Across Genres–The Dance Hall Production Number
We have featured Olga Kulchynska in the main image; the photo is taken from her performance in La Boheme, which we will visit in a moment.
We are following up our focus on the soft lullaby in our last post with a study of the rousing production number in this post. Contrasts. First white; now black. Both are beautiful.
It is hard to find appropriate comparisons in the realm of opera. However, we have found two that fit a broad definition of a number that fills the stage with its exuberant sight and sound.
Our first example comes from the mind of Georges Bizet; it is his monumental achievement–Carmen. Here is how it has been described:
“Spanish heat and gypsy passion are brought to the stage in Francesca Zambello’s vivid production of Bizet’s opera. The Habanera is the aria Carmen sings when she first appears on stage. It is also known as ‘L’amour est un oiseau rebelle’. Carmen was based on a popular novella of the same name by Prosper Mérimée, which enticed French readers with exotic tales of Spain. Its heady combination of passion, sensuality and violence initially proved too much for the stage and Georges Bizet’s opera was a critical failure on its premiere in 1875. Bizet died shortly after, never learning of the spectacular success Carmen would achieve — it has been staged over 500 times at Covent Garden alone.”
Our clip features Anna Caterina Antonacci and The Royal Opera, because we think it captures the lusty nature of the woman.
Our second example comes from Puccini’s 1896 opera, La Boheme. In this opera, one of the two sets of lovers, Musetta and Marcello, are passionately in and out of love. After a fight, Musetta openly taunts Marcello in this aria, “Quando m’en vo,” as she flirts with every man in the cafe before returning to Marcello at the end. It is an eight minute aria but worth watching. And worth watching the volatile Olga Kulchynska play the role.
Next, we turn to operetta and the famous aria from Herbert’s 1910 Broadway hit, Naughty Marietta. The “Italian Street Song” has no great significance to the libretto; but it serves to set the stage or the screen ablaze with marvelous sights and sounds. It is hard to match Jeanette MacDonald in this clip from the 1935 movie musical.
As we moved from operetta to musical, the production numbers changed style and rhythms but not intent; they still were staged to knock your socks off. Take a look here at the swing arrangement of Ira and George Gershwin’s “I’ve Got Rhythm” from their 1930 Broadway hit, Girl Crazy. Our clip is from the 1943 movie featuring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney; Tommy Dorsey’s Orchestra is playing a Sy Oliver arrangement. The vocal arrangement is by Hugh Martin; and the tempo is searing hot.
Not to be outdone, in 1956, Lerner and Loewe brought My Fair Lady to Broadway, with this show-stopping, foot stomping song by Stanley Holloway, entitled “Get Me to the Church on Time.” Here is a clip from the 1964 movie.
Another gem from the 1968 movie, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, is the song “POSH.” The name of the song is taken from the naval terminology, Port Out, Starboard Home. The performer is the wonderfully talented Lionel Jeffries.
Next week, we will return to our journey through Broadway, but we will keep returning to the opera/operetta/musical comparisons from time to time, just to keep making the singular point: without our opera foundations, we wouldn’t have had the later musical forms.