Two previously unperformed pieces by composer Kurt Weill -- including one from his unfinished musical Davy Crockett, will be featured in the 40-song musical revue Songplay; The Songs of Kurt Weill having its world premiere Sept. 24-Oct. 20 at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.
The two songs are:
* "It's a Miracle of Nature,"one of the nine songs Weill composed before his 1950 death, for the unfinished musical, Davy Crockett.
* "A High Wind in Jamaica," one of three songs Weill had completed for what was to be a film version of the novel of the same name by Richard Hughes. It's a Latin-American dance number, and while a vocal line had been composed, there was no text. Jonathan Eaton (who conceived, adapted, and is directing Songplay) may write lyrics for it.
At the time of Weill's death, he was also working on another musical, Huck Finn, from which Eaton has included two songs: "This Time Next Year" and "Apple Jack." He's also included songs from Weill's rarely-performed French musical, Marie Galante.
Weill's well-known hits include "Mack the Knife" and "Surabaya Johnny" from The Threepenny Opera, "Bilbao Song" from Happy End, "September Song" from Knickerbocker Holiday, and the title song of Lost in the Stars, among many others. The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music in New York City granted Eaton permission to draw on the archives of the legendary composer. Unlike a previous Weill revue, 1972's From Berlin to Broadway, which is structured as a Weill chronology, Songplay has a dramatic framework. Six travelers dispossessed from their homelands go on what is described as "a voyage of self-discovery," just as Weill did when he was driven from his German homeland by the rise of Hitler.
The cast of Songplay includes Michael Brian, Herb Downer, Kim Lindsay, Karen Murphy, Pedro Porro and Craig Priebe.
Tickets cost $20-$34. For tickets or information: (513) 421-3888; toll-free in Ohio, (800) 582-3208; (513) 345-2248 for TDD. Information is also available on the web at http://www.cincyplay.
-- By Robert Viagas
