betr.: 81. Jahrestag der Broadway-Premiere von „Carousel“
Ein perfekter Theatersong
Die „Soliloquy“ aus „Carousel“, dem zweiten Musical von Rodgers & Hammerstein, ist ein idealer Song für einen Bariton, um parallel zum Gesang auch die schauspielerischen Möglichkeiten auszudrücken – für mich gemeinsam mit Kurt Weill’s „This ist The Life“ und „Gesticulate“ aus „Kismet“ der beste, der sich in dieser Reichhaltigkeit und Komplexität denken lässt.
Und der seitenstärkste. Um ihn bei einer Prüfung oder Audition vorzutragen, ist er mit 7 Minuten zu lang. Der Meinung war auch Ed Sullivan, in dessen berühmter Fernsehshow aktuelle Musical-Produktionen vom Broadway stets ein reichweitenstarkes Podium hatten. Richard Rodgers persönlich richtete für diese Präsentation eine gekürzte Fassung ein, die vom John Raitt, dem Original-Interpreten, live performt wurde.
Ich war glücklich, einem meiner Schüler diese Kurzfassung für die Gesangsprüfung übergeben zu können.
Leider hatte der Schuldirektor von dieser Autorisierung durch den Komponisten keine Ahnung und verpasste dem Prüfling wegen der Kürzung einen Punktabzug.
Ich will sie hier trotzdem vorstellen.
[BILLY]
I wonder what he’ll think of me
I guess he’ll call me the „old man“
I guess he’ll think I can lick every other fellow’s father
Well, I can!
I bet that he’ll turn out to be
The spittin‘ image of his dad
But he’ll have more common sense
Than his puddin‘-headed father ever had
I’ll teach him to wrestle and dive through a wave
When we go in the mornings for our swim
His mother can teach him the way to behave
But she won’t make a sissy out of him
Not him
Not my boy
Not Bill!
[BILLY, spoken]
Bill
[BILLY]
My boy, Bill
I will see that he’s named after me, I will
My boy, Bill
He’ll be tall and as tough as a tree, will Bill
Like a tree he’ll grow with his head held high
And his feet planted firm on the ground
And you won’t see nobody dare to try
To boss him or toss him around
No pot-bellied, baggy-eyed bully’ll boss him around
I don’t give a damn what he does
As long as he does what he likes
He can sit on his tail
Or work on a rail
With a hammer, a-hammerin‘ spikes
He can ferry a boat on a river
Or peddle a pack on his back
Or work up and down
The streets of a town
With a whip and a horse and a hack
He can haul a scow along a canal
Run a cow around a corral
Or maybe bark for a carousel
Of course it takes talent to do that well
He might be a champ of the heavyweights
Or a fellow that sells you glue
Or President of the United States
That’d be all right, too
[BILLY, spoken]
His mother would like that
But he wouldn’t be President unless he wanted to be
[BILLY]
Not Bill
My boy, Bill
He’ll be tall and as tough as a tree, will Bill
Like a tree he’ll grow with his head held high
And his feet planted firm on the ground
And you won’t see nobody dare to try
To boss him or toss him around
No fat-bottomed, flabby-faced
Pot-bellied, baggy-eyed bastard will boss him around
And I’m damned if he’ll marry his boss’s daughter
A skinny-lipped virgin with blood like water
Who’ll give him a peck and call it a kiss
And look in his eyes through a lorgnette—
Say, why am I takin‘ on like this?
My kid ain’t even been born yet!
I can see him when he’s seventeen or so
And startin‘ in to go with a girl
I can give him lots of pointers, very sound
On the way to get ‚round any girl
I can tell him—
[BILLY, spoken]
Wait a minute
Could it be?
Oh, what the hell?
What if he is a girl?
Bill, oh Bill
What would I do with her?
What could I do for her?
A bum with no money
[BILLY]
You can have fun with a son
But you gotta be a father to a girl
She mightn’t be so bad at that
A kid with ribbons in her hair
A kind of meek and petite
Little tintype of her mother
What a pair!
My little girl
Pink and white
As peaches and cream is she
My little girl
Is half again as bright
As girls are meant to be
Dozens of boys pursue her
Many a likely lad
Does what he can to woo her
From her faithful dad
She has a few
Pink and white young fellows of two and three
But my little girl
Gets hungry every night
And she comes home to me
[BILLY, spoken]
My little girl, my little girl
[BILLY]
I gotta get ready before she comes
I gotta make certain that she
Won’t be dragged up in slums
With a lot of bums like me
She’s gotta be sheltered
And fed and dressed
In the best that money can buy
I never knew how to get money
But I’ll try, by God, I’ll try!
I’ll go out and make it
Or steal it or take it
Or die!
