Street Scene (1946)

American Opera in two acts.
Book by Elmer Rice, based on his play of the same name.
Lyrics by Langston Hughes and Elmer Rice.

Synopsis
Song List
Performance Information
Principal Productions
Recordings

Production photo

Ensemble photo, with Sam (Brian Sullivan) and Rose (Ann Jeffreys)
at center, from Broadway production, 1947.

Synopsis

One day in the life of a New York apartment building. The story focuses on Anna Maurrant and her family. She is frustrated by her husband and worried about her teenage daughter Rose. She is also having an affair with the milkman. Rose is frustrated by her parents' unhappiness and aspires to better things. Frank Maurrant murders Anna when he learns of her affair. Rose then leaves the tenement, and her boyfriend Sam Kaplan, behind to make a new, independent life for herself.

Song list

Ain't it Awful, the Heat?
I Got a Marble and a Star
Get a Load of That
When a Woman has a Baby
Somehow I Never Could Believe
Ice Cream Sextet
Let Things Be Like They Always Was
Wrapped in a Ribbon and Tied in a Bow
Lonely House
Wouldn't You Like to Be on Broadway?
What Good Would the Moon Be?
Moon-Faced, Starry-Eyed
Remember That I Care
Catch Me if You Can
There'll be Trouble
A Boy Like You
We'll Go Away Together
The Woman Who Lived Up There
Lullaby
I Loved Her Too
Don't Forget the Lilac Bush

Performance Information

Cast: Singing roles -- Anna Maurrant (dramatic soprano), Frank Maurrant, (bass-baritone), Willie Maurrant (boy soprano), Rose Maurrant (lyric soprano), Sam Kaplan (tenor), Abraham Kaplan (tenor buffo), Harry Easter (Broadway baritone), Henry Davis (baritone), Lippo Fiorentino (tenor), George Jones (baritone), Carl Olsen (bass), Mrs. Fiorentino (coloratura soprano), Mrs. Jones (mezzo-soprano), Mrs. Olsen (alto), Daniel Buchanan (buffo tenor), Jenny Hildebrand (soprano), 2nd graduate (soprano), 3rd graduate (mezzo-soprano), Mrs. Hildebrand (mezzo-soprano), Nursemaids (soprano, mezzo-soprano), three children, Dick McGann (singer-dancer), Mae Jones (singer-dancer).
Speaking roles -- Mrs. Jones, Steve Sankey, Shirley Kaplan, Vincent Jones, Dr. Wilson, Officer Murphy, city marshal, Fred Cullen, milkman, policeman, old clothes man, intern, ambulance driver, married couple, passerby, neighbors, children.
Orchestra: 1 (picc).1.2.bass cl (cl).1; 2.2.2.0; piano (celesta), harp, timp & perc; strings.
Duration: full evening
Published Editions: piano-vocal score, Chappell Music/Hal Leonard HL00312405
Performance Rights and Rentals: All Territories: RH, except Germany: SCHOTT
Published Editions: German -- Lys Symonette

Guide to orchestration, territory abbreviations, and publishers' symbols.

Principal productions

January 9, 1947, New York, Adelphi Theater, Charles Friedman, dir., Maurice Abravanel, cond.
November 26, 1955, Düsseldorf, Städtische Bühne, Friedrich Schramm, dir., Eugen Szenkar, cond. (in German)
April 2, 1959, New York City Opera, Herbert Machiz, dir., Julius Rudel, cond.
October 12, 1989, London, English National Opera, David Pountney, dir., Carl Davis, cond.
January 15, 1995, Berlin, Theater des Westens, Houston Grand Opera, Francesca Zambello, dir., James Holmes, cond.
October 2, 2001, Chicago Lyric Opera, David Pountney, dir., Richard Buckley, cond.

Recordings

CBS CD MK 44668	Original cast, Maurice Abravanel, cond. [excerpts]
TER Classics CDTER2 1173	English National Opera cast recording, Carl Davis, cond.
Decca CD 433 371-2	Josephine Barstow, Samuel Ramey, Angelina Réaux, Jerry Hadley, John Mauceri, cond.
Video (VHS) VL Klassik VLRM 020 (Europe only) DVD Image Entertainment ID9240RADVD	Ashley Putnam, Marc Embree, Teri Hansen, Kip Wilborn, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, James Holmes, cond., Francesco Zambello, stage dir., José Montes-Baquer, video dir.