The Jewish Music Forum
A Project of the American Society for Jewish Music
is pleased to present:
Kurt Weill's America
Dr. Naomi Graber
with response by Dr. Kim H. Kowalke
Thursday, February 9, 2023
7:00 PM
ZOOM
Register HERE to receive the Zoom link
In 1947, Kurt Weill, Elmer Rice, and Langston Hughes's Street Scene opened on Broadway. Although Weill referred to the work as a "Broadway opera," Street Scene embodies what Michael Denning calls a “ghetto pastoral,” a genre that arose in the early 1930s depicting violent, yet innocent coming-of-age stories in ethnic or black urban working-class neighborhoods, combining naturalism and allegory to prove that urban communities could produce a new style of folk hero. Within this pastoral-folkloric atmosphere, Jewish characters take center stage. Sam Kaplan, the Jewish hero of "Street Scene," is the moral center of the community, and sings in the most folkloric genres, cementing his status as a true “American.” He also presents a strong contrast to his father, an ardent Communist, proving that second-generation immigrants could assimilate, even if their parents could not. Still, notes and drafts for Street Scene reveal that Weill and Rice struggled with both characters. Over the course of production, Sam became more traditionally “heroic,” while his father’s Communist leanings were significantly toned down. "Street Scene" thus demonstrates the difficulties of inserting Jews into American folklore in a post-Holocaust United States.
with response by Dr. Kim H. Kowalke
Thursday, February 9, 2023
7:00 PM
ZOOM
Register HERE to receive the Zoom link
In 1947, Kurt Weill, Elmer Rice, and Langston Hughes's Street Scene opened on Broadway. Although Weill referred to the work as a "Broadway opera," Street Scene embodies what Michael Denning calls a “ghetto pastoral,” a genre that arose in the early 1930s depicting violent, yet innocent coming-of-age stories in ethnic or black urban working-class neighborhoods, combining naturalism and allegory to prove that urban communities could produce a new style of folk hero. Within this pastoral-folkloric atmosphere, Jewish characters take center stage. Sam Kaplan, the Jewish hero of "Street Scene," is the moral center of the community, and sings in the most folkloric genres, cementing his status as a true “American.” He also presents a strong contrast to his father, an ardent Communist, proving that second-generation immigrants could assimilate, even if their parents could not. Still, notes and drafts for Street Scene reveal that Weill and Rice struggled with both characters. Over the course of production, Sam became more traditionally “heroic,” while his father’s Communist leanings were significantly toned down. "Street Scene" thus demonstrates the difficulties of inserting Jews into American folklore in a post-Holocaust United States.
The Jewish Music Forum is a project of the American Society for Jewish Music,
with the support of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
and the Center for Jewish History.
Founded in 2004, the Jewish Music Forum is now in its eighteenth season in 2021-22
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Site last updated July 27, 2022
Site last updated July 27, 2022
