King Kong (musical)

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King Kong is a South African musical in two acts written in 1958 by the composer Todd Matshikiza (1921–1968) and the lyricist Pat Willams. At the center is the South African heavyweight boxer Ezekiel Dlamini, who was called King Kong . Because of its melodies and arrangements influenced by African music and jazz , it has also been referred to as the African jazz opera . King Kong is the most famous musical in South Africa.

action

Matshikiza used his intimate knowledge of the black populated areas of Johannesburg , particularly Sophiatown , to draw a portrait of the life and death of the boxer and those around him. King Kong Dlamini, born in 1921 , first experienced a meteoric rise, only to end up in the wrong circles and become a drunkard and gang bully. He stabbed his girlfriend, asked for the death penalty at the trial, and was instead sentenced to 14 years of forced labor. In 1957 he was found strangled - presumably he had chosen to commit suicide. In the piece, Matshikiza has different choirs and music groups perform in order to characterize the big city on the one hand and the township on the other .

The song Sad Times, Bad Times , which frames the actual plot, alludes to the " high treason trial " against leading members of the African National Congress in Pretoria . In this mammoth trial, which lasted from 1956 to 1961, Albert Luthuli , Walter Sisulu , Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo were indicted.

Performances

Directed by Leon Gluckman; the arrangements were made by the pianist Sol Klaaste, the tenor saxophonist Mackay Davashe , the alto saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi and the composer Stanley Glasser . Arthur Goldreich designed the equipment and the costumes .

After its premiere on February 2, 1959 in the Witwatersrand University of Johannesburg, the musical was played in other South African cities, in Durban , Port Elizabeth and Cape Town . There the performance lasted four hours; then the musicians of the ensemble played to dance. A total of 120,000 people in South Africa saw the musical.

The play was taken to the Princes Theater in London's West End . The European premiere took place there on February 23, 1961. The musical was performed a total of 201 times in London.

occupation

The main female role was initially occupied with Miriam Makeba as the owner of the Shebeen Back of the Moon in Sophiatown. Peggy Phango played in her place in the London show. The male protagonists were Nathan Mdledle (who belonged to the successful jive band Manhattan Brothers and played the boxer) and Joseph Mogotsi (Lucky) .

The ensemble comprised a total of 72 people. These included the musicians Hugh Masekela , Abdullah Ibrahim , Kippie Moeketsi, Jonas Gwangwa , Gwigwi Mrwebi , Abigail Kubeka and Thandi Klaasen . Caiphus Semenya took part in the performance with his Katzenjammer Kids , Letta Mbulu as part of the Swanky Spots . Some of the musicians did not return to South Africa after the performance in London - Sophiatown was about to be demolished - but preferred to go to exile.

Record recordings

The musical was recorded twice: first it was released in 1959 in a version for the South African market (Gallo) , then in 1961 in a somewhat smoothed version for the European market ( London 5762). The first recording was later released on CD.

Sequence of songs

first act

  • Sad Times, Bad Times
  • Marvelous Muscles
  • King Kong
  • Kwela Kong
  • Back of the moon
  • The Earth turns over
  • Gangsters Dance
  • Damn Him!
  • Party tonight
  • King Kong

Second act

  • Be Smart, Be Wise
  • Tshotsholosa-Road Song
  • Quickly in love
  • In the queue
  • It's a wedding
  • Wedding hymn
  • Death song
  • Sad Times, Bad Times

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Todd Matshikiza, Harry Bloom, Pat Williams: King Kong, an African jazz opera . Collins, London 1961, OCLC 2399779
  2. ^ Gwen Ansell: Soweto Blues: Jazz, Popular Music, and Politics in South Africa . A&C Black, New York 2005, ISBN 0-8264-1753-1 , pp. 101 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
  3. ↑ Carol Ann Muller: Focus: Music of South Africa  (= Focus on world music), 2nd. Edition, Routledge, 2008, ISBN 0-415-96071-1 , p. 94 (accessed June 30, 2010).
  4. ↑ Figures based on the article in Time of March 3, 1961
  5. ↑ See theater chronology London (1961)
  6. ↑ The pieces The Earth Turns Over, Gangsters Dance and Party Tonight belonging to the first act were not released on record, nor were Be Smart, Be Wise and the Tshotsholosa-Road song from the second act
  7. ↑ Review of the English recording
  8. ↑ This list follows the information on the London production by Muller: Focus: Music of South Africa , pp. 88–89