Firebird

Program Notes

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

By Bruce Anthony Kiesling

Three Dance Episodes from "On the Town"

I. Dance of the Great Lover (from the Dream Ballet, Act 2)

II. Pas de deus (from the “Lonely Town” Ballet, Act 1)

III. Times Square Ballet (Finale, Act 1)

1944 saw the premier of Leonard Bernstein’s first stage success, the ballet Fancy Free. Choreographed by the masterful Jerome Robbins, the plot concerned three navy sailors competing for two young ladies while on shore leave in a Manhattan. Friends suggested that the composer re-work the piece as a musical, which called for the talents of friends and writing partners Betty Comden and Adolf Green. The musical, carried the same plot as the ballet, but the music was all new material.

With Comden and Green’s brilliant and funny script and lyrics combined with Bernstein's brilliant, steely, New York City score, the musical was a tremendous success. Running more than a year and eventually filmed by MGM (albeit with some new music by André Previn) starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, it was the first musical ever filmed on location.

The score contained a few hit songs, most listeners may recognize "New York, New York, a helluva town" used in the third movement as well as the beautifully haunting "Some other time." But perhaps most unique in the musical, was the eight distinct dance episodes, which were also staged by Robbins. Their music is the basis for tonight’s selection.

In Berstein's own words:

I. Gabey, the romantic sailor in search of the glamorous Miss Turnstiles, falls asleep on the subway and dreams of his prowess in sweeping Miss Turnstiles off her feet.

II. Gabey watches a scene, both tender and sinister, in which a sensitive high-school girl in Central Park is lured and then cast off by a worldly sailor.

III. A more panoramic sequence in which all the sailors in New York congregate in Times Square for their night of fun. There is communal dancing, a scene in a souvenir arcade, a scene in the Roseland Dance Palace.