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EKNICKERBOCKER HOLIDAY By Kurt Weill Knickerbocker Holiday (1938) Musical comedy in two acts after
Washington Irving's A History of New York by
Diedrich Knickerbocker. Book and lyrics by Maxwell
Anderson. Premiere: October 19, 1938, New
York, Ethel Barrymore Theater SYNOPSIS The wild and woolly early days of New York --
when it was still known as New Amsterdam -- provide the backdrop for
Washington Irving’s narrative of life in the New World. In 1650, Peter
Stuyvesant arrives in New Amsterdam to assume his duties as governor.
Stuyvesant is hardly the fun-loving type, and one of his first official acts
is to call for the death of Brom Broeck, a newspaper publisher well-known for
his fearless exposes of police and government corruption and whose most
destructive trait is his inability to follow orders. However, Broeck hasn't
done anything that would justify the death penalty, so Stuyvesant waits
(without much patience) for Broeck to step out of line. Broeck is romancing a
beautiful woman named Tina Tienhoven. After Stuyvesant's men toss Broeck in
jail on a trumped-up charge, Stuyvesant sets his sights on winning Tina's
affections. However, Broeck stays alive by his extraordinary wits and while
becoming indispensable to the corrupt governor, soon begins to organize his
fellow citizens in a bid for independence. He tries to convince Stuyvesant
that working for justice might do him more good than following his current
policies of graft and corruption. The governor allows him to go free and
marry Tina. |
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