Knickerbocker Holiday

Knickerbocker Holiday is a 1938 musical written by Kurt Weill (music) and Maxwell Anderson (book and lyrics); based loosely on Washington Irving's Father Knickerbocker's Stories about life in 17th-century New Netherland (old New York). The musical numbers include "September Song", now considered a pop standard.

History

Knickerbocker Holiday is both a romantic comedy and a thinly veiled allegory equating the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt with fascism. (A Roosevelt ancestor is one of the characters on the corrupt New Amsterdam council in the play.) Playwright Anderson believed that government was necessary in society, but that it must always be watched because it is swayed by the self-interests of those in power. He saw FDR's New Deal as another example of the corporatism and concentration of political power which had given rise to Nazism and Stalinism.

Plot summary

The action is narrated by 19th-century author Washington Irving, who announces his intent to write a history of the original Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam. The story opens in Manhattan in 1647, where the colony awaits the arrival of its new Governor from Holland, Peter Stuyvesant. Irving selects as his hero the young Brom Broeck, a brave but impulsive fellow who becomes enraged if anyone tries to give him orders. The narrator and his character reflect that this independent streak is characteristic of American citizens.

Knickerbocker Holiday (film)

Knickerbocker Holiday is a 1944 American musical film directed by Harry Joe Brown and starring Nelson Eddy, Charles Coburn and Constance Dowling. It is based on the musical play of the same title set in the 17th century colony of New Amsterdam. The film's sets were designed by the art director Bernard Herzbrun.

Partial cast

References

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External links