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Research Project: Forgotten Carmen Jones

15878
MUSI 730 Anglo-American Operetta and Musical Theater I
Carmen Jones: The Forgotten Success of the Dixie Carmen
by Andrew Velez
Summary:
          Carmen Jones was Oscar Hammerstein II’s adaptation of Georges Bizet’s French opera Carmen, and was premieried in December of 1943 featuring an all–African American cast. However, this stage production of Carmen Jones has received only scant attention from musicologists and theater historians. This essay sought out to discover a number of ideas and questions in regard to Carmen Jones: 1) The storyline itself, 2) The history, development, reception, critic statements of the initial 1943 production, 3) Mention the 1954 film version, 4) Analyze the music of Hammerstein in comparison to Bizet’s, 5) The differences in content between Carmen Jones and Carmen, and 6) “Why did this play get over looked in the history books?”
          The 1954 film was the only available means at the time to witness a “production” of Carmen Jones, and was thus compared to the article information and original Carmen. What is discovered is that much of the themes in Carmen are still imported into Carmen Jones, while delivering it to an American audience with a fresh Black American storyline twist. Further analysis of scores indicated that the music used in the original production was not as edited as previously theorized, and much of the Bizet orchestration and arrangement is maintained, minus the text and lyrical alterations of Hammerstein. This, in part, is the heaviest reason for the unknown success of such a brilliant show, but it is where the film capitalized by adding slight touches of jazz elements, showy dance numbers, and sensual on screen seduction to warrant its box office success. The original production goes on to have two, not too well known, revivals in London, but hopefully one day a remake in the U.S. will happen sooner than later and give this production another chance in the spotlight.
 

This page has paths:

  1. Literature Summaries & Research Abstracts Steven Gerber

This page has tags:

  1. Topic: Genre/Form Steven Gerber
  2. Person: Hammerstein, Oscar, II. Steven Gerber
  3. Work: Carmen Jones Steven Gerber
  4. Topic: Ethnic Caricature Steven Gerber
  5. Topic: Cultural Appropriation Steven Gerber

Contents of this tag:

  1. Participant: Velez, Andrew