''Carib Song'' is a 1945

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

with book and lyrics by William Archibald and music by Baldwin Bergersen. It opened at the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

on September 27, 1945, and closed on October 27 after 36 performances. It was billed as "A Musical Play of the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

in Two Acts and Thirteen Scenes". The show focuses heavily on "

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

ian folklore, ritual, and ethnographic dance".

Premise

Setting: An unnamed island in the

During

Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

, an unfaithful woman has an affair with a village fisherman. She becomes pregnant, leading to gossip; eventually she is cast out of her community and murdered by her husband. The first act ended with a "stylized interpretation" of a

Shango Shango (Yoruba language: Ṣàngó, also known as Changó or Xangô in Latin America; as Jakuta or Badé; and as Ṣangó in Trinidad Orisha) is an Orisha (or spirit) in Yoruba religion. Genealogically speaking, Shango is a royal ancestor of th ...

ritual.

Production

Katherine Dunham Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an African American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century and directed her own dance compan ...

, in addition to playing The Woman, served as the show's

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

and a co-director. George Stanton produced, and Jo Mielziner provided lighting and scenic design. The show's company included

Eartha Kitt Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby" ...

. Prior to its opening on Broadway, the show played at the Shubert Theater in Boston, starting September 4, 1945.

Cast

Influence

Several of the show's dance pieces were adapted into the repertoire of the Katherine Dunham Company.

Reception

The ''

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'' gave the show a positive review, as did the ''

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''. The ''

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'' criticized the show's focus on dance, saying it "should have been billed as a dance recital". Meanwhile, a writer for ''Billboard'' said that Dunham danced too little in the show, and that dancing would have had more emotional impact than some of her dialogue; however, she agreed that "''Carib Song''...isn't a musical play. It's more of a lavish tropical

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

". Others criticized the show for its length and its book, but in general the show's score, scenic design, and dancing were praised, with Long's performance specifically being called out by multiple reviewers. Criticism of the show also intersected with racial biases and politics: some white critics felt there was dissonance between the serious story and the perceived lightheartedness of the Caribbean, while some Black critics felt the show presented black people as primitive.{{Cite book , last=Das , first=Joanna Dee , url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/969543476 , title=Katherine Dunham : dance and the African diaspora , date=2017 , isbn=978-0-19-026488-8 , location=New York, NY , oclc=969543476

External links

Carib Song at the IBDB

References

1945 musicals African-American musicals All-Black cast Broadway shows Broadway musicals Caribbean in fiction Musicals set in the West Indies