Two evocative original costume designs on a single sheet measuring 11.5 x 14.5 inches (29 x 37 cm). Unsigned, identified lower left and with notations along the right in an unknown hand. Block of toning around the images, small stains around edges, overall fine.
Carmen Jones updates Bizet's opera Carmen with lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II, to a World War II era African American setting and was first performed at the Broadway Theatre on December 2, 1943. Staged by Hassard Short, directed by Charles Friedman and choreographed by Eugene Loring, the production was produced by Billy Rose, using an all black cast, and starred Muriel Smith, making her Broadway debut, alternating with Muriel Rahn.
The New York Herald Tribune hailed Carmen Jones: “Bravo! The theatre and music have had a memorable wedding…. The libretto has been brilliantly translated… It opens infinite and challenging horizons for the fusing of two art forms… Hammerstein has retained every mood and movement of a tortured romance, giving it immediate meaning and dramatic force.” Carmen Jones would go on to run 502 performances on Broadway.
Set and costume designer Raoul Pène Du Bois (1914-1985) was born on Staten Island, New York. His career began in his teens and spanned some six decades, during which he designed for theater, film, dance, and other live productions. Du Bois received two Tony Awards for his set designs for Wonderful town (1953), and his costume designs for No, no, Nanette (1971).
Two evocative original costume designs on a single sheet measuring 11.5 x 14.5 inches (29 x 37 cm). Unsigned, identified lower left and with notations along the right in an unknown hand. Block of toning around the images, small stains around edges, overall fine.
Carmen Jones updates Bizet's opera Carmen with lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II, to a World War II era African American setting and was first performed at the Broadway Theatre on December 2, 1943. Staged by Hassard Short, directed by Charles Friedman and choreographed by Eugene Loring, the production was produced by Billy Rose, using an all black cast, and starred Muriel Smith, making her Broadway debut, alternating with Muriel Rahn.
The New York Herald Tribune hailed Carmen Jones: “Bravo! The theatre and music have had a memorable wedding…. The libretto has been brilliantly translated… It opens infinite and challenging horizons for the fusing of two art forms… Hammerstein has retained every mood and movement of a tortured romance, giving it immediate meaning and dramatic force.” Carmen Jones would go on to run 502 performances on Broadway.
Set and costume designer Raoul Pène Du Bois (1914-1985) was born on Staten Island, New York. His career began in his teens and spanned some six decades, during which he designed for theater, film, dance, and other live productions. Du Bois received two Tony Awards for his set designs for Wonderful town (1953), and his costume designs for No, no, Nanette (1971).