Street Scene

Street Scene is a play by Elmer Rice, which opened at the Playhouse Theatre in New York City on January 10, 1929, and ran for a total of 601 performances. The action of this ambitious, groundbreaking play takes place entirely on the front stoops of a New York City brownstone and in the adjacent street, in the early part of the 20th century, and studies the daily and complex lives of the people living in the building and the surrounding neighborhood and their sad, often tragic interactions. The main characters are Anna Maurrant, dealing with issues of infidelity; Rose Maurrant, her daughter, who struggles with the demands of her job and boss and her attraction to a Jewish neighbor, Sam Kaplan; Frank Maurrant, a hard-working man who is never around; Sam, a caring and concerned neighbor in love with Rose; and many other neighbors and passersby. The 1931 movie of the same name starred Sylvia Sydney, Estelle Taylor, Beulah Bondi (reprising her Broadway role, and her film debut) and William Collier, Jr.

Related Topics:
Play - Elmer Rice - Playhouse Theatre - New York City - January 10 - 1929 - Brownstone - 20th century - Sylvia Sydney - Estelle Taylor - Beulah Bondi - Broadway

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Street Scene was later adapted into a Broadway musical or, more precisely, an "American Opera" by Kurt Weill (music), Langston Hughes (lyrics), and Elmer Rice (book). The original production was directed by Charles Friedman and opened on Broadway at the Adelphi Theater on January 9, 1947. It closed on May 17 of the same year after having played 148 performances. Weill referred to his piece as an "American Opera" or a "Broadway Opera", meant to be a synthesis of European traditional opera and American musical theater. The score is almost entirely sung, and the piece is now frequently produced by opera companies. There are opera arias and ensembles (some of them with obvious links and references to the style of Puccini), such as Anna Maurrant's "Somehow I never could believe" and Frank Maurrant's "Let things be like they always was". Some of the more identifiably Broadway-style "numbers" include "Ain't It Awful," "A Marble and a Star," "Wrapped In a Ribbon and Tied in a Bow," "Wouldn't You Like to Be on Broadway?", "Moon-Faced, Starry-Eyed," and "What Good Would the Moon Be?"

Related Topics:
Broadway - Musical - Opera - Kurt Weill - Langston Hughes - Elmer Rice - Book - Charles Friedman - Adelphi Theater - January 9 - 1947 - May 17 - Puccini

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