''Magdalena: a Musical Adventure'' is a folk operetta in two acts with music by Heitor Villa-Lobos, original book by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan and Homer Curran, and lyrics and musical adaptations by Robert Wright and George Forrest.

Performance history

''Magdalena'' premiered at the

Los Angeles Civic Light Opera The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera (LACLO) was an American theatre/opera company in Los Angeles, California. Founded under the motto "Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner" in 1938 by impresario Edwin Lester, the organization presented fifty season ...

on 26 July 1948, pursuant to a commission from Edwin Lester, president of that organization. Arthur Kay conducted Irra Petina, Dorothy Sarnoff, John Raitt,

Hugo Haas Hugo Haas (19 February 1901 – 1 December 1968) was a Czech film actor, director and writer. He appeared in more than 60 films from 1926 to 1962 and directed 20 films from 1933 to 1962. Life and career Haas was born in Brno, Austria-Hung ...

, Gerhard Pechner, A. Garcia, Melva Niles, Henry Reese, Ferdinand Hilt, J. Arthur, Betty Huff, Christine Matsios, Leonard Morganthaler, John Schickling, Lorraine Miller, Gene Curtsinger, Patrick Kirk, Betty Brusher, and Jack Cole (soloists). Jules Dassin directed, Jack Cole was the choreographer, assisted by

Gwen Verdon Gwyneth Evelyn "Gwen" Verdon (January 13, 1925October 18, 2000) was an American actress and dancer. She won four Tony Awards for her musical comedy performances, and she served as an uncredited choreographer's assistant and specialty dance coach ...

, and the chorus was prepared by Robert Zeller. Broadway veterans Howard Bay (settings and lighting) and Irene Sharaff (costumes) were also part of the creative team. It was also presented in San Francisco at the Curran Theatre (San Francisco Light Opera) for several performances beginning August 16, 1948. The same production opened in

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at the Ziegfeld Theatre on September 20, 1948 with Raitt, Sarnoff, and Haas reprising their roles. The pit orchestra of 38 included 16 percussionists. It closed on December 4 after 88 performances; no recording was made due to an

American Federation of Musicians The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) trade union, labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in N ...

strike. ''Magdalena'' was revived in concert form under conductor Evans Haile on November 24, 1987, at Alice Tully Hall in New York's

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

; a recording with a slightly different cast was made in RCA's studios in 1988 and issued by CBS (later Sony) in 1989 (ASIN: B0000026QF). In 1992, Ohio Light Opera, a summer festival in Wooster, Ohio, presented a fully-staged revival, the first since 1948. The work was performed in Australia in the 1990s as part of the Opera Festival in Ballarat, Victoria, again under Haile. More recently the Théâtre du Châtelet in

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announced a production to open in May 2010, with Kate Whoriskey directing and Warren Adams supplying choreography.

Critical reception

The play received a withering review from

Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theater critic. He worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his ...

of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', who called it "one of the most overpoweringly dull musical dramas of all time" and compared its slow plot to "being hit over the head with a sledge hammer repeatedly all evening," adding: "It hurts." He was kinder to Villa-Lobos's score: "Disentangled from the appalling libretto and lyrics of 'Magdalena,' the score might be stimulating, especially since the orchestrations are unhackneyed and an accomplished singing actress, like Irra Petina, can give her numbers brilliance and eloquence." Other critics were far more positive. John Chapman in the

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

, while dismissing the book as "secondary," called the play "a bold and stunning departure in the musical theater ... a flaming, opulent, disturbing and imaginative work which does not fit into any of the standard patterns." He praised Villa-Lobos' score as "busy, immensely intricate and strangely, fascinatingly orchestrated.""'Magdalena' a Bold, Fascinating and Dazzling Musical Adventure," by John Chapman, New York Daily News, Sept. 22, 1948, p. 79

Musical numbers

:''As presented in 1948'' ;Act I * Women Weaving * Petacal * The Seed of God * The Omen Bird * My Bus and I * The Emerald * The Civilized People * Food For Thought * Come to Colombia * Plan It by the Planets * Bon Soir, Paris * Travel, Travel, Travel * Magdalena * The Broken Pianolita * Greeting * The River Song * Chivor Dance * My Bus and I (Reprise) * The Forbidden Orchid ;Act II * Ceremonial * The Singing Tree * Lost * Freedom! * Vals de Espana * The Emerald (Reprise) * Piece de Resistance * The Broken Bus * The Seed of God (Reprise)

References

External links

Internet Broadway Database listing
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121022184858/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799264,00.html?promoid=googlep ''Time Magazine'' review October 4, 1948
Red Deer Public Library page about the play
{{Authority control Operas by Heitor Villa-Lobos English-language operas Operas 1948 musicals 1948 operas Broadway musicals

Performance history

Critical reception

Musical numbers

References

Further reading

External links