Harlem Opera Presents Blue Monday, Lost in the Stars at Schomburg Center, 2/25

On Friday, February 25th, join Harlem Opera Theater in saluting black history month with excerpts from George Gershwin's jazz opera, Blue Monday, and Lost in the Stars by composer Kurt Weill at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

George Gershwin's one act "opera à la Afro-American," Blue Monday, fuses jazz, blues and ragtime, creating bold music that would ultimately become the precursor to his great American opera, Porgy and Bess. The setting for this mini opera is a café on 135th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem where Vi, the sweetheart of a small-time gambler, finds herself in a love triangle with a tragic ending. Blue Monday explores love, passion, jealousy, and deceit with every melodious aria.

Inspired by Alan Paton's critically acclaimed novel, Cry, Beloved Country, Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars transports the audience to 1949 in the village of Natal in South Africa. Reverend Stephen Kumalo learns that his sister is in trouble, and he sets out to help her. When his nephew gets into a seedy situation, Stephen finds himself in the midst of a robbery, a murder, and a series of events that cause him to wrestle with his faith. Lost in the Stars is a rich and poignant piece that tells a story of family, love, humanity, and redemption.

DATE: Friday, February 25, 2011

TIME: Concert begins at 7:30pm; pre-concert reception
begins at 6 pm

VENUE: The Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Boulevard at 135th Street
New York, New York 10037
Tickets: $25.00 for concert; $35.00 for concert and pre-concert reception

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.