Synopsis
Kurt Weill on Stage from Berlin to Broadway
$20.00 Published by Limelight Editions
His best-known song is "Mack the Knife," with words by Bertolt Brecht, from The Threepenny Opera was first performed in Weimar Berlin in 1928
Five years later, Kurt Weill fled the Nazis to come to America, where he soon emerged as one of the most admired composers of the Broadway musical stage
His shows included: Knickerbocker Holiday, Lady in the Dark, One Touch of Venus, Street Scene and Lost in the Stars
This biography concentrates on Weill's career in the United States, but its aim is to explore the truth in the comment made by Weill's wife, the unforgettable Lotte Lenya: "There is no American Weill, there is no German Weill. There is no difference between them. There is only Weill."
REVIEWS
"Hirsch provides details about each production, including an analysis of its artistic, theatrical, and social components as well as commentary on its public reception
Insights are offered into Weill's relationships, including his complex marriage to Lotte Lenya, his collaborations with the mercurial Brecht, and his associations with Ira Gershwin, Alan Jay Lerner, Agnes de Mille, and countless others
This absorbing and well-researched work should be especially appealing to those interested in the history and evolution of musical theatre" ~ Library Journal