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Overview
Synopsis
The claustrophobic reality of living in a six-storey walk-up in the Lower East Side of Manhattan is the focus of Kurt Weill’s Street Scene. With the neighbors all knowing everyone’s business, and constantly passing judgement on everyone’s behaviour, it is easy to see how this melting pot can quickly become dangerous.
On two scorching hot days in June 1946, the pot finally boils over for Frank Maurrant. The rumors about his wife having an affair have become too loud and too persistent for him to ignore. How many times does he have to lay down the law in his own home before it is followed? To make matters worse, that guy keeps turning up and talking to his wife in full view of everyone. It’s enough to turn anyone to drinking. When he returns home to find the curtains drawn mid-morning, he knows exactly what is going on. In a fit of fury and emotion, Frank carries out his threat and kills them both.
Street Scene is a huge piece, with over thirty named characters, a chorus of children, and even a dog, which combines themes of racism, domestic violence, sexual assault, murder, social status, youth culture, and poverty to tell this tragic story of a man being pushed over the edge.
Show Information
- Music
- Kurt Weill
- Libretto
- Langston Hughes
- Based on the Play/Book/Film
- Street Scene by Elmer Rice
- Category
- Opera
- Age Guidance
- Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
- Number of Acts
- 2
- First Produced
- 1948
- Genres
- Tragedy
- Settings
- Period, Unit/Single Set
- Time & Place
- June, 1946, New York City
- Cast Size
- large
- Orchestra Size
- Large
- Dancing
- Some Dance
- Licensor
- See CONTEXT AND/OR LINKS TAB
- Ideal For
- College/University, Large Cast, Professional Opera, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Mature Adult, Adult, Young Adult, Child, Early Teen, Late Teen, Elderly Characters
Context
Based on Elmer Rice’s 1929 play of the same name, Kurt Weill’s Street Scene tells the story of the event over two very hot days in June in a six-story walk-up, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York. Weill and Hughes, the librettist, bring the story forward to 1946 to capture the changing society post World War Two.
The community of this particular house is a microcosm of the society of the time, and so is composed of migrants from every wave of immigration into America, all living
to read the context for Street Scene and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
Act One
It’s a scorchingly hot day in June 1946, in New York City. The action takes place around the stoop of a six-storey walk-up, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The Kaplan family live on the ground floor, opposite the Fiorentinos. Above the Fiorentinos live the Maurrant family, and opposite them, above the Kaplans, live the Jones family. Further up in the building are the Buchanans and the Hildebrands. The Olsen’s live in one of the basement apartments, and Henry Davis, the
to read the plot for Street Scene and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Female |
Soprano |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Tenor |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Baritone, Bass |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor, Baritone |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Contralto |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Bass |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Treble/Boy Soprano |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Featured |
Either Gender |
Soprano, Treble/Boy Soprano |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Soprano |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Tenor, Baritone |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Ensemble |
Female |
Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Ensemble |
Female |
Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Ensemble |
Either Gender |
Non-singer, Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, Baritone, Bass, Treble/Boy Soprano, Contralto |
Songs
Act One
No. 1 Introduction and Opening Ensemble ‘Ain’t it awful the heat’ and ‘Oi de moiders!’ - Kaplan, An elderly man, Man munching peanuts, A voice, Mrs. F, Mrs. J, Mrs. O, Olsen, Shirley, 2 Salvation army girls
No. 2 Blues ‘I got a marble and a star’ - Henry, Mrs J
