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Glossary of Terms and Concepts

 

Act I

 

hep (pg 1): "Knowledgeable, 'wise to', up-to-date; smart, stylish" (1)

 

(Japanese) court etiquette (pg 1): A set of very specific rules and manners which might seem difficult for a foreigner to grasp. (2)

 

minstrel (pg 2): "A person employed by a patron to provide entertainment by singing, playing music, storytelling, juggling, etc." (1)

 

humours (pg 2): "In ancient medieval physiology and medicine: any of four fluids of the body (blood, phlegm, choler, and so-called melancholy or black bile) believed to determine, by their relative proportions and conditions, the state of health and the temperament of a person or animal." (1)

 

hold my brass (pg 3): Nanki-Poo is referring to his trumpet.

 

big band (pg 3): "A musical style, also called swing music, a style of jazz, popular especially in the 1930s and often arranged for a large dance band, marked by a smoother beat and 

more flowing phrasing than Dixielandand having less complex harmonies and rhythms than modern 

jazz." (3)

 

Mikado (pg 4): "A Western term for the emperor of Japan. It was used more often before the mid-nineteenth century and is now a historical term." (1)

 

cut a dash (pg 5): "to look good or elegant, usually said about a male." (4)

 

Billy Sunday (pg 9): "an American (US) evangelist who was known for his fire-and-brimstone preaching style. He began his evangelical work in 1896." (5)

 

Rev'rend Ike (pg 9): "The Rev. Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II, born in 1935, was a flamboyant minister better known as the Reverend Ike, who preached the blessings of material prosperity to a large congregation in New York and to television and radio audiences nationwide." (6)

 

revivalist (pg 9): "A person who promotes, produces, or takes part in a religious revival." (1)

 

"Ragtime serenader and the others of his race" (pg 9): In original 1885 production, the line was,  "There’s the n****r serenader, and the others of his race." (7) "The genre of ragtime emerged as a form of music towards the end of the 19th century, and this was one of a number of musical styles which had their roots in this time period. This increasing diversity resulted from the fusion of African and European musical ideas in the Southern States of the U.S." Presumably, Ko-Ko is talking about African American people. (8)

 

partyline (pg 9): "A telephone line shared by more than two subscribers." If a member of one household was using the phone, everyone had to wait for him or her to finish. (1)

 

The recluse who like Garbo simply "vants to be alone" (pg 9): In the 1932 film Grand Hotel, actress Greta Garbo said, "I want to be alone" as Russian ballerina Grusinskaya. The quote would follow her for the rest of her life as one of the most famous moments of her career. Watch the clip on YouTube by clicking here. (9)

 

bobby sox fanatics (pg 9): The term "bobby-soxer" refers to American (US) teenage girls in the 1940s-1950s. (1)

 

Frank Sinatra (pg 9): A popular crooner whose singing captured the attention of 1940s bobby-soxers. These young women were huge Sinatra fans and would scream and swoon when he took the stage and sometimes incite riots. (10)

 

swing-time pianist (pg 9): "swingtime is a form of dance music combining elements of rhythm and blues, soul, hip-hop, and rap music."

 

liberal excess (pg 10): This refers to "Franklin Roosevelt who campaigned, successfully, on a pledge to re-create the war socialism of the Wilson administration, a goal that was wildly popular with the liberal

establishment of Roosevelt's day." (11)

 

Franklin Delano and wife (pg 10): "Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, served the longest presidential term in office in US history between 1933-1942. During his time in office he guided the country through the Great Depression and WWII. The policies that he championed in the New Deal helped put Americans back to work and revive the economy. He was known for his strong fireside chats that used the radio to communicate directly with the American people." His wife, Eleanor, was also extremely politically active. (12)

 

The avid New Dealist (pg 10): "The New Deal was a series of economic programs passed during Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term in office as a solution to the Great Depression. These programs greatly expanded the size, scope, and power of the federal government, giving the President and his Brain Trust near-dictatorial status." (11)

 

Exchequer (pg 11): One who begins financial proceedings against a person, such as seizing assets. (1) 

 

"abject grovel in characteristic Japanese attitude" (pg 12): This refers to a common belief in the west that Japanese culture demands that its people are submissive. 

 

tutelary (pg 12): "having the position of protector, guardian, or patron over a specific person, place, or thing." (1)

 

second trumpet (pg 14): a seat in an orchestra or band. The number indicates a hierarchy or ranking.

 

J. Edgar Hoover (pg 15): "The director of the FBI from 1924-1972. He had rabid anti-Communist and anti-subversive views and spent much of his career gathering intelligence on radical groups and individuals and "subversives." Martin Luther King Jr. was one of his favorite targets. Hoover's methods included infiltration, burglaries, illegal wiretaps and planted evidence, and his legacy is tainted because of it."(13) Although rumors persist that Hoover enjoyed cross-dressing, this have proved to be an urban legend.

