Queen of the Mist | |
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Music | Michael John LaChiusa |
Lyrics | Michael John LaChiusa |
Book | Michael John LaChiusa |
Basis | The life of Annie Edson Taylor |
Productions | 2011 Off-Broadway 2019 Off-West End |
Awards | 2012 Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical 2020 Off West End Award Best Musical Director |
Queen of the Mist is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa. Queen tells the story of Annie Edson Taylor. Produced by Transport Group Theatre Company, the musical first opened Off-Broadway in 2011.
The musical was the inaugural show of Transport Group's 20th Century Project. [1] The musical premiered Off-Broadway at The Gym at Judson on November 6, 2011 and closed on December 4, 2011. [2] The musical received positive reviews. [3] The show received its UK Premiere at the Jack Studio Theatre in London, produced by Pint of Wine Theatre Company, on April 9, 2019 and closed on April 27, 2019.
The musical was directed by Jack Cummings III, with musical director Chris Fenwick, choreographer Scott Rink, assistant choreographer Megan Kelley, set design Sandra Goldmark, costume design Kathryn Rohe, lighting design R. Lee Kennedy, sound design Walter Trarbach, assistant set design Aaron Sheckler, assistant light design Robert Eshleman, orchestrations Michael Starobin, and wig design Paul Huntley. The band consisted of David Byrd Marrow (French horn), Chris Fenwick (keyboard 1), Susan French (Violin), Martha Hyde (woodwinds), Jeffrey Levine (bass), Mark Mitchell (keyboard 2), and Anik Oulianine (cello). [4]
The cast was led by Mary Testa (Annie Edson Taylor) and Andrew Samonsky (Mr. Frank Russell) with D.C. Anderson (A New Manager), Stanley Bahorek (Mike Taylor), Theresa McCarthy (Jane), Julia Murney (Carrie Nation), and Tally Sessions (Man with his Hand Wrapped in a Handkerchief).
The musical was made possible by major support by the Shen Family Foundation. [4]
The musical was directed by Dominic O'Hanlon, with musical director Jordan Li-Smith and associate Connor Fogel, design by Tara Usher, costumer Lemington Ridley, sound design by Adrian Jeakins. The production was produced by Blake Klein for Pint of Wine Theatre Company. [5]
The cast was led by Trudi Camilleri (Annie Edson Taylor) and Will Arundell (Frank Russell) with Emily Juler (Jane), Emma Ralston (Carrie Nation), Tom Blackmore (Mike Taylor), Conor McFarlane (Man with his Hand Wrapped in a Handkerchief) and Andrew Carter (A New Manager). The band was conducted by Jordan Li-Smith, and consisted of Maude Wolstenholme (French horn), Connor Fogel (keyboard 1), Grace Buttler (Violin), Claire Shaw (woodwinds), Jack Cherry (bass), Ashley Jacobs (keyboard 2), and Hannah Thomas (cello).
The production was nominated for two 2020 Off West End Awards, winning for ‘Best Musical Director’ (Jordan Li-Smith).
The Original London Cast Recording is available to buy and stream.
In the early 1900s, in western New York State, at Niagara Falls, Anna Edson Taylor is a 63-year-old teacher. Needing money, she decides to become the first woman to go over Niagara Falls, and designs her own barrel. She is helped by her manager, Frank Russell. "Navigating both the treacherous Falls and a fickle public with a ravenous appetite for sensationalism, this unconventional heroine vies for her legacy in a world clamoring with swindling managers, assassins, revolutionaries, moralizing family, anarchists, and activists. Convinced that there is greatness in her and determined not to live as ordinary, she sets out to battle her fear and tempt her fate." [1] The score incorporates turn-of-the-century themes. Anna attempts to take advantage of her fame on the lecture circuit, but that does not last. Anna dies in a nursing home at age 82, a pauper.
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Ben Brantley of The New York Times said the show "moves forward with a steady, fixed intensity that makes it feel as if it never moves forward at all". [3] Steven Suskin of Variety said LaChuisa "developed a reputation for shows that are more esoteric than involving", but that Queen "breaks the pattern", and also noted that the score was "intelligent" and "tuneful". [6] Aubry D'Arminio writing for Entertainment Weekly referred to the show as "beautifully odd". [7]
James Elliot Lapine is an American stage director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for Into the Woods, Falsettos, and Passion. He has frequently collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.
Michael John LaChiusa is an American musical theatre and opera composer, lyricist, and librettist. He is best known for musically esoteric shows such as Hello Again, Marie Christine, The Wild Party, and See What I Wanna See. He was nominated for four Tony Awards in 2000 for his score and book for both Marie Christine and The Wild Party and received another nomination in 1996 for his work on the libretto for Chronicle of a Death Foretold.
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Annie Edson Taylor was an American schoolteacher who, on her 63rd birthday, October 24, 1901, became the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Her motives were financial but she never made much money from her adventure. She died penniless and her funeral was paid for by public donations.
Little Fish is a musical with music, lyrics, and book by Michael John LaChiusa. The musical is suggested by two short stories by Deborah Eisenberg, Days and Flotsam. It concerns a group of friends living in New York City, one of whom, Charlotte, decides to stop smoking and then swims to compensate for the lack of nicotine. LaChiusa has said that he sees Little Fish as a "parable of sorts" for New York after the September 11 attacks.
Hello Again is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa. It is based on the 1897 play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler. It focuses on a series of love affairs among ten characters during the ten different decades of the 20th century.
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The Wild Party is a musical with book, lyrics, and music by Andrew Lippa.
Bernarda Alba is a one-act musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa, based on Federico García Lorca's 1936 play The House of Bernarda Alba. Bernarda Alba tells the story of a controlling, newly widowed mother who is challenged by her five rebellious daughters. The musical opened Off Broadway at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in 2006, to mixed reviews.
Giant is a musical based on the 1952 Edna Ferber novel of the same name, with music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa and the book by Sybille Pearson. The musical premiered at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia in 2009. The story follows a ranch family in Texas over 30 years, and the effect of the oil boom. The musical premiered off-Broadway in 2012.
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Transport Group Theatre Company is a non-profit, off-Broadway theatre company in New York City that stages new works and revivals of plays and musicals, with a focus on American stories told in a visually progressive way.
Fun Home is a musical theatre adaptation of Alison Bechdel's 2006 graphic memoir of the same name, with music by Jeanine Tesori, and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron. The story concerns Bechdel's discovery of her own lesbian sexuality, her relationship with her closeted gay father, and her attempts to unlock the mysteries surrounding his life. It is told in a series of non-linear vignettes connected by narration provided by the adult Alison character.