Story Started in Bay City in 1875 Continues Revival with Opera in Omaha
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Guitarist/singer David Lutken uses his Broadway-honed talents to project the Paul Bunyan story.
"Move Over Oklahoma!" enthuses Time Magazine, comparing the Paul Bunyan opera to one of the most popular musicals ever produced.
The story of Paul Bunyan that began in Bay City with the murder of a lumberjack in 1875 is back in the big time.
The unlikely medium bringing the legendary giant lumberjack back to life is the opera, a blend of gentrified song, dance, music and comedy.
"Move Over Oklahoma!" enthuses Time Magazine, comparing the Paul Bunyan opera to one of the most popular musicals ever produced.
A worldwide revival of the Paul Bunyan Opera by Benjamin Britten and W.H. Auden continues withOpera Omaha performances Oct. 5-7-9 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Opera Omaha sponsored yours truly, the author of the 1993 book, "Paul Bunyan: How A Terrible Timber Feller Became a Legend," and David Lutken, narrator and guitar balladeer from the Paul Bunyan production last week in two presentations at branches of the Omaha Public Library.
The remarkable growth of media expositions of the Paul Bunyan tales was described for small but appreciative audiences at the Omaha libraries. Bay City'scentral role as the focal point of the development of the legends was outlined, including:
The 1875 murder of famed lumberjack Fabian "Saginaw Joe" Fournier at the Third Street dock in Bay City and subsequent acquittal of his accused slayer, Adolphus "Blinky" Robertson with attendant heavy publicity leading to campfire storytelling about the hero;
The first Paul Bunyan story in print in the Oscoda (MI) Press in 1906 by James H. MacGillivray, itinerant reporter and uncle of longtime Bay City planner Ronald K. MacGillivray;
Stories, poems, songs, books and the 1941 Britten-Auden opera that played only once at Columbia University, New York City;
Revival of the tales by Walt Disney with a 1958 animated film, released in 1966 and revived in 1996, building Paul Bunyan into a nationally known folklore figure;
A 1995 reprise of the Paul Bunyan opera at the Glimmerglass opera in Cooperstown, New York, and the New York City Opera: Live From The Lincoln Center, also by the Royal Opera Covent Garden Company in London, England, in 1997;
A dozen opera presentations around the world, Britain, France, Germany, and many U.S. venues including the latest, Opera Omaha.
The Royal Opera production won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production.
Revival of the Paul Bunyan opera is one of the greatest turnarounds in the history of the stage, the original production having been panned by the critics and discarded for more than half a century.
Meanwhile, in Hollywood, shooting has started on "Bunyan and Babe," a new film animated by that is sure to see heavy media promotion when completed, probably next year.
Three-time Academy Award winner Jim Rygiel, of "Lord of the Rings" fame, is directing "Bunyan and Babe" for the Exodus Film Group. Set in modern times, "Bunyan and Babe" is a live-action family adventure film adaptation of the legend of Paul Bunyan,featuring the voice of Eddie Griffin as the animated Babe the Blue Ox.
"Bunyan and Babe" tells the story of Bunyan's attempts, with the help of a couple of kids, to rescue his ox from the evil clutches of a demented circus owner.
"The Paul Bunyan story is a true American classic tale," says Rygiel. "I grew up in the Midwest and have always been fascinated with the tales of Bunyan and Babe. I am thrilled to be bringing this modern day tall tale to the big screen."
In Omaha last week, the author was honored to share the platform with David Lutken, who performed two selections from the opera that he will play and sing Oct. 5-7-9.
Mr. Lutken, a native of Louisiana, is an singer/actor/director with many Broadway and off-Broadway credits, including "Will Rogers Follies," "The Civil War," and "Woody Guthrie's American Song."
Father John Schlegel, S.J., president of Creighton University, Omaha, NE, portrays the voice of the legendary Paul Bunyan in the colorful production that includes a cast of singing trees, wild geese, cowboy cooks, Swedish loggers, cats on roller blades, a tap dancing Western Union boy, a blues quartet, a chorus of lumberjacks, farmers and frontier women and Paul's daughter, "Tiny."
Written as an ode to America, Paul Bunyan allegorically follows the growth of the country from virgin forest to settlement and cultivation and leaves us with a touching message.
"Paul Bunyan" is a full-length operetta idea for children ages 11 and older and is also widely embraced by adult audiences.###
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