Porgy And Bess example essay topic

Girl Crazy (#14) The musical "Girl Crazy" was about a boy named Danny Churchill who lived in New York. His dad was worried about his way with women so he sent him to Custerville, AZ to get him away from them. Danny was to live on the family dude ranch called "The Buzzards". On his way to AZ, Danny rode in a taxi. The driver's name was Gibber Goldfarb. He was known for his very bad Yiddish jokes.

He eventually fell in love with a woman named Patsy West, who was also a nose telephone operator. After Danny gets to Custerville, he meets the post-girl named Molly Grey. He was in love with her, although he had just left his old girlfriend in New York. Her name was Tess Hardy. Danny had stolen Tess away from her old boyfriend; his name was Sam Mason. Sam was very upset at this, so when he heard of Danny's whereabouts, he came to take Molly from him.

It worked for a little while, until Molly realized she should be with Danny. There were also two people named Slick and Kate Fothergill. Slick managed the gambling room at "The Buzzards" that Danny opened to make the place somewhat of a party house. Kate was a nightclub singer that sang in Danny's club.

There were two other people in the story that made it interesting and comical. Their names were Lank and Pete. They were the town villains and local thugs. At the end, these boys end up in jail.

Holly Conant Of Thee I Sing (#16) In the musical "Of Thee I Sing", there were many characters. The lead was probably John P. Wintergreen. It is a story of Wintergreen running for president and all the mishaps he had with women. There were a few people on his political committee. Their names were Louis Lippman, Francis X. Gilhooley, Sen. Robert Lyons, Sen. Carver Jones, and Matthew Arnold Fulton, the chairman of the committee. Alexander Throttlebottom was the vice-president.

The story was about a national beauty contest and the winner got to be the first lady. Just before the winner was announced, John met a girl named Mary Turner. Mary was the secretary for the beauty contest. The two immediately fell in love. The winner of the contest was Diana Devereaux.

After the winner was announced, John told everyone that he couldn't marry her because he was in love with Mary. John did marry Mary, but Diana was not happy. She got the French Ambassador involved in the situation. He was upset because she was related to someone who was related to someone that had once had a lot of power in France.

At the end of the story, Wintergreen's life was over, and he was sitting in front of the Supreme Court Judges when Mary came in and announced that she was pregnant. John got off easy, because of his pregnant wife. She ended up having twins and Diana ends up with Throttlebottom. Holly Conant Porgy and Bess (#20) The story of "Porgy and Bess" was a very unique work. It involved an all black cast, which wasn't very popular in 1935. Act I began in a place called Catfish Row.

There are many people about, the men playing dice and the women watching. There is a woman named Clara, who is singing to her baby. Many men are sitting around the "bones" including Mingo, Jake (Clara's husband), Sporting Life (a drug dealer), and Robbins. A little while into scene one, Porgy enters.

Porgy is a crippled beggar. Soon after Porgy enters, two people named Crown and Bess enter. Crown is a very large man that most people are scared of. Bess is "his girl". The women don't seem to like Bess very much. She is portrayed as a slut and an addict.

A little later Robbins gets into a fight with Crown. Robbins ends up dying, leaving his wife Serena, weeping over his body. Crown would soon be arrested for his murder, so he runs from the police, leaving Bess behind. Crown tells Bess to find a place to live for a little bit and he would soon be back for her. Bess begs Maria, a store owner, to let her in. Maria tells her "not till hell freeze!" The only place left to go was with Porgy.

Scene II began with Robbin's funeral. Serena didn't have enough money for the burial, so she was taking donations. Peter gets arrested for being an eyewitness to Robbin's murder. Act II also began in Catfish Row. There was to be a picnic for Labor Day. On the island that the picnic was held, Bess ran into Crown.

Bess was very upset and very scared of Crown. He told her that he was about to come and get her, and she told him that she loved Porgy now. Crown would not hear of it. He told her to be ready. Bess ended up missing the ship back home. Bess gets back home in Scene.

When she got back, everyone thought she had gotten lost, and she was very sick. Jake and his men (they were fishermen) were about to head out for a day of work. Nelson, one of the men, said it looked like it was about to storm. That gave Clara a scare, but Jake went anyway. Serena promises Porgy that she has the power to make Bess better, after they all pray for her. At the time promised, Bess finally wakes up from her sickness.

Bess tells Porgy of Crown's return, and Porgy promised Bess that he wouldn't take her. At the end of scene, a hurricane starts. Everyone huddles into the same shelter. In Act II, Scene IV, there is a lot of prayer and singing, trying to drown out the sound of the wind and storm.

Clara is very scared for Jake. All of the sudden, they hear a knock at the door and it's Crown. Bess and Porgy had thought he had died in the storm. He come in and starts saying bad things about God. He tells Bess that she will be with him forever. Bess sees Jakes boat outside the window.

Clara gives her baby to Bess and runs to Jake. Crown, after being challenged, goes after Clara. This began Act. It was in the setting of a funeral. It was being held for Jake, Clara, and Crown. But Crown isn't dead!

Porgy knows this and hides so he can attack him and kill him. He does eventually, after a long struggle. The detectives take Porgy in (in Scene II) to identify Crown's body. While he is gone, Sporting Life offers himself to Bess (as well as his drugs). When Porgy comes back, a week later, he was rich from playing dice in jail. He looks all over for Bess, only to find that she had taken Sporting Life up on his offer and she's in New York.

Porgy vows that he will find her... and the story ends.