Lost in the Stars
Lost in the Stars is a stage work by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson that belongs to the musical genre and has been described by the authors as a musical tragedy . It's close to opera .
Performances
The piece is based on the 1948 novel Cry, the Beloved Country (Eng. Because they should be comforted) by Alan Paton . The premiere took place on Broadway in 1949 and is the last stage work by Kurt Weill, who died the following year. On July 1, 1950, after 281 performances, it was discontinued. The New York City Opera then presented the musical again in April 1958 under director Jose Quintero and with Lawrence Winters as Stephen Kumalo. The play experienced a Broadway revival in the Imperial Theater on April 18, 1972 and ended on May 20 after 39 performances.
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In August 1949, the colored Reverend Stephen Kumalo of St. Mark's Church in the South African village of Ndotsheni learned from a letter from his brother John, who lived in Johannesburg , that his sister was in trouble. Stephen wants to help her and also look for his son Absalom, who works in the mines. In Johannesburg his sister asks him to take care of her little son Alex. He also finds Absalom, who, despite his pregnant girlfriend Irina, is about to get on the wrong track. In a robbery, Absalom kills Arthur Jarvis, a white friend of his father's, and ends up in prison.
Stephen gets into a crisis of faith because his son could either tell a lie and go on living, or tell the truth and die. Absalom is telling the truth and is sentenced to death by hanging. Stephen marries Absalom and Irina in prison and returns with Irina and Alex. On the morning of the execution, the murdered man's father unexpectedly pays the murderer a visit and meets Stephen, whom he tells that both of them have lost their sons. In recognition of their mutual grief and despite their different races, he offers his friendship and Stephen accepts.
Adaptations
In 1974 Daniel Mann made a film of the same name based on the play.
Web links
Description (English) with list of arias