News Of the Day 1981

Synopsis
Artists

Hindemith’s comic work…

…contemporary with Weill’s Threepenny Opera, also combines elements of musical revue, vaudeville, cabaret humor and social satire in a parable about publicity and modern image-makers.

Music By

Paul Hindemith

Text By

Marcellus Schiffer, revised by the composer

English Version By

Don Moreland

Act I

The scene is set in the recent past. Laura and Eduard have no sooner returned from their honeymoon when they begin quarreling and decide they must get a divorce. In the midst of their violent dispute, Miss Pick, a reporter, enters the room and begins snapping photos for a possible news story.

At the divorce bureau, Eduard and Laura learn that they lack sufficient grounds for a divorce. They decide to follow the advice of two other couples who succeeded in securing their divorces through the help of the Baron d’Houdoux, director of the Universal Service Association. At the urging of Miss Pick, d’Houdoux takes on this case and his first service to the couple is in the form of Hermann, a handsome young man skilled in furnishing couples with grounds for divorce.

The Venus Gallery of the Museum is the site chosen for the rendezvous of Hermann and Laura. Their tryst is interrupted by Eduard, who is outraged to find that Hermann is not the old, ugly “other man” he was counting on. In a jealous rage, Eduard hurls the priceless statue of Venus at Hermann, smashing it to pieces. Eduard is imprisoned for his crime against culture.

Pick then plants Hermann in Laura’s suite in one of the luxurious Universal Hotels. Laura finds Hermann in her bathtub, and the whole compromising scene is captured on film by Miss Pick. Amid all the confusion, Laura realizes that her sole desire is to be reunited with Eduard.

Act II

Laura is alone in her suite, Eduard is in prison. D’Houdoux visits Eduard, offering to pay his bail and reunite him with Laura, but only on the condition that the couple agree to star in a traveling revue financed by the Baron. They consent and immediately a huge publicity campaign and tour are arranged. But Laura and Eduard soon tire of being exploited in d’Houdoux’s sensational show and decide to escape to private life far from the lights and the headlines. D’Houdoux has no difficulty finding a new couple to take their place as the “news of the day.”

Publicity marches on.

Synopsis

Act I

Act II

Artists

Mary Shearer

Mary Shearer

William Workman

William Workman

Jean Kraft

Jean Kraft

James Atherton

James Atherton

William Dooley

William Dooley

Kerry McCarthy

Kerry McCarthy

Robin Kay-Sims

Robin Kay-Sims

William Chamberlain

William Chamberlain

Lawrence Evans

Lawrence Evans

Wilbur Pauley

Wilbur Pauley

John Holyoke

John Holyoke

Jane Williams

Jane Williams

John Andreesen

John Andreesen

Robert Hancock

Robert Hancock

Michael H. Putsch

Michael H. Putsch

Daniel Greif

Daniel Greif

Clifford Williams

Clifford Williams

Gary L. Prettyman

Gary L. Prettyman

Terence Hodges

Terence Hodges

Kurt Link

Kurt Link

Bruce Ferden

Bruce Ferden

Lou Galterio

Lou Galterio

Maxine Willi Klein

Maxine Willi Klein

Steven B. Feldman

Steven B. Feldman

Craig Miller

Craig Miller

Wesley Fata

Wesley Fata

George Manahan

George Manahan

News Of the Day 1981