Carmen Jones (1943 Original Broadway Cast) [Cast Recording, Original recording remastered]

Oscar Hammerstein II, Muriel Smith, Georges Bizet | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 25, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording, Original recording remastered
• Label: Decca U.S.
• ASIN: B00008BNUK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #203,599 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Carmen Jones is one of the weirdest projects to ever hit the American musical theater. In 1943, lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II adapted Georges Bizet's Carmen for Broadway. The music was pretty much left intact, but Hammerstein transferred the action to WWII America. Carmen's tobacco factory became Carmen Jones' parachute factory, bullfighter Escamillo became boxer Husky Miller, and so on. As if this weren't enough, there also was the "small" detail of casting the show only with African-Americans. All in all, this ambitious endeavor makes Baz Luhrmann's La Boheme seem timid. Hammerstein's attempt at writing "black" hasn't aged all that well, but many of the show's songs retain a surprising impact. The feverish intensity of "Beat Out dat Rhythm on a Drum," for instance, hasn't dimmed over the years, and the song's been covered by a wide variety of performers, from Pearl Bailey and Marc Almond to Mandy Patinkin. The track is reprised as a bonus track at the end of the CD in a version sung by Kitty Carlisle (who's rather stiff compared to the show's June Hawkins). --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Product Description

No Description Available.
Genre: Original Cast Recordings
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 25-FEB-2003

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now THIS is how CARMEN JONES should sound like!, February 25, 2003

By 

Alfonzo Tyson (Buffalo, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Carmen Jones (1943 Original Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

Words cannot begin to sum up my joy that Decca Broadway finally deemed CARMEN JONES fit for a proper remaster. Oscar Hammerstein's lyrics set to Georges Bizet's classic score can now be heard clearly without distortion and this CD includes a complete plot synopsis and pictures. Now we no longer have to settle for that monstroscity from Pearl CD, which was an unauthorized recording, and I hope didn't take away too many sales from Decca Broadway. For musical buffs this CD is a must-have!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Contemporary Adaptation of Carmen, December 1, 2003

By 

Chrissy1018 (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Carmen Jones (1943 Original Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

You may know that the smash grunge musical RENT is based on Puccini's opera LA BOHEME. And MISS SAIGON is MADAME BUTTERFLY, and trickiest of all AIDA is AIDA, but before all of those there was CARMEN JONES.

What makes CARMEN JONES different, however, is that it uses Bizet's original music, though it changes the setting and the lyrics (they're in English, too, rather than the original French). And who would have done such a thing? Oscar Hammerstein II (as in Rodgers & Hammerstein, I know you've heard of them. If not, shame on you, go straight to OKLAHOMA, do not pass go, do not collect CD of CARMEN JONES). This is one of Hammerstein's earlier works, and it's a great show. (There's a very successful movie version available on video, if you want to see it.)

CARMEN JONES updates the story of CARMEN. The original plot took place in Spain in 1820, Carmen was a gypsy. The first performance of CARMEN was in Paris in 1875. (Wow! Over 125 years, and it still plays regularly all over the world, talk about a great run!) What Hammerstein did was akin to what our current composers are doing with shows like RENT. He updated the show for his audience. Instead of Spaniards and gypsies, he used African-American factory workers, and set the story in 1943 during the war in a Southern town.

The story makes this a darker musical than Hammerstein's later shows like OKLAHOMA, CAROUSEL, THE KING AND I and SOUTH PACIFIC, some of which had their heavier elements, but were focused more on the romance. The tone of CARMEN JONES is more akin to his first show (the first musical) SHOWBOAT. It is also unusual not just for it's time but in general that it had an entirely African-American cast. While recent shows like Disney's THE LION KING and ONCE ON THIS ISLAND have also had predominantly African/African-American casts, these shows are few and far between. Another comparable show in terms of music and style would perhaps be Gershwin's PORGY AND BESS, though it's considered an opera rather than a musical.

5.0 out of 5 stars great, May 9, 2010

By 

Yo - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Carmen Jones (1943 Original Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

Used it for my radio show on KGPL 91.7 fm On historical route 66