Topic: THE GRAND POOBAH (Read 73010 times)

elmore3003 · « **Reply #60 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:11:42 AM »

Quote from: JRand55 on March 28, 2006, 08:10:22 AM

I think at least one person would consider it a Pearl Bailey movie.

Is anyone else iin it? Outside of cuts and a rewriting of "Beat Out Dat Rhythm on a Drum," it's a good transaltion of CARMEN, and since the original CARMEN was an opera-comique with spoken dialogue written by Offenbach's operetta librettists Meilhac and Halevy, I'd say the first two acts of CARMEN are an operetta that turns into tragic opera. I think Hammerstein would consider CARMEN JONES a transatlantic adaptation.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #61 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:15:53 AM »

Quote from: Vixmom on March 28, 2006, 09:05:34 AM

A married couple went to have their baby delivered. Upon their arrival, the doctor said he had invented a new machine that would transfer a portion of the mother's labor pain to the baby's father.

He asked if they were willing to try it out. They were both very much in favor of it.

The doctor set the pain transfer to 10% for starters, explaining that even 10% was probably more pain than the father had ever experienced before.

As the labor progressed, the husband felt fine and asked the doctor to go ahead and kick it up a notch.

The doctor then adjusted the machine to 20% pain transfer. The husband was still feeling fine. The doctor checked the husband's blood pressure and was amazed at how well he was doing.

At this point, they decided to try for 50%. The husband continued to feel quite well. Since the pain transfer was obviously helping out the wife considerably, the husband encouraged the doctor to transfer ALL the pain to him.

The wife delivered a healthy baby with virtually no pain. She and her husband were ecstatic.

When they got home, the mailman was dead on the porch.

I saw that coming a mile away!

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #62 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:19:00 AM »

Hirsute against Nair, Inc was instantly dismissed by the court for obvious reasons.

Maria · « **Reply #63 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:19:34 AM »

Good morning. TOD: I started attending the opera when I was a tiny tot in Budapest. My aunt would take me whenever her husband couldn't attend. She was a highly intellectual woman (and a card carrying Communist) and believed there was no such thing as a child. If you were trained to think like an adult, you did. Sooo, she'd take me to everything - including Bluebeard when I was around 5 or 6. Trust me, Bluebeard is not for a 5 or 6 year old! Anyway, in spite of this, I loved going to the opera. I still have the Book of Operas my aunt gave me for my 5th birthday. It was one of the few things I took with me when we escaped Hungary. You have to remember that this was chosen to take along by a llittle child who was leaving everything behind. Not a doll or a favorite toy, but a book of operas. Whenever I hear the Met broadcast on the radio, those first few notes of the overture make me feel like a kid again. Never fails to bring tears to my eyes. ...Enough nostalgia!
My faves - Der Rosenkavalier, La Boheme, The Magic Flute, Porgy and Bess (it's an opera!), The Marriage of Figaro... etc.

As for operettas - I have a soft spot for one you may never have heard of - The Csardas Princess (A Csardas Kiralyno) - by Kalman. It was my mother's favorite. And I actually once spent a glorious afternoon in the hills of Buda with Honthy Hanna - the Ethel Merman of Hungary, who was THE Csardas princess.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #64 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:22:16 AM »

Here's the cover of the DVD for Zefferelli's film of TRAVIATA. It's worth renting.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #65 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:24:01 AM »

And Bizet's CARMEN; my friends Faith Esham of Ashland, KY, and Lillian Watson have important parts. It's a great film adaptation.

DakotaCelt · « **Reply #66 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:24:29 AM »

I am unfamiliar with it.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #67 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:27:13 AM »

As for The Topic of the Day...

Operettas - I've never been a fan of the G&S canon, but I think that has to do more with my experience with some diehard Savoyards rather than the quality of the material. If you already know all the words and all the traditional blocking, then why do you feel the need to rehearse it all over and over and over again for weeks at a time?

Otherwise, The Merry Widow comes to mind.

And then there is Die Fledermaus which seems to get cross-categorized under operetta and opera in some circles.

As for operas...

Among the usual suspects:

La Bohème - I do have a fondness for the classic recording with Victoria de los Angeles and Jussi Bjoerling conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham on Angel/EMI. However, a voice teacher I used to play for gave me a copy of Maria Callas' recording which I also find satisfying (surprisingly so). -Callas only recorded the role, she never performed it on stage.

