To: Vocalist <vocalist>
From: Naomi Gurt Lind
Subject: re: "George"- Bolcom
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Molly wrote:

>I am thinking of doing this Cabaret song by William
>Bolcom.
>It has the potential to be very funny and over the
>top.
>Any of you mezzos .....have you performed this?
>Any ideas you can give me on interpretation?

Well...I'm not a mezzo and haven't performed it, but I'll answer because I
love this song! I think the greatness of Bolcom's Cabaret Songs is in
their tragicomic sensibility (well, not "Amor" but you know what I mean).
Yes, they are funny, but as in much of Sondheim's music, the laughs hurt a
little bit. The drag queen stuff in "George" is a great chance to camp it
up, and for my money the song is most effective when the humor of the drag
queen stuff turns on a dime to reveal George's fate. (A gay-bashing, for
those who don't know the song.)

Enjoy working on this song; it's a great one! I envy you!
Naomi Gurt Lind