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1962
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Jisr al-Qamar (Bridge of the Moon)
- Written and Produced by: Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Sabri Sharif
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Premier Performance:
- Baalbeck International Festival
This operetta begins with the appearance of a spellbound maiden near the
Bridge of the Moon. She begs the village chieftain who witnesses the
apparition to save her, and says that she can only be rescued through
love; she then disappears. During the following days, tensions increase
between the first village and its neighbor, which is short of water to
irrigate its crops. Then a fortune-teller in the first village makes the
maiden appear; she announces that a hidden treasure will come into
existence at the foot of the Bridge. The two villages subsequently meet
at a traditional festival, and tempers rise to the point where fighting
is about to break out. The maiden again appears and tells both sides
that the way for them to find the hidden treasure lies in cooperation
and energetic tilling of the land. The villages decide to share water
and all ends well.
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1963
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Al-Lail Wa'l Qindil (Night and the Lantern
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Sabri Sharif
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Performances:
- Baalbeck International Festival
Theater of the Casino Du Liban
Damascus International Festival
This light musical operetta tells thestory of a young villager who owns
a lantern shop of many colors. After much e ffort the shopkeeper and her
family succeed in making a largelantern to light the whole village. This
unique lantern is later stolen by a villain. Through her singing the
shopkeeper of lanterns plays a major role in finding the lost lantern
and returning it to the village.
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1964
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Bayya' al-Khawatim (Rings' Salesman)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Sabri Sharif
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Premier Performance:
- The Cedars' Festival
This light musical operetta is about a small village where the young
people are preparing for an annual festival in which many will choose
spouses. The mayor of the village, who has a niece named Rima, decides
that the villagers are too bored and need to have their imagination
stimulated. He invents and tells stories about a fictitious person named
Rabi', describing him as an enemy of the village. Then two idlers in
the'village start to steal, damage property, and so forth, while putting
the blame on Rabi'. Things look even worse when a tall, strong stranger
enters the village, says that his name is Rabi', and asks Rima where he
can find the village's mayor. But it turns out that he only wants to ask
the mayor's permission to sell engagement rings and jewelry to the
villagers. The story ends happily as the two idlers are exposed and
forced to marry girls chosen by the mayor.
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1966
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Hala wa-l-Malik (Hala and the King)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Sabri Sharif
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Performances:
- Piccadilly Theater, Beirut
Damascus International Fair
Cedars' Festival
This is a light musical operetta about a village where everyone,
including a very poor girl, who is the daughter of a drunk, wears a
mask. The officials suddenly choose this young lady to be the bride of a
king. When she is brought before him, she pleads with him that she is a
very poor wretched girl and that her father is a drunk; she wishes to
run away. The of ficials decide to confront her father, in order to
learn whether she is telling the truth or Iying. When her father is
faced with the situation, he is so happy for his daughter that he denies
that she is his daughter, in order to give her a better life. The
wedding takes place and everyone lives happily, all because of the
simplicity and sincerity of the young girl that the king loved.
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1967
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Ayyam Fakhr al-Din (The Days of Fakhr al-Din)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Sabri Sharif
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Premier Performance:
- Baalbeck International Festival
This musical play is about seventeenth-century Lebanese pa triots. It
begins in 1618 with Prince Fakhr al-Din's return to Lebanon from
exile. Acclaimed by the Lebanese, he is helped by a female singer of
patriotic songs but opposed by those who stand to gain from Lebanon's
domination by a foreign power. When the Prince's forces suffer heavy
losses in a clash with the Turks, he goes into hiding. The singer seeks
him out and tries to persuade him to remain in Lebanon. Upon learning
that the country is peaceful, prosperous and likely to have a bright
future, he decides to leave in order that this may remain true.
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1969
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Al-Shakhs (ThePerson)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Sabri Sharif
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Performances:
- Piccadilly Theater, Beirut
Damascus International Festival
This light musical operetta takes place in a village. One day in the
bazaar, the police suddenly appear and tell everyone to leave and get
off the streets, because the commander is coming to the village. Upon
his arrival, a young lady, who sells tomatoes from her small cart, is
still on the scene. She cannot understand the reason for all the
commotion or see why she is being told not to sell her tomatoes. When
she sees the commander, she starts singing for him. The officials
immediately take her to prison and confiscate the cart that she loves
so much. Somehow, she encounters the commander by accident and tells
him her story. He is shocked by what he hears. He immediately frees
her and decides to return as soon as possible to find out whether he,
himself, is free in his own territory.
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1970
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Ya'ish Ya'ish (Hurrah, Hurrah)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Sabri Sharif
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Performances:
- Piccadilly Theater, Beirut
Damascus International Festival
This satirical musical play deals with successive coups in
theimaginary country of Mida. At the beginning, Mida is ruled by an
emperor, who is soon deposed but escapes disguised as an ordinary
citizen. Under the name of "Barhoum," he takes refuge in a village
shop. From the gossip there he learns a great deal about the situation
in the country. He also makes friends with the leader of a gang of
smugglers, and hears through gossip that the latter is involved in a
new coup plot. The second coup takes place and the emperor (as
Barhoum) is appointed head of state. He quickly sends some of his
followers to search for the leaders of the previous regime, and to
investigate the village shop in case the deposed rulers are hiding
there as he did.