Among the not so usual suspects - and most of them are in English too!:

Susannah by Carlisle Floyd - Since I went to school in Richmond, the two big soprano arias from this opera were practically de riguer for the women in the department. I like the recording conducted by Kent Nagano, but, alas, I'm not too fond of Cheryl Studer's portrayal of the title character. -I've just never liked the way her voice records.

The Rake's Progress by Stravinsky - Besides the wonderful "No word from Tom" for Anne and "The world is so wide" for Tom, there is some sublime music in the closing moments of the opera. -And from Stravinsky no less.

I know many people who covet the recording conducted by the composer, but I really do prefer the Nagano set with Dawn Upshaw, Jerry Hadley, Samuel Ramey and Grace Bumbry.

Powder Her Face by Thomas Adès - Some people love this chamber opera, some people hate it. I love it. A great mix of styles, and the story is based on the real-life downfall of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll in the 1950s. And the composer is actually three years younger than I am! The set is still available on EMI at full-price, but I've seen it in many a bargain bin.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #68 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:28:10 AM »

Is this any larger?

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #69 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:33:13 AM »

Quote from: JRand55 on March 28, 2006, 06:28:30 AM

I am thinking about buying this "soundtrack" of MADAME BUTTERFLY - my most favorite PooBah of all operas....but I am not sure exactly what it is.

Has any DR seen this movie or DVD?

http://cgi.ebay.com/MADAME-BUTTERFLY-Soundtrack-Highlights-CD-MINT_W0QQitemZ4812880662QQcategoryZ307QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I never saw the movie, but the soprano, Ying Huang, was a regular at the summer music concert series at the University of Richmond. A truly beautiful woman with a beautiful voice.

DakotaCelt · « **Reply #70 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:33:26 AM »

I liked Zefferelli's work with Romeo and Juliet.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #71 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:41:30 AM »

...And since I worked with a chamber opera company in the DC area for a while...

Trouble In Tahiti by Leonard Bernstein
The Old Maid and the Thief, The Consul, The Medium - Gian Carlo Menotti
Little Red Riding Hood - Seymour Barab

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #72 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:43:31 AM »

Hmm.. I guess I could have re-ordered something in my previous post to resemble a title of a rather interesting movie from a couple of years ago...

"The Consul, The Medium, The Old Maid and the Thief"

*Although, that also sounds like the set up for one of those.... "....walks into a bar" jokes.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #73 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:52:26 AM »

Well, I'm gonna head in for a bit and mark up my keyboard part. There have been plenty of "on the fly' changes the past couple of days, and I need to start deciphering some of my scribbles...

Laters...

vixmom · « **Reply #74 on:** March 28, 2006, 10:35:19 AM »

Maria how old were you when you fled Hungary?

My grandfather was from Budapest but he fled after WW I, some fuss about the local authorities being unhappy about his deserting the army while in Italy and setting up an "American dollars only" bootlegging operation.... picky picky.....

vixmom · « **Reply #75 on:** March 28, 2006, 10:35:50 AM »

Hello and Goodbye Jose!! have a wonderful evening...

George · « **Reply #76 on:** March 28, 2006, 10:51:35 AM »

Quote from: divarobbie on March 28, 2006, 07:37:45 AM

Damn Amazon. Anyway, it (Heidi Grant Murphy: Times Like This) is available there.

I knew that she had recorded operas, but I didn't know about this. I may have to get it!

MBarnum · « **Reply #77 on:** March 28, 2006, 11:16:42 AM »

DR Elmoore3003 has reminded me that he send me the DVD of the Opera THE MAGIC FLUTE...I believe this was in retaliation for my sending him a Bollywood movie or two.

MBarnum · « **Reply #78 on:** March 28, 2006, 11:17:17 AM »

I must add to the TOD that I LOVE any opera or operetta that Felix Knight sings.

George · « **Reply #79 on:** March 28, 2006, 11:21:54 AM »

I'm sure I'm too late, but....

Quote from: bk on March 28, 2006, 08:28:13 AM

can anyone quickly post at what point in the audition process for a musical do you hand your sheet music to the pianist - before the introduction to the room or after?

And what songs should you never do at an audition. Quick answers, please.

