Show Synopsis:
A married couple, Sam and Dinah, argue about whether Sam is having an affair with his secretary, if Sam will be at their son?s school play, and Dinah?s psychoanalyst bills. At work, Sam lends money to a man named Bill, a man in his handball tournament that night. Dinah talks to her therapist about a dream where she was lost in a garden. Sam asks his secretary if he ever made a pass at her, and she tells him about an incident that causes him to get testy. Sam and Dinah run into each other at lunchtime and lie about having lunch plans with other people to avoid eating together. Sam wins his handball tournament while Dinah watches a movie called ?Trouble in Tahiti? and dreams of romantic fantasy again. Dinah goes and prepares dinner for Sam, and when they try to talk about their romantic problems, they realize the other did not go to their son?s play. Sam and Dinah leave to see ?Trouble in Tahiti? to escape into the romance silver screen instead of talking about their own romance.
Character:
Dinah, a frustrated middle-aged mother and wife who is tired of putting so much effort into a relationship that has fizzled out; dreams of romance, peace, and beauty - the kinds of things you see in the movies and hear about in songs.
Song Context:
Dinah tells somebody in a hat shop about this movie, which causes her to fantasize about romance on a tropical island.
Fun Facts:
1. This basis of this opera is unknown, but is rumored to be either composer Leonard Bernstein's real-life relationship with his wife Felicia Monteleagre or that of his own parents.
2. This opera was performed on Broadway with a Tennessee Williams play titled "Wagons Full of Cotton," altogether called All In One. Alice Ghostley originated the role of Dinah.
"What a movie!
What a terrible, awful movie!
It's a crime what they put on the screen!
I can hardly believe what I've seen!
Do they think we're a lot of children?
It would bore any four year old!
What drivel! What nonsense!
What escapist Technicolor twaddle!
""Trouble in Tahiti,"" indeed!
""Trouble in Tahiti,"" imagine!
There she is in her inch or two of sarong
Floating, floating, floating, all among the
floating flowers.
Then she sees him, the handsome American.
(I must say he's really a man,
Six feet tall, and each foot just incredible!)
Well, they're madly in love,
But there's trouble ahead;
There's a legend:
""If a princess marry white man, and rain fall that day,
Then the white man shall be sacrifice without delay.""
Sure enough, on the night of their wedding day,
There's a storm like nothing on earth;
Tidal waves and siroccos and hurricanes;
And to top it all off,
The volcano erupts.
As the natives sing: Ah! Ah! Ah! Olé!
They go crazy with the drumming and the chanting and ritual dance,
While the lovers sing a ballad of South Seas romance.
It's so lovely, I wish I could think of it;
Da da dee da da?
It was called ""Island Magic,""
I think it was.
Oh, a beautiful song!
I remember it now:
""Island Magic, where the midnight breezes caress us,
And the stars above
seem to bless us,
That's Island Magic, Island Magic.""
Well, in any case, the hero is tied to a tree.
(Did I tell you he's a flyer
who got lost at sea?)
Anyway, all the natives are crazy now,
Running wild with lances and knives;
Then they pile up the wood for the sacrifice,
And the witch doctor comes,
And he sets it on fire.
As the natives sing: Ah! Ah! Ah! Olé!
But at this point, comes the good old U.S. Navy,
A-singin' a song.
They come swarming down in parachutes a thousand strong!
Everything now is cleared up and wonderful:
Everyone is happy as pie;
And they all do a great rumba version of ""Island Magic"" of course!
It's a dazzling sight;
With the sleek brown native women dancing with the U.S. Navy boys,
And a hundred-piece symphony orchestra:
Island Magic! Where the palm trees whisper together,
And it's always warm summer weather,
That's Island Magic,
Island Magic! With the one I love very near;
Island Magic, Whispering native words in my ear.
Island Magic,
Only you, my darling, could weave it,
And I never ever will leave it,
And I simply cannot believe
It really is mine!
Island Magic!
Island Ma?""
What a terrible, awful movie!"