cultural literacy 9 Flashcards
operetta
a light, often comical opera
Babes in Toyland
a 1903 operetta with music by Victor Herbert and libretto by Glen MacDonough
Alan, Jane, Uncle Barnaby, The Widow Piper, Contrary Mary, Tom Tom
characters in the operetta Babes in Toyland
“Toyland”
title song from the 1903 operetta Babes in Toyland
“March of the Toys”
march from the 1903 operetta Babes in Toyland
Babes in Toyland (1934)
movie starring Laurel and Hardie based on the 1903 operetta of the same name
penny dreadful
cheap popular serial literature produced in the UK in the 19th century
Sweeney Todd
fictional character who murders his customers and gives their corpses to his partner, who bakes their flesh into meat pies; played by Johnny Depp in 2007 movie
Nellie Lovett
Sweeney Todd’s partner, played by Helena Bonham-Carter in the 2007 movie
Judge Turpin
antagonist in Sweeney Todd who stole Todd’s wife from him; played by Alan Rickman in the 2007 movie
Sweeney Todd (1970)
play by Christopher Bond based on the Victorian penny dreadful character of Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979)
musical based on the Bond play, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street movie
2007 movie based on the musical, directed by Tim Burton
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
2004 movie based upon the first three novels of the Lemony Snicket book series, directed by Brad Silberling and starring Jim Carrey and Jude Law
basic premise of the Lemony Snicket books
Count Olaf, a distant relative of the Baudelaire children, is trying to kill the children and take their inheritance
A Series of Unfortunate Events
a series of 13 children’s novels written by American author Daniel Handler
Lemony Snicket
pen name of author Daniel Handler and persona Handler uses to tell the story
Candide (20th century)
operetta based on the book by Voltaire, with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Richard Wilbur, and book by Lillian Hellman and Hugh Wheeler
Arthur Sullivan
19th century English composer
W. S. Gilbert
19th century English dramatist and librettist
The Pirates of Penzance
1879 Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera
The Pirates of Penzance revival (2 works)
1981 broadway production produced by Joseph Papp; 1983 film adaptation starring Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt
“In short, in matters…”
“veget-A-ble, and animal and mineral, I am the very model of a modern major-general.”
“Major-General’s Song”
patter song from The Pirates of Penzance
patter song
fast song with rapid succession of rhythmic patterns, in which each syllable corresponds to one note
“I am a Pirate King”
protagonist’s “I am” song in The Pirates of Penzance
Frederic
character of the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, played by Kevin Kline on Broadway and in the film
Mabel Stanley
daughter of Major-General Stanley and love interest of Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance
Major-General Stanley
the major-general and father of the girls in The Pirates of Penzance
basic premise of The Pirates of Penzance
Frederic reaches his 21st birthday and is released from his apprenticeship among pirates, but discovers that because he was born on February 29th, he must wait 63 more years before he is “21”, but Mabel agrees to wait for him
“you’ll say a better major-general…”
“has never sat a gee”, i.e. “rode a horse”
“Perfect Strangers”
late 80’s and early 90’s sitcom set in Chicago about an American and his distant cousin who just showed up from the Eastern European island of Mypos
“The Merry Widow”/”Die lustige Witwe”
1905 German-language operetta with music by Franz Lehar
“Da geh’ ich zu Maxim”, “The Merry Widow Waltz”
two songs from “The Merry Widow”
basic premise of The Merry Widow
Hanna has inherited a lot of money upon the death of her husband, Baron Zeta schemes to get her married to a Count, Danilo, an embassy official, so that her money stays in the country and helps save the country’s financial situation
Pontevedro
the fictional country in the operetta The Merry Widow
Paul Lincke
German composer and pioneer of the Berlin operetta
“Berliner Luft”
operetta song about Berlin composed by Paul Lincke
folk operettas
bucolic, nostalgic and nationalistic German operetta style
“Das Glühwürmchen”
operetta song performed by female trio with chorus by Paul Lincke
opera seria
the noble and “serious” style of Italian opera that dominated Europe in the 18th century
opera buffa
‘comic’ opera that rivaled opera seria in Europe in the 18th century and took its cue from the improvisatory commedia dell’arte
Jacques Offenbach
German-born French composer, cellist and impresario who first popularized the operetta genre, culturally associated with the Second Empire in France
impresario
producer of concerts, plays, or operas
opérette bouffe
subgenre of French opérette
The Tales of Hoffmann
unfinished but now oft-performed French-language operetta by Offenbach based on three stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story
Johann Strauss I
lesser-known Viennese composer and father of the famous “Waltz King” Johann Strauss II
Die Fledermaus
1874 operetta composed by Johann Strauss II
réveillon
in Francophone world, a long dinner held on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve
Gabriel von Eisenstein, Rosalinde
the married couple at the center of Die Fledermaus
a light, often comical opera
