The Bourgeois Gentleman of the title is a middle-class social climber, assured that by learning all the arts of a true and noble gentleman, he shall truly become one. This enables Moliere to satire both the pretentious middle class and the snobbish aristocracy all at one time. Originally presented in 1670 before the court of Louis the 14th with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully, it was more recently re-choreographed by George Balanchine to music by Strauss. This will be a purely spoken version of the original. (ToddHW)
All the acts are done and ready for PL!
Volunteers outside the USA: I can't find out when Translator Philip Dwight Jones died. His work may still be still protected by copyright in places, like Europe, where copyright is author's death plus 70 years, Australia (author's death plus 70 years for authors who died after 1954) or Canada (author's death plus 50 years).
As Baltimore rests under its new record-setting blanket of snow and I am housebound, howsabout doing another play? Gender neutral casting.
Gender neutral!
Is there a deadline?
We ask that you submit your recorded sections within 1-2 months of placing your claim. Please note that to be fair to the readers who have completed their sections in a timely way, if you haven't submitted your recording(s) after two months, your sections will automatically be re-opened for other readers to claim, unless you post in this thread to request an extension. Extensions will be granted at the discretion of the Book Coordinator. If you cannot do your section, for whatever reason, just let me know and it'll go back to the pool. There's no shame in this; we're all volunteers and things happen.Please do not sign up for more sections than you can complete within the two month deadline.
How to claim a part, and "how it all works" here
To find a section to record, simply look at point 5. below at the sections. All the ones without names beside them are "up for grabs." Click "Post reply" at the top left of the screen and tell us which section you would like to read (include the section number from the left-most column in the reader list, please). Read points 6. to 8. below for what to do before, during and after your recording.
Please claim roles (the numbers in the first column below)! Please note: All Librivox recordings are in the public domain. When you submit your recording, you will be placing your recording in the public domain as well.
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Magic Window:
BC Admin
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This paragraph is temporary and will be replaced by the MC with the list of sections and reader (Magic Window) once this project is in the admin system.
Project Code: ijgLYaZu
Link to author on Wikipedia (if available): ( Moliere) : n/a
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Bit Rate: 128 kbps
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Submit one file per act.
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At the end: End of Act [#].
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bourgeoisgentleman_[role]_[#].mp3 (all lower-case) where ## is the act number.
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I would like to read the dancing master please - takes me back to my dance teacher days! Trivia: I worked my way through college by teaching ballroom dance classes! Thanks partly to "Strictly Ballroom" I emerged after 7 years of college with no significant student debt! That scene in Act 2 reminds me exactly of how I used to talk!
EDIT: Can I recommend to you, when you have space, BCing "The Mikado"? You read so beautifully for some of the other G&S plays I did but I don't think I'll be able to do any more. The Mikado has a couple of hilarious songs and some fascinating dialogue! You could be the Lord High Executioner! Defer, defer, to the Lord High Executioner!
Candybatch wrote:I would like to read the dancing master please - takes me back to my dance teacher days! Trivia: I worked my way through college by teaching ballroom dance classes! Thanks partly to "Strictly Ballroom" I emerged after 7 years of college with no significant student debt! That scene in Act 2 reminds me exactly of how I used to talk!
EDIT: Can I recommend to you, when you have space, BCing "The Mikado"? You read so beautifully for some of the other G&S plays I did but I don't think I'll be able to do any more. The Mikado has a couple of hilarious songs and some fascinating dialogue! You could be the Lord High Executioner! Defer, defer, to the Lord High Executioner!
Thanks you for being the Dancing Master. As I mention in the Summary, this play originally had music and ballet sequences. I'm glad we aren't dancing this version - I'd look like the dancing hippo in Fantasia....
BCing The Mikado could happen - though I have 4 plays currently open. I'll see when one of them finishes unless someone else picks up Mikado.
I would like to help by offering to be one of the Male Singers.
However, reading the words to be sung in act 4, they do not seem to have any rhythmic pattern at all. Do you have any thoughts about what music or chant is to be used?
Also in act 1 there is a passage marked Dialogue in Music for the same 3 singers. Would you want that sung or chanted as well?
Alan the sixth age shifts into the slippered pantaloon with spectacles on nose
DANCING MASTER: All the misfortunes of mankind, all the dreadful disasters that fill the history books, the blunders of politicians and the faults of omission of great commanders, all this comes from not knowing how to dance.
I love this part. What great lines it has! And I can see that I will have to play Jourdain as a real thoughtless bore rather than just a clueless clod.
Act 1 PL OK.
Act 2 rewrites the dance pulse from a quadrille/march LA la LA la to minuet/waltz LA la la. But you have done it much too well for me to allow you to change it. Visually I can see you setting one pulse and Jourdain bumbling through in the other. What a fun play this would be to see! PL OK as well.
alanmapstone wrote:I would like to help by offering to be one of the Male Singers.
However, reading the words to be sung in act 4, they do not seem to have any rhythmic pattern at all. Do you have any thoughts about what music or chant is to be used?
Also in act 1 there is a passage marked Dialogue in Music for the same 3 singers. Would you want that sung or chanted as well?
If you record the words to a pattern of your own, I'll try to make the various chantings line up when I combine them. If worse comes to worse I'll do them sequentially rather than simultaneously.
You certainly may read both of the roles - Act 1 and Act 4 - if you wish. Since the MW has separate sections for each act anyway, separate readers for the two occasions would be okay - even better to have the same reader though. I'll mark that in the MW.
I guess I was channelling all those years teaching complete newbies the wedding waltz! (It actually happened to me once that I had a couple who came in for a course of lessons in waltz - then on the last lesson they brought in their song... and it was in 4/4 time!
Just for a change, I wanted our wedding waltz to be a Viennese Waltz (in 6/8 instead of the usual 3/4) but my husband wanted a glass of champagne and didn't think he could manage 6/8 afterwards! If you have ever seen a good fast Viennese waltz you will know what he means!
I love Molière. I have seen a couple of his plays in our theatres (in French though). I have never read him in English, but would be interested, whether his wit is shining through there as well. Great idea
I would like to volunteer for Madame Jourdain, if that's ok with you.
Sonia
I will be on vacation from Wednesday 27 March till Sunday 14 April
and unable to PL during that time. Thank you for your patience.