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A quick overview of Weill’s 1949 opera based on the novel Cry, the Beloved Country and set in the days before apartheid in South Africa.

Premiered

1949

Music by

Kurt Weill

Libretto by

Maxwell Anderson

Language

English

In early 1948, former German citizen and popular Broadway composer Kurt Weill and playwright Maxwell Anderson read a newly-published South African novel entitled Cry, the Beloved Country. Inspired by the book’s themes of struggle, oppression, and redemption, the two men asked the author Alan Paton if they could adapt the story for the stage.

Once permission was given, Weill studied Zulu music to incorporate African cultural authenticity, while Anderson turned Paton’s words into poetic lyrics. The show, with the new title Lost in the Stars, opened on Broadway in October 1949.

Act I

In the late 1940s, Ixopo, South Africa is struggling. Though parts of the region are still beautiful and green, its lower hills are dry. Young men and women have abandoned their native villages because they cannot earn a living on the land.

In nearby Ndotsheni, a Black priest named Stephen Kumalo and his wife worry that their son Absalom may have hit hard times. Absalom has moved to Johannesburg and hasn’t sent word for a long while. Stephen decides to take a train to the city. At the station, Stephen encounters a white neighbor named James Jarvis and his son Arthur, a patron of Stephen’s church. Though Arthur is friendly, James is distant, as he does not socialize with people of color.

Once in Johannesburg, Stephen visits his troubled sister Gertrude, who grants Stephen custody of her small son Alex. The priest then searches the city (with some help from his brother, John) and discovers that Absalom has fallen into a life of crime. Stephen also learns that his son has a girlfriend who is pregnant.

Elsewhere in Johannesburg, Absalom, his cousin Matthew, and their friend, Johannes, discuss a plot to steal from a local home. Despite warnings from his girlfriend Irina, Absalom agrees to join in the plan in order to provide for
his unborn child. Left alone, Irina is confronted by Stephen. The two agree to join forces to help Absalom.

Later, during the robbery, the three accomplices are shocked to discover the house they have chosen is unexpectedly occupied. Absalom accidentally fires a gun and kills the owner, who turns out to be Arthur Jarvis. The citizens of Johannesburg—both Black and white—are horrified. The robbers are arrested, and Stephen fears all is lost.

Act II

Following the arrest, Stephen realizes Absalom’s only choices are to “tell a lie and live” (plead innocent and go free) or “speak truth and die” (confess and be executed). Desperate, the priest approaches James Jarvis to ask for help in securing mercy. Jarvis declines.

At the trial, Matthew and Johannes plead their innocence, but Absalom refuses to lie and is sentenced to be hanged. Following the ruling, Stephen marries Irina and Absalom in a small ceremony. Resolving to appeal the case, the priest brings Irina and Alex to his village to wait for news.

Once home, Stephen, weary and depressed, announces plans to leave the church. But will his faith be restored? Will the execution be repealed? Most importantly for the future of South Africa: Can the families of Jarvis and Kumalo find a way to reconcile?

Listen to the Story

Presented by Washington National Opera, host Saul Lilienstein takes you through the musical world of Kurt Weill’s 1949 opera based on the novel Cry, the Beloved Country and set in the days before apartheid in South Africa, Lost in the Stars.

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