For me, it's always when they ask, "What are you going to sing?" and I tell them what I'm going to sing and then I give my music to the accompanist.

What songs should never be done? Songs with difficult accompaniments! Songs from the actual show you're auditioning for, unless it's SPECIFICALLY asked for by the people running the audition.

Maria · « **Reply #80 on:** March 28, 2006, 11:29:42 AM »

Quote from: Vixmom on March 28, 2006, 10:35:19 AM

Maria how old were you when you fled Hungary?

My grandfather was from Budapest

I was seven. ...Your grandfather, the deserter and bootlegger, sounds like a typical Hungarian!

Ginny · « **Reply #81 on:** March 28, 2006, 11:37:15 AM »

Tuesday greetings! It's "showtime" for me at 5:30 this evening, when I present the March edition of my 3-hour grantseeking basics workshop. Also, I have had hints that my interview may be Friday morning.

TOD - I'd love to be more of an opera afficionado - used to listen quite regularly to the Met broadcasts on Saturday afternoon. One of the most beautiful productions I ever saw was the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music's version of Smetana's The Bartered Bride.

George · « **Reply #82 on:** March 28, 2006, 11:42:14 AM »

Topic of the day: Favorite Operas and Operettas:

The Ballad of Baby Doe (love that Bubbles Silverman! )
Candide
Carmen (the very first theatrical experience that I ever had)
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat (I bought this on a whim and for some reason, I just like it...very different than anything I had ever heard before)
The Pirates of Penzance (especially the live DVD with Patricia Routledge...as bad as the video quality is!)
Satyagraha (I got the album when I was in college and I really like this...more than Akhnaten and much more than Einstein on the Beach)
Susannah (when Heidi Grant Murphy came back to Western Washington University to perform after she won the Met auditions, she sang the two arias from this opera...she was incredible!)
Sweeney Todd
Tosca (especially the newer of the two filmed versions filmed in the actual places that the opera is set and at the actual times of day)
Trouble in Tahiti (I just got the two different DVD versions)
Turn of the Screw (I saw this done by the Vancouver Opera when I was going to WWU, and it was incredible!)

vixmom · « **Reply #83 on:** March 28, 2006, 12:00:05 PM »

Quote from: Maria on March 28, 2006, 11:29:42 AM

I was seven. ...Your grandfather, the deserter and bootlegger, sounds like a typical Hungarian!

...and boy could he cook!!! He was also an amazing gardner. mechanic, electrician and carpenter. As well as speaking Hungarian and English he spoke Czech, German, Italian, Polish and Russian. His entire "formal education" consisted of 6 years in a one room school house. He was an amazing man. It'll be 20 years this June since he passed away at the age of 86, lucid to the last, and not a day goes by that I don't miss him.

vixmom · « **Reply #84 on:** March 28, 2006, 12:04:42 PM »

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FOR DR GINNY

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FOR DR GINNY

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FOR DR GINNY

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vixmom · « **Reply #85 on:** March 28, 2006, 12:09:29 PM »

That should do it!!!!

Ginny · « **Reply #86 on:** March 28, 2006, 12:16:14 PM »

DR Vixmom - thanks for the super-vibes! When my manager asked today if Friday would be good for me, my response was, "The sooner, the better."

Maria · « **Reply #87 on:** March 28, 2006, 12:44:51 PM »

Vixmom - Your grandfather sounds like an amazing man!

It's raining cats and dogs here. (And when they land, they chase each other. Talk about chaos!)

Matt H. · « **Reply #88 on:** March 28, 2006, 01:05:57 PM »

Good afternoon!

Our yucky clouds drifted away and we're left with a lovely spring afternoon. Nice to see after the dreariness of the morning!

Ron Pulliam · « **Reply #89 on:** March 28, 2006, 01:09:38 PM »

Quote from: Matt H. on March 28, 2006, 01:05:57 PM

Good afternoon!

Our yucky clouds drifted away and we're left with a lovely spring afternoon. Nice to see after the dreariness of the morning!

It's dark and gloomy and cold and windy and wet here in Oakland today.

Supposedly, things will change radically sometime this afternoon.

Supposedly....

(or, as Joe Tribbiani might say, "...supposably...")

News:

Author Topic: THE GRAND POOBAH (Read 73010 times)

MBarnum

MBarnum