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1970
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Jibal al-Suwwan (Mountains of Flint)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Sabri Sharif
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Performances:
- Baalbeck International Festival
Damascus International Festival
This musical operetta is a story of a tyrant who conquers a
neighboring village. There, the tyrant is opposed by a man and his
daughter. The father is killed in his daughter's presence. She manages
to escape, eventually returning to help her people rid themselves of
their occupier. During the struggle, she is executed on the same spot
where her father was murdered. Thus she sacrifices her life for the
freedom of her oppressed people.
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1970
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Sah al-Nawm (Wake-up Sleeper!)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Sabri Sharif
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Performances:
- Damascus International Festival
Piccadilly Theater, Beirut
This musical operetta a tells a story of a king, who sleeps almost
constantly, waking up only once a month to sign documents with the
official stamp. A poor young girl in the same village has a small hut
without any roofing. She uses an umbrella to shelter herself. This
goes on for a long time, until one day the king wakes up and signs
some papers. He totally ignores the girl's request fcr help, and goes
and sits under a tree. The young girl decides to sing to him in order
to put him to sleep. When he is asleep, she takes the official stamp
from his hand and starts stamping all the worthwhile proposals that
the king has ignored. In one month's time, the whole village blossoms
and develops.
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1972
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Nas Min Wara' (People Made of Paper)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Sabri Sharif
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Performances:
- Piccadilly Theater, Beirut
In the sauare where village folks have been singing and dancing, a
policeman appears, halts the festivities and announces the beginning
of "the democratic era." On election day corrupt political candidates
offer all kinds of promises, but all the villagers want is to
continue living their simple lives and bc melry. Mariyya, the village
girl, dares to ridicule authority in her songs, succeeding at the same
time to escape punishment. The chorus of villagers sing passages from
Gibran's The Prophet as they wait for a new savior to free them from
their state of political intrigue.
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1972
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Naturat al-Mafatih (The Safekeeper of the Keys)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Sabri Sharif
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Performances:
- Baalbeck International Festival
Damascus International Festival
This musical operetta is about a king who is very selfish. Eventually,
everyone decides to leave the country. As they are leaving, they give
the keys of their homes to a very trustworthy young lady. When the
village is totally empty, the king demands the keys. The girl refuses
to give them to him, but instead gradually convinces him that a
kingdom without people is not worth much. ~le then asks all the people
to return to their houses.
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1973
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al-Mahatta (The Station)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Berge Vazilian
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Performances:
- Piccadilly Theater, Beirut
Damascus International Festival
This musical operetta takes place in a large potato field, where a
young woman convinces the people through her work and singing that, if
they try hard enough and believe that there will be a train station in
the potato field, it will come to be. After a while the people become
so convinced that they actually can hear the train noise from
afar. The moral of the story is that if one really believes in
something very strongly, and works toward it, it will come true.
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1973
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Qasidat Hub (A Love Poem)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Sabri Sharif
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Performances:
- Baalbeck International Festival
This Iyrical operetta is a mixture of sketches in which leading
Lebanese singers including Wadi' al-Safi and Nasri Shams Eddine share
with Fayrouz the stage to sing of the invincibility of love. The
lyrics in colloquial and classical Arabic include new compositions and
ancient Andalusian favorites rendered in a modernized version.
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1974
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Loulou (Loulou)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Sabri Sharif
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Performances:
- Baalbeck International Festival
This musical op eretta tells the story of a young girl who is
convicted of the murder of someone in the village and is sentenced to
15 years in prison. A few weeks before the end of her term, she is
discovered to be innocent and is released. She does not tell the
villagers anything, and they assume that she served her full
term. Later, she tells the villagers that one day she will kill one of
them. She keeps everyone in fear and uncertainty.
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1974
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Maisal-Rim (TheTree and TheDeer)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Berge Vazilian
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Performances:
- Piccadilly Theater, Beirut
Damascus International Festival
This light musical operetta is a story about a girl whose car breaks
down en route to her mother's village. In the village where her car is
being fixed, there is a feud between two families. The girl becomes
involved in the feud and ends it by bringing a boy and girl from the
families to the fountain of marriage. Because of all this delay, she
has to inform her mother and her cousin that she cannot attend the
latter's wedding. However, she has performed a good deed by helping
the young couple and ending the feud.
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1977
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Batra (Petra)
- Written and Produced by:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Director:
- Berge Vazilian
- Lyrics and Musical Score:
- Rahbani Brothers
- Site of Performances:
- Amman Roman Amphitheater
Damascus International Festival
Piccadilly Theater, Beirut
Theater of the Casino Du Liban
This operetta tells the story of the queen of Petra, who has a little
girl seven years old. Her husba nd, the king, is at war with the
Romans. The Romans, who are losing, kidnap the little daughter and
hold her as a hostage. They then warn Petra that dire consequences
will ensue unless she tells her husband to stop fighting. Petra
refuses to pass this ultimatum on to the king, and the Romans execute
the girl. Her husband wins the war and saves the country. He returns
as a conquering hero, but his joy ends when Petra gives him the sad
news about his daughter.
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