Scenic Designer

Scenic Designer

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THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY

MFA Creative Work Project: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY: A SET DESIGN PROPOSAL FOR BRECHT’S OPERA

San Francisco State University 2013

MFA Creative Work Project

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY: A SET DESIGN PROPOSAL FOR BRECHT’S OPERA

San Francisco State University May 2013

The title of the first scene is projected in red.

THE FOUNDING OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS SUCKERVILLE

WITHIN A FEW WEEKS A CITY HAD ARISEN AND THE FIRST SHARKS AND HARPIES WERE MAKING THEMSELVES AT HOME

NEWS OF THE FOUNDING OF A NEW JERUSALEM REACHED THE BIG CITIES

THE NEXT FEW YEARS SAW THE DISCONTENTED FROM EVERY COUNTRY MAKING THEIR WAY TOWARDS MAHAGONNY

ONE DAY THERE CAME TO MAHAGONNY AMONG OTHERS A MAN CALLED JIMMY GALLAGHER. WE’RE GOING TO TELL YOU HIS STORY

EVERY GREAT UNDERTAKING HAS ITS UPS AND DOWNS

SEEK AND YE SHALL NOT FIND

A piano starts playing, lights come up revealing Jimmy and his friends sitting in front of the As You Like It Tavern smoking cigarettes and listening to the music.

THYPHOON! A HURRICANE THREATENS MAHAGONNY

DURING THIS DREADFUL NIGHT AN UNTUTORED LUMBERJACK CALLED JIMMY GALLAGHER HAD A VISION IN WHICH THE LAWS OF HUMAN HAPPINESS WERE REVEALED.

Jimmy chained to a tree comes in from stage right, pushing a tree as he is walking center stage. Once he is center, he sits on the floor and begins his aria.

EVERY CITY HAS ITS OWN NOTION OF WHAT IS JUST, AND MAHAGONNY’S WAS NO SILLIER THAN THAT OF ANY OTHER

AT THIS TIME A GOOD MANY PEOPLE IN MAHAGONNY WHO WANTED SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND BETTER BEGAN DREAMING OF THE CITY OF BENARES. BUT MEANWHILE BENARES WAS VISITED BY AN EARTHQUAKE

EXECUTION OF JIMMY GALLAGHER. MANY OF YOU, PERHAPS, WILL BE SHOCKED AT WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE. BUT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, ASK YOURSELVES THIS QUESTION: “WOULD I HAVE PAID JIMMY GALLAGHER’S DEBTS?’ WOULD YOU? ARE YOU SURE?

GOD COMES TO MAHAGONNY

IN THESE DAYS, BECAUSE OF THE UNHEARD-OF RISE IN PRICES, GIGANTIC RIOTS BROKE OUT IN MAHAGONNY, PRELUDING THE END OF SUCKERVILLE. THE RIOTERS CARRIED THE BODY OF JIMMY GALLAGHER IN THE PROCESSION

All THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY Mulan Gingerbread House Float - Los Altos Festival of Light

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY Mulan Gingerbread House Float - Los Altos Festival of Light