I'M A STRANGER HERE MYSELF: KURT WEILL IN AMERICA (TV)
Summary
This documentary chronicles Kurt Weill's progression from a "serious" European composer to an innovator of Broadway musicals. Weill's influence on the American musical theater is chronicled through interviews, vintage photographs, and musical performances. Narrated by Dennis Marks, the program opens with the Prologue to Weill's "The Seven Deadly Sins." Fleeing the danger in Nazi Germany, Weill completes a few unsuccessful projects in London and Paris before arriving in New York in 1935 to work on Max Reinhardt's "The Eternal Road," a vast biblical pageant. He adapts his German style to his new locale, and writes the anti-war parable, "Johnny Johnson"; a performance of "Johnny's Song" follows. Actor Burgess Meredith describes Weill as apolitical and interested only in his music; Weill's musical assistant, Lys Symonette, calls him considerate but hard to know intimately; and conductor Maurice Abravanel describes him as the ultimate pragmatist. After a stint in Hollywood, Weill returns to New York to write "Knickerbocker Holiday," an enthusiastic celebration of American freedom and anti-authoritarian beliefs; a performance of "How Can You Tell an American?" follows. Additional highlights include: a recording of Ira Gershwin describing the genesis of "Lady in the Dark"; Abravanel's description of the play's staging and Weill's inventive orchestrations; a performance of "This Is New" from "Lady in the Dark"; Abravanel comparing Weill's unusual compositions with those of other Broadway composers; a performance of "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" from "One Touch of Venus"; a recording of Ogden Nash recalling his collaboration with Weill on that play; a recording of Weill singing "Speak Low"; a performance of "The Trouble with Women" from "One Touch of Venus"; a performance of "Beat! Beat! Drums!" and "Dirge for Two Veterans," two songs from Weill's work, "Walt Whitman Songs," based on Whitman's poems; and a performance of "Buddy on the Nightshift," with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, demonstrating the lunch hour shows Weill created to boost the morale of American workers during World War II. Simonette charts Weill's progression toward a new kind of American musical theater, culminating in a distinctly American opera, as demonstrated by the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra and Big Band's performance of the Prologue to Act Two of "Street Scene." In a recording, Langston Hughes describes his synthesis of the language and folklore of New York in "Street Scene"; performances of the songs "Lonely House" and "Remember That I Care" demonstrate Weill's skillful blend of dialogue, Broadway numbers, and full-scale arias. Also featured are performances of "Progress," "This Is the Life," and "Mr. Right" from "Love Life," a collection of stylized vaudeville numbers satirizing urban society, which Alan Jay Lerner and Weill collaborated on in 1948. Burgess Meredith concludes the program by singing a portion of "September Song."
Details
- NETWORK: BBC (United Kingdom)
- DATE: December 31, 1992
- RUNNING TIME: 0:59:55
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:53102
- GENRE: Arts documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Biography; Composers; International Collection - United Kingdom; Music; Theater; U S - History - World War II
- SERIES RUN: BBC (United Kingdom) - TV, 1992
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Swantje Ehrentreich … Producer
- Barrie Gavin … Director, Writer
- Francesca Kemp … Researcher, Film Researcher
- Kim H. Kowalke … Writer
- Kurt Weill … Composer
- Hammerstein, Oscar, II … Lyricist, "Buddy on the Nightshift"
- Langston Hughes … Lyricist, "Street Scene"
- Alan Jay Lerner … Lyricist, "Love Life"
- Walt Whitman … Lyricist , "Walt Whitman Songs"
- James Holmes … Conductor
- Terrance Ho … Choreographer
- Frankfurt Radio Orchestra and Big Band … Symphony Orchestra
- Luis Amaral Dancers … Dance Company
- Dennis Marks … Narrator
- Maurice Abravanel … Guest
- Burgess Meredith … Guest
- Lys Symonette … Guest
- Judy Kaye … Singer
- Kevin Angerson … Singer
- Franc D'Ambrosio … Singer
- Daniel Narducci … Singer
- Michael Scarborough … Singer
- Julie Cooke … Dancer
- Hans Pitsch … Voice, The words of Kurt Weill
- Maxwell Anderson
- Ira Gershwin
- Moss Hart
- Lotte Lenya
- Ogden Nash
- Max Reinhardt
- Elmer Rice