Thu 12/2 @ 7PM
The Musical Theater Project’s artistic director Bill Rudman brings his bottomless enthusiasm for musicals to bear on yet another episode of “Movies at Home,” this one on the 1954 film Carmen Jones, a rare film that featured an all-black cast led by Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge and Pearl Bailey.
The musical was adapted by Oscar Hammerstein II from the popular 1875 Georges Bizet opera Carmen, which provides the music. He changed the setting from Spain; instead of a flamboyant gypsy who toys with a soldier and a toreador, she’s a “shameless vixen” who works in a North Carolina parachute factory during WW II and causes misery for a corporal and a prizefighter.
Otto Preminger directed the film, adapted from the 1943 stage musical. It earned Dandridge an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, the first Black actress to be nominated (she lost to Grace Kelly).
As usual, Rudman has taped a video introduction to watch before you watch the movie itself. Then buy or rent the film on Carmen Jones is available on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Vudu or Apple TV. Finally join Bill, singer/actress/director Treva Offutt and other musical buff on Zoom to talk about your impressions of the film. It’s free and no registration is needed. Zoom link is here.