User Reviews

This is a new film version of Leonard Bernstein's one act opera "Trouble in Tahiti" which was written in 1952 and has rarely been performed since. I am extremely pleased with this television version. Before watching it, I assumed it would be a filmed play, which is OK with me. But what we actually have is a little mini-film with great quality production values. The film-makers have also employed a very interesting technique of combining their photo images with some older film from the early 50s -- for example the scene where the husband and wife meet on the street and quickly agree not to have lunch seems to have been digitally transposed on top of film from the period. This technique is interesting, and not over-used.

I loved the cast, everyone was completely perfect. It was like watching a really good stage version of a classic show, except even better because of the cinematic aspects of the project as realized. Karl Daymond is properly imposing and invulnerable as "genius" "angel" Sam. Stephanie Novacek's Dinah is a study in suburban frustration. They both have excellent voices and physically match the "type" they're playing perfectly. The supporting cast is also excellent, particularly the trio which forms the "greek chorus" of the music. Musically this is a very faithful adaptation, I didn't notice any major changes in the orchestration or the vocal arrangements from the version I have on vinyl that Bernstein himself supervised if I'm not mistaken.

"Trouble in Tahiti" is one of my favorite works by Bernstein, and not one that gets much attention. I was so surprised and pleased by how great this production is; I will definitely be buying it for my collection and I hope the producers make many more films out of classic musical material because none of them were properly filmed by Hollywood. I would die to see these guys do a faithful version of Bernstein's "On the Town" or any number of other shows. Any flaws in the film itself are merely reproductions of whatever small flaws might have been in Bernstein's original work, which was a little bit ponderous and only really takes off satirically in the second half when Dinah goes to the movies ("What tripe! What driiiiivel!".... which actually represents Bernstein's largely unspoken feelings about what was done to "On the Town" by MGM and Gene Kelly). Music in America has always to some extent been about escape or nostalgia or some combination of the two. Musicians played music to remind people of the homes they left behind, whether it was to go to war or to come to America or whatever the reason. In the 1920s, if not earlier, we start to see the first rumblings of what Mr. Bernstein would later sonorously designate as "American music" (he always made sure to praise George Gershwin but kept his highest accolades for atonal composers, who the public continued to reject despite Mr. Bernstein's eloquent arguments). "Porgy and Bess" -- which failed in its Broadway run but had been revived to great success in the mid 1940s after George Gershwin's death -- is sort of the touchstone for Bernstein's work here, as well as the efforts of Bernstein's friend Marc Blitzstein such as "Cradle Will Rock." Obviously "Trouble in Tahiti" is not as ambitious as "Porgy and Bess", lacking its length and its narrative scope; but Bernstein actually intended it to be only the first act in a three part opera, though he didn't return to the theme until quite a few decades later as it turned out. So on a personal level for Bernstein I think "Trouble in Tahiti" is perhaps even a signature work, despite being somewhat "minor" in scope. He was exploring opera and the aria format while at the same time teasing his listeners/viewers with the "trio" music which is roughly in the mode of late/mid 40s popular harmony groups like "The Andrews Sisters" and "The Ink Spots." I'd also note that there's a great similarity to the satirical function they play in the show and the style of comedy song employed by the "Revuers," the Greenwich Village sketch musical group that included Judy Holiday, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, important collaborators and friends of Bernstein's. So there's quite a lot of Bernstein's past here, but the arias sung in particular by Dinah point the way more towards his later work with Sondheim on "West Side Story." Basically my way of looking at it is that "Trouble in Tahiti" represents Bernstein at a turning point, not sure quite how seriously he wants to take his classical composing efforts (and thus unwilling to devote the time to write a complete opera in one effort), wanting to leave his past behind but not too far behind.

I haven't seen the 1954 TV version and I don't know if it's still available, but it's hard for me to imagine a more accessible and faithful version of "Trouble in Tahiti" than what is presented here. It represents an important and neglected period of one of America's most important conductor's career, and it makes satirical statements about American mythology and the ways we define ourselves that are still completely valid as we stumble into the 21st Century without dear Mr. Bernstein.

TROUBLE IN TAHITI is a very short one act opera about life in suburbia. Instead of princes and kings it is populated by very ordinary people living their everyday lives.

Sam and Dinah are unhappily married, with one child and a white house in the suburbs. Dinah suspects that Sam is cheating. She is in analysis (she doesn't have a job and we wonder who takes care of their son) but it's not helping.

One afternoon she sees a movie called TROUBLE IN TAHITI which upsets her greatly, but that evening when Sam suggests that they go see it she agrees readily.

The end.

It's been commented on in many places that there's not a lot that actually happens in this opera. There's more going on in the characters' heads than on the stage, and that gives Bernstein an opportunity for arias that are also internal monologues. Instead of advancing the plot the music comments on it and examines the inner lives of the characters.

This production is filmed like a movie, and that presents some problems. Realistic sets for the house and Sam's office aren't as effective as when it is done on stage with very little in the way of set decoration. Houston Grand Opera did a production of this show for PBS that was a double feature with the sequel, A QUIET PLACE. I remember it fondly and would say it was more effective, but that version isn't available and this one is.

I'm not going to go into a lengthy Freudian analysis here, but early in the show Dinah reminds Sam that their son's school play is that afternoon. He tells her that he can't go because he's in a handball tournament.

Bernstein's biography tells of his father, also named Sam, missing Bernstein's performance of a piano concerto by Grieg with the Boston Public School Orchestra. Is TROUBLE IN TAHITI revenge on dad? Good question. I don't know.

But it is good Bernstein. Since I was born in 1946 the manners and styles of America in the 50's are very familiar to me. Younger viewers may be puzzled by many elements here, especially the passive characteristics of Dinah.

Don't be afraid because it's opera. It won't bite. Plus it's only forty minutes long, so that might make people feel adventurous.