with your students. Ask them to research how technology him. Please see has changed how we view films. HELPFUL RESOURCES continued on back page for a link to this episode. History After Porgy and Bess opened in New York on October 10, 1935 at the Alvin Theatre on Broadway, the opera went on tour to big U.S. cities for three months. Washington, D.C. was the last stop. Anne Wiggins Brown who played Bess remembers: As expected we were told that the National Theater (in Washington, D.C.) would be a segregated house. Todd (Duncan) and I refused to perform and were threatened by the Theatre Guild who said we had to sing or ....there would be [many problems]….We [did not give up]. With help from other cast members and political figures such as Mary McLeod Bethune and Ralph Bunche, we succeeded and the National Theater admitted African Americans to a desegregated house. But after our performance, it returned to its original policy of segregation. May-June 1942 by Marjory Collins, Library of Congress Standifer, James.