Lost in the Stars

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Lost in the Stars
Music Kurt Weill
Lyrics Maxwell Anderson
Book Maxwell Anderson
Based upon Alan Paton's 1948 novel
Cry, the Beloved Country
Productions 1949 Broadway
1974 Film

Lost in the Stars is a 1949 musical with book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson and music by Kurt Weill, based on the novel Cry, the Beloved Country (1948) by Alan Paton (1903-1988).

The original production opened on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre on October 30, 1949 and closed on July 1, 1950 after 273 performances. The original cast included Todd Duncan and Inez Matthews.

Contents

[edit] Background and critical reception

Weill was influenced by African American musical idioms through his use of spiritual melodies, blues and jazz. Lost in the stars was his last completed work before he died in 1950.

In his opening-night review, New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson said that Maxwell Anderson had encountered "obvious difficulty" in transforming "so thoroughly a work of literary art" into theatre, and was sometimes "skimming and literal where the novel is rich and allusive." He suggested that people might not fully appreciate the play if they were unfamiliar with the novel. He praised Anderson's "taste and integrity" and described the last scene as "profoundly moving." Robert Garland, writing in the Journal American, similarly commented that "the beauty and simplicity of Paton's book infrequently comes through."

Operas and musicals by
Kurt Weill
Der Protagonist 1926
Mahagonny-Songspiel 1927
Der Zar lässt sich
photographieren		 1928
The Threepenny Opera 1928
Happy End 1929
Der Lindberghflug (with Paul Hindemith) 1929
The Rise and Fall of
the City of Mahagonny		 1930
Der Jasager 1930
Die Bürgschaft 1932
Der Silbersee 1933
The Seven Deadly Sins 1933
Der Kuhhandel 1935
Johnny Johnson 1936
The Eternal Road 1937
Knickerbocker Holiday 1938
Lady in the Dark 1940
One Touch of Venus 1943
The Firebrand of Florence 1945
Street Scene 1946
Down in the Valley 1948
Love Life 1948
Lost in the Stars 1949
v • d • e

In contrast, Atkinson felt that the music positively added to the experience of the novel: "here the theatre has come bearing its most memorable gifts. Mr. Weill has given the theatre some fine scores, but... it is difficult to remember anything out of his portfolio as eloquent as this richly orchestrated singing music.... [It is] overflowing with the same compassion that Mr. Paton brought to his novel.... The music is deep, dramatic, and beautiful."

[edit] Lost in the Stars

The title song "Lost in the Stars" enjoyed a measure of popular success, and versions of it were recorded by Anita O'Day, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and many others. The words, which in the musical are those of the minister Stephen Kumalo at the depth of his desperation, tell how God once "held all the stars in the palm of his hand" "and they ran through his fingers like grains of sand, and one little star fell alone." Kumalo says that God sought and found the little lost star and "stated and promised he'd take special care so it wouldn't get lost again." But at times he thinks that God has forgotten his promise and that "we're lost out here in the stars."

Lost in the Stars invites comparison with Porgy and Bess; both were originally produced by Rouben Mamoulian, and both featured Todd Duncan in the leading role.

The musical was adapted for the screen in 1974 and released as part of the American Film Theatre series.[1]

[edit] Song list

Act I
  • The Hills of Ixopo – Leader and Singers
  • Thousands of Miles – Stephen Kumalo
  • Train to Johannesburg – Leader and Singers
  • The Search – Stephen Kumalo, Leader and Singers
  • The Little Gray House – Stephen Kumalo and Singers
  • Who'll Buy? – Linda
  • Trouble Man – Irina
  • Murder in Parkwold – Singers
  • Fear! – Singers
  • Lost in the Stars – Stephen Kumalo and Singers
Act II
  • The Wild Justice – Leader and Singers
  • O Tixo, Tixo, Help Me! – Stephen Kumalo
  • Stay Well – Irina
  • Cry, the Beloved Country – Leader and Singers
  • Big Mole – Alex
  • A Bird of Passage – Villager and Singers
  • Four O'Clock – Singers

[edit] Singing roles and original cast

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Languages