The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #103166 Message #2104409
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
16-Jul-07 - 02:26 PM
Thread Name: 'It Ain't Necessarily So' meaning
Subject: RE: 'It Ain't Necessarily So' meaning
In 1952, a revival, a shortened version in two acts, was staged with Leontine Price and William Warfield. Cab Calloway played Sporting Life. A London premiere took place in October, 1952. The production came to the Ziegfield Theatre in New York, 1953. The production toured in 1954, but Price and Warfield had left the cast. There was a Moscow premiere in 1955. It is the production at the Ziegfield with Price-Warfield that seemingly was never filmed for release that I was commenting about.
(The Highlights Album was recorded in 1963).
The 1976 Houston production was important, in that the original opera was presented without cuts by Gershwin. A recording was made. The Glyndebourne production also is without cuts (DVD, see previous post).
In the original 1935 production, Gershwin made some cuts; this version has been preserved in the 2006 recording by Alvy Powell, Marquita Lister, and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. It also incorporates changes made by Gershwin after the first publication.