This year the Westport Public Library will honor the Pulitzer Prize winning author Oscar Hijuelos author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love at our 10th annual Booked for the Evening event. If you’ve not had a chance to read this wonderful tale of Cuban music, love and the immigrant experience, I urge you to do so. The book was adapted into the high energy romance The Mambo Kings staring Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas.
While not strictly a musical, the movie uses music to punctuate the story and convey the sometimes conflicted emotion of the recent immigrant to this country. Another film I love that succeeds so well in doing this is Big Night staring Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub. This is the tale of Primo and Secondo, two Italian brothers who operate a failing Italian restaurant, Paradise. They scheme to get Louis Prima a famous crooner to dine at Paradise in the hopes his celebrity will revitalize their business.
Immigrants bring the food, cultural nuiances and certainly their music to this country.
I recently viewed and loved Songcatcher, which tells of the emotional ties and importance of songs brought to this country by its early Scot and Irish settlers when a musicologist stumbles upon a treasure trove of ballads in rural Appalachia. There are many films that use music to the advantage of the story in our collection. Staff also suggests Sueño about a Mexican singer’s experience in California.