 

plighted (pg 16): "Given in pledge or assurance; solemnly promised" (1)

 

nought (pg 16): "Nothing, not anything." (1)

 

soliloquizing (pg 17): "To engage in soliloquoy; to talk to oneself" (1)

 

capital offence (pg 18): a crime that is punishable by death (British spelling)

 

diffuse (pg 19) "to spread widely, shed abroad, disperse, disseminate"

 

fatal steel (pg 19): guillotine blade

 

pestilential (pg 20): "Carrying, producing, or tending to produce pestilence or epidemic disease" (1) 

 

inaugurate (pg 23): "To admit or induct (a person) to an office or dignity by formal ceremony" (1)

 

cloy (pg 24): To choke or clog, as with sweetness in a smell or a taste.

 

dole (pg 25): "The state of being divided" (1)

 

succumb (pg 26): to give in to

 

connubial (pg 26): "of or pertaining to marriage, or the married state" (1)

 

jive (pg 27): "talk that is misleading, untrue, empty, or pretentious; hence, anything false, worthless, or unpleasant" (1)

 

Nagasaki (pg 28): A city in Japan, devastated by an atomic bomb dropped by the United States during World War II

 

Saki (pg 28): "A Japanese fermented liquor made from rice" (1)

 

Fuji (pg 28): Mount Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan.

 

Kabuki (pg 28): An ancient and stylized form of Japanese theatre in which all characters are played by men and wear heavy makeup and elaborate costumes.

 

haughty (pg 28): "Proud, arrogant, supercilious" (1)

 

flytrap (pg 30): A carnivorous plant with sharp teeth and a mouth to eat insects

 

gasbag (pg 30): One who talks extensively while saying nothing.

 

Act II

 

supple (pg 31): "Of a soft, yielding consistency" (1)

 

celestial (pg 32): of or pertaining to the heavens

 

diffidence (pg 32):"Want of confidence or faith; mistrust, misgiving, doubt" (1)

 

arbitrary (pg 34): Occurring at random or without a point or purpose.

 

prithee (pg 34): a condensed form of "I pray thee," or please

 

madrigal (pg 34): "a song for one or more voices with essential instrumental accompaniment, originating in the 16th century" (1)

 

"go back to the Renaissance" (pg 35): Madrigals originated in the Renaissance period.

 

deluding (pg 36): Fooling oneself or another, evading or eluding

 

nominal (pg 39): In name only

 

affadavit (pg 39): "A written statement, formally confirmed by oath or affirmation, for use as evidence in court, or in support of certain applications." (1)

 

decree (pg 40): An official order

 

philanthropist (pg 40): A person who performs charity work or is charitable.

 

"to make...each evil liver a running river" (pg 40): The liver was believed to contain yellow bile, one of the humours. An inbalance of yellow bile was thought to produce aggression and irritability.

 

sublime (pg 41): "set or raised aloft; high up" (1)

 

Ellington (pg 41): "An originator of big-band jazz, Duke Ellington was an American composer, pianist and bandleader who composed thousands of scores over his 50-year career.He created one of the most distinctive ensemble sounds in Western music and continued to play what he called "American Music" until shortly before his death in 1974." (14)

 

jitterbug-jive (pg 41): A type of swing dance that was popular in the US in the 1940s

 

Bojangles (pg 42): Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was an iconic African-American tap dancer and actor best known for his Broadway performances and film roles. (15)

 

snicker-snee (pg 43): "A knife resembling a sword" (16)

 

Heir Apparent (pg 45): "a person whose right to succeed to certain property cannot be defeated, 

provided such person survives his ancestor." (16)

 

slap-dash (pg 46): haphazard, done with no care

 

connoisseurs (pg 47): Experts

 

tom-tit (pg 49): "A common name of the Blue Titmouse, a small bird." (1)

 

dicky-bird (pg 49): "In nursery and familiar speech: a little bird, such as a sparrow, robin, or canary-bird" (1)

 

bespangled (pg 49): "besprinkled or adorned with small, glittering objects" (1)

 

blighted (pg 49): Struck with misfortune

 

callous (pg 49): Hard and unfeeling

 

obdurate (pg 49): "Hardened in wickedness or against moral influence" (1)

 

gale (pg 50): A very strong wind

 

"the Congo or the Niger" (pg 50): Two rivers in Africa

 

dolts (pg 50): idiots

 

Registrar (pg 52): "A person responsible for keeping a register or record; an official recorder" (1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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