No.3 Scene and Trio ‘ You wouldn’t think a married woman’ - A boy, Willie, Anna Maurrant, Mrs F, Mrs J, Mrs O, A girl and a boy
Dialogue: ‘Be careful she’s coming!’ - Mrs J, Anna Maurrant, Mrs F, Mrs O, Olsen, Sam, Buchanan
No. 4 Arietta ‘When a woman has a baby’ - Buchanan, Mrs F, Anna Maurrant, Mrs J, Mrs B
No. 5 Scene and Aria ‘She shouldn’t be staying out nights’ - Maurrant, Anna Maurrant, Mrs Fiorentino, Jones
Aria ‘Somehow I never could believe’ - Anna Maurrant, Mrs J, Mrs F, Jones, Children, Mrs. Olsen
No. 6 Scene and Quartett ‘Get a load of that’ - Sankey, Mrs J, Mrs F, Anna Maurrant, Jones, A Voice, Olsen, Mrs O, Maurrant
Dialogue: ‘They need a lot of looking after’ - Maurrant, Mrs K, Lippo, Olsen, Mrs F
No. 7 Ice-cream Sextet ‘First time I come to da America’ - Lippo, Mrs J, Mrs F, Mrs O, Jones, Olsen, Henry
Dialogue ‘Here’s your wife now Mr. Maurrant’ - Anna Maurrant, Lippo, Maurrant, Kaplan, Shirley, Olsen, Jones, Mrs F, Mrs J
No. 8 ‘Let things be like they always was’ - Maurrant
Dialogue ‘And I tell you it’s time something was done, to put the fear of God into people’ - Maurrant, Mrs. F, Lippo, Olsen, Jones
No. 9 Scene and Ensemble ‘Hail to the school that floats the banner blue’ and ‘Wrapped in a ribbon and tied in a bow’ - Children, Jones, Mrs. F, Anna Maurrant, Mrs. J, Jenny, Mrs. H, Charlie and Mary, Mrs. O, Olsen, Lippo, Henry, Grace, Three Graduation Girls, Buchanan, Sankey
Dialogue ‘Say, go right ahead. Don’t let me stop you’ - Sankey, Anna Maurrant, Mrs. J, Maurrant, Mrs. H, Willie, Sam, Mrs. F, Lippo, Jones
No. 10 Arioso ‘Lonely House’ - Sam
Dialogue ‘This is where I live Mr. Easter’ - Rose, Mrs. F, Easter, Mrs. O
No. 11 Scene and Song ‘Wouldn’t you like to be on Broadway?’ - Rose, Easter, Mrs. J
No. 12 Cavatina and Scene ‘I’ve looked in the window at diamonds’ and ‘What good would the moon be?’ - Rose, Easter, Maurrant
Dialogue ‘I think the baby’s coming’ - Buchanan, Rose, Mae, Dick
No. 13 Song, Scene and Dance ‘Moonfaced, starryeyed’ - Dick, Mae
Dialogue ‘I’ll say’ - Dick, Mae, Buchanan, Rose, Vincent, Sam, Mrs. J
No. 14 Duet ‘Pain, nothing but pain’ - Rose, Sam
Finaletto ‘Miss Maurrant’ - Buchanana, Rose, Dr Wilson ‘And don’t forget the lilac bush’ - Sam, Rose, Maurrant ‘I got a marble and a star’ - Henry
Act Two
Scene One
No. 15 Introduction and Children’s Game ‘Fat, fat the water rat’ - Jones, Dr. Wilson, Buchanan, Dick, Mae, Policeman, Milkman, Tramp, Rose, Henry, Joan, Myrtle, Sam, Willie, Mrs. J., Workman, Lippo, A Voice, Charlie, Children, Grace, Joe,
Dialogue ‘Hello Rose’ - Sam, Rose, Shirley, Mrs. F, Buchanan, Lippo, Anna Maurrant, A Voice, Mrs J, Mary, Charlie, Maurrant
No. 16 Scene and Trio ‘I was up all night’ - Maurrant, Rose, Anna Maurrant, Mrs J
Dialogue ‘Look out Ma. Somebody’s coming’ - Rose, Jones, Anna Maurrant, Willie
No. 17 Song ‘Somebody’s going to be so handsome’ - Anna Maurrant, Willie, Rose
Dialogue ‘I put some water on to boil’ - Rose, Anna Maurrant, Shirley, Vincent, Sam
No. 18 Duet and Scene ‘When birds get old enough’ - Rose, Sam, Easter, A distant voice, Buchanan, Anna Maurrant, Sankey
Dialogue ‘Dis is it’ - James Henry (Marshall), Fred Cullen (his assistant), Sam, Henry, A voice, An Old-Clothes Man, Mrs. J, Maurrant, Sam, Anna Maurrant, A Workman, A Man, Olsen, Policeman, Another Man, Grocery Boy, Officer Murphy, Buchanan, Ambulance-Driver, Girl (piano player), Intern, Rose
No. 19 Choral Scene and Lament ‘Who’s she… her daughter… poor thing’ and ‘Now love and death have linked their arms together’ - Crowd, Mrs K, Sam, Rose, Intern, Marshal, Policeman, Anna Maurrant, Fred
Interlude
Scene Two
Dialogue ‘All right. That’s all Charlie’ - Two furniture movers, two nursemaids
No. 20 Lullaby ‘Sleep baby dear’ - Two nursemaids, Officer Murphy
No. 21 Scene ‘She never opened her eyes again’ - Rose, Murphy, Henry, Sam, Shirley
Dialogue ‘Papa the police are going to make me testify against Maurrant’ - Sam, Olsen, Mrs. O, Shirley, Murphy, Buchanan, Mrs. J, Rose, Mrs. F, Two policemen
No. 22 Finale ‘Rose, you’re wearing a black dress’ and ‘Ain’t it awful the heat’ - Maurrant, Rose, Officer Murphy, Chorus, Sam, Man, Woman, Shirley, Mrs. F, Kaplan, Mrs. O, Child, Mrs. J, Henry, Sailor and two girls
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
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Guide Written By:
Wendy Silvester
Singer and vocal coach based in the UK.