My Program: First Half:
“Le Veau D’or” (“The Golden Calf”) from Gounod’s Faust
“The Worst Pies in London” and “A Little Priest” from Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd
“The Dream” from Bock and Harnick’s Fiddler on the Roof—Fruma Sarah rises from the grave
Mozart’s Don Giovanni—the Don is dragged down to Hell by the Commendatore
INTERMISSION
Second Half:
“Son lo sprito” from Boito’s Mephistophele
“It Ain’t Necessarily So” from the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Mr. Applegate’s (Satan’s) song from Damn Yankees (Adler and Ross)—“Those Were the Good Old Days” and the duet “Two Lost Souls” which was assigned to Applegate and Lola the witch in the Broadway revival (as opposed to Lola and Joe the baseball player in previous versions).
Threepenny Opera-Act 2, scenes 37-46 by Weil. This segment includes “Barbara Song” (“I used to believe in the days I was pure/And I was pure like YOU used to be”), “Jealousy Duet” and MacHeath’s song with the Peachums about morality (“Food is the first things morals follow-on.”)
The case for my program: An Evening with Satan and Friends
This evening blends operatic and theatrical music—both of which are loved by fans of vocal music. It would be great if the program could feature young up-and-comers. This would be an opportunity to demonstrate to an eager public these young singing-actors’ range of talents.
By focusing on music featuring the Devil or devilish characters, the evening would offer an intensity and dark humor that audiences will love. They’ll flock to it.