operetta
a 1903 operetta with music by Victor Herbert and libretto by Glen MacDonough
“Babes in Toyland”
characters in the operetta Babes in Toyland
Alan, Jane, Uncle Barnaby, The Widow Piper, Contrary Mary, Tom Tom
title song from the 1903 operetta Babes in Toyland
“Toyland”
march from the 1903 operetta Babes in Toyland
“March of the Toys”
movie starring Laurel and Hardie based on the 1903 operetta of the same name
Babes in Toyland (1934)
cheap popular serial literature produced in the UK in the 19th century
penny dreadful
fictional character who murders his customers and gives their corpses to his partner, who bakes their flesh into meat pies; played by Johnny Depp in 2007 movie
Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd’s partner, played by Helena Bonham-Carter in the 2007 movie
Nellie Lovett
antagonist in Sweeney Todd who stole Todd’s wife from him; played by Alan Rickman in the 2007 movie
Judge Turpin
play by Christopher Bond based on the Victorian penny dreadful character of Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd (1970)
musical based on the Bond play, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979)
2007 movie based on the musical, directed by Tim Burton
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street movie
2004 movie based upon the first three novels of the Lemony Snicket book series, directed by Brad Silberling and starring Jim Carrey and Jude Law
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
Count Olaf, a distant relative of the Baudelaire children, is trying to kill the children and take their inheritance
basic premise of the Lemony Snicket books
a series of 13 children’s novels written by American author Daniel Handler
A Series of Unfortunate Events
pen name of author Daniel Handler and persona Handler uses to tell the story
Lemony Snicket
operetta based on the book by Voltaire, with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Richard Wilbur, and book by Lillian Hellman and Hugh Wheeler
Candide (20th century)
19th century English composer
Arthur Sullivan
19th century English dramatist and librettist
W. S. Gilbert
1879 Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera
The Pirates of Penzance
1981 broadway production produced by Joseph Papp; 1983 film adaptation starring Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt
The Pirates of Penzance revival (2 works)
“veget-A-ble, animal and mineral, I am the very model of a modern major-general.”
“In short, in matters…”
patter song from The Pirates of Penzance
“Major-General’s Song”
fast song with rapid succession of rhythmic patterns, in which each syllable corresponds to one note
patter song
protagonist’s “I am” song in The Pirates of Penzance
“I am a Pirate King”
character of the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, played by Kevin Kline on Broadway and in the film
Frederic
daughter of Major-General Stanley and love interest of Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance
Mabel Stanley
the major-general and father of the girls in The Pirates of Penzance
Major-General Stanley
Frederic reaches his 21st birthday and is released from his apprenticeship among pirates, but discovers that because he was born on February 29th, he must wait 63 more years before he is “21”, but Mabel agrees to wait for him
basic premise of The Pirates of Penzance
“has never sat a gee”, i.e. “rode a horse”
“you’ll say a better major-general…”
late 80’s and early 90’s sitcom set in Chicago about an American and his distant cousin who just showed up from the Eastern European island of Mypos
“Perfect Strangers”
1905 German-language operetta with music by Franz Lehar
“The Merry Widow”/”Die lustige Witwe”
two songs from “The Merry Widow”
“Da geh’ ich zu Maxim”, “The Merry Widow Waltz”
Hanna has inherited a lot of money upon the death of her husband, Baron Zeta schemes to get her married to a Count, Danilo, an embassy official, so that her money stays in the country and helps save the country’s financial situation
basic premise of The Merry Widow
the fictional country in the operetta The Merry Widow
Pontevedro
German composer and pioneer of the Berlin operetta
Paul Lincke
operetta song about Berlin composed by Paul Lincke
“Berliner Luft”
bucolic, nostalgic and nationalistic German operetta style
folk operettas
operetta song performed by female trio with chorus by Paul Lincke
“Das Glühwürmchen”
the noble and “serious” style of Italian opera that dominated Europe in the 18th century
opera seria
‘comic’ opera that rivaled opera seria in Europe in the 18th century and took its cue from the improvisatory commedia dell’arte
opera buffa
German-born French composer, cellist and impresario who first popularized the operetta genre, culturally associated with the Second Empire in France
Jacques Offenbach
producer of concerts, plays, or operas
impresario
subgenre of French opérette
opérette bouffe
unfinished but now oft-performed French-language operetta by Offenbach based on three stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story
The Tales of Hoffmann
lesser-known Viennese composer and father of the famous “Waltz King” Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss I
1874 operetta composed by Johann Strauss II
Die Fledermaus
in Francophone world, a long dinner held on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve
réveillon
the married couple at the center of Die Fledermaus
Gabriel von Eisenstein, Rosalinde
