Although Langston Hughes had a lifelong engagement in theater and
other performance arts, his work in this area is the least known of
his rich and complex contributions to African American expressive
culture. This volume focuses on Hughes's plays after 1942, along
with all of his other work written for performance, including
operas, musicals, radio plays, ballet libretti, and song lyrics,
all of which demonstrate his strong determination to inject an
African American presence into a range of cultural forms. In 1943,
Hughes brought into being what would become his most famous
character, Jesse B. Semple--not for the stage, but for a newspaper
column he would write for the Chicago Defender for fifteen years
and then for the New York Post until 1965. Hughes revised and
collected the stories into four books, and following the success of
his second collection, Simple Takes a Wife, composed a play of the
same name, which he later turned into the musical Simply Heavenly.
Although well known, this work was atypical of Hughes's interests
during the postwar period. It was African American music that
engaged him, particularly gospel music, which was, in the 1950s,
acquiring significant crossover success. Aside from a few
educational or occasional pieces, virtually all of Hughes's stage
writing after 1942 incorporated music in some form. He wrote five
complete operas, as well as musicals, gospel plays, several
cantatas, two very successful Broadway productions, and the more
than thirty plays that he provided to community theaters and
collegiate, church, and amateur groups. It was inevitable that
Hughes, the most prolific of African American playwrights at that
time, would seek to employ the musicalgenre that dominated Broadway
during the 1940s and 1950s to tell his own kind of stories.
Hughes's intense engagement with theater and other performance arts
lasted more than thirty-five years. In every genre he attempted,
Hughes left unforgettable and inspiring work, giving rise to the
range and richness of contemporary African American theatrical
achievement.
General
Imprint: |
University of Missouri Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
The collected works of Langston Hughes vol. 6 |
Release date: |
March 2004 |
First published: |
April 2004 |
Authors: |
Langston Hughes
|
Volume editors: |
Leslie Catherine Sanders
|
Dimensions: |
238 x 169 x 61mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
672 |
Edition: |
New |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8262-1477-5 |
Categories: |
Books >
Arts & Architecture >
General
|
LSN: |
0-8262-1477-0 |
Barcode: |
9780826214775 |
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