UrbanStages Theatre: 2007-08 season

NEW MUSICAL:
{27 rue de fleurus}

book and lyrics by Ted Sod
music and lyrics by Lisa Koch
directed by Frances Hill
musical direction by John Bell
choreography by Jessica Hayden

Featuring a cast of Broadway regulars
and one notable newcomer:
Sarah Chalfy (Annapolis Symphony, Baltimore Opera)
Susan Haefner (Thoroughly Modern Millie, 42nd Street)
Barbara Rosenblat (Talk Radio, The Secret Garden)
Cheryl Stern (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Women)
Emily Zacharias (Jekyll & Hyde, Social Security)

March 1st – April 13th (extended)

Critical reviews have praised Frances Hill's "smart direction," the "strong performances" of the cast (New York Times), as well as "luscious" costumes by Carrie Robbins (Variety). Curtain Up says, " Add this small charmer to this season's cornucopia of off-beat new musicals," and Theatermania declared, "Director Frances Hill's production has a zest that matches the unbridled creativity of the creators, unfolding on a handsome scenic design from Roman Tatarowicz, who's created a surreal white salon with skewed walls that's backed by a series of overlapping frames into which Alex Koch's collage-like video is projected. It's the perfect canvas for this haphazard look into Toklas and Stein's world." The critically acclaimed cast includes Cheryl Stern as Alice, Barbara Rosenblat as Gertrude, and Sarah Chalfy, Susan Haefner and Emily Zacharias in various celebrity parts. John Bell is Musical Director.

27 rue de Fleurus is a new musical derived from the imagination of Alice B. Toklas.  Alice tries to set the record straight about being Gertrude Stein's "wife" for nearly 40 years. 

Gertrude grows tired of Alice's lack of panache for telling her perspective of their story and attempts to hijack the play as only the author of such lines as "sugar is not a vegetable" can.

But Alice has secrets to share with the audience that silence the famously verbose Gertrude.  This celebrated couple confronts each other about love, marriage, jealousy, genius and a few other delicious topics while Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mabel Dodge, Sylvia Beach and even Jean Harlow drop by for a visit. 

Photo above: Alice B. Toklas (left) and Gertrude Stein (right) in Venice, summer 1908, about 9 months after they first met. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Gertrude and Alice timeline, complied by Hans Gallas

During the run of the show, there will be photographs and other artworks featuring Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas on display in the theater lobby. Pieces are from the Gertrude and Alice collection of San Francisco collector Hans Gallas. Gallas coordinated events around the world last year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the meeting of Gertrude and Alice on Alice’s first day in Paris.. Works exhibited include original Carl Van Vechten photographs, wood-block prints, caricatures, and mixed media pieces created by artists from around the world.  Gertrude and Alice have been the subjects of visual artists from the beginning of the 20th century and continue to inspire artists in all media.

Photo credits above: Alice B. Toklas (rear) and Gertrude Stein (front) with their poodle,  Basket II, in Paris, 1946 the year of Stein’s death; Alice B. Toklas (left) and Gertrude Stein (right) in their garden in their country home in Bilignin in southeastern France, mid 1930’s.Alice B. Toklas (left) and Gertrude Stein (right), early 1920s, in their Ford named “Godiva” because the car had arrived “nude” according to Alice without clock, ashtray or cigarette lighter. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University

About the authors:
Ted Sod's (librettist and co-lyricist) work has been primarily produced in Seattle, including Stealing (O'Neill Theatre Center Music Theatre Conference; Seattle Group Theatre), Damaged Goods and Not Sunset Boulevard (Alice B. Theatre), Conquest of Fears (Seattle Rep); Make Me Pele For A Day (Seattle Children's Theatre) and Crocodile Tears (Seattle International Film Festival). He has directed many plays and readings; played villains on all three "Law and Orders" and is currently dramaturge for the education department at The Roundabout Theatre Company in NYC.

Lisa Koch (composer, lyricist) is a Seattle songwriter/actor/comedian, and is the composer/lyricist of The Bouffants Go to Hollywood (Cabaret de Paris), Ham for the Holidays (Theatre Off-Jackson), Two's Company, I'm a Crowd (Oregon Cabaret Theatre), and Glazing Saddles (Phoenix Theatre). She has released four solo recordings, is a member of sketch-comedy duo Dos Fallopia, and is touring her one-woman show, Return to Planet Lisa.

Set by Roman Tatarowicz, Costumes by Carrie Robbins, Lights by Raquel Davis, Video by Alex Koch,

Stage Manager: Carol A. Sullivan
Technical Director: Daniel Jagendorf
Sound Engineer: David Margolin Lawson

Casting Director: Stephanie Klapper, Stephanie Klapper Casting
Publicity: Brett Singer, Brett Singer and Associates

Urban Stages Theater: 259 West 30th Street, betw. 7th and 8th Ave.

Previews: March 1st, 8pm; March 2nd, 3pm; March 4th, 8pm, March 5th, 8pm
Opening NIght: March 6th, through April 6th. Performances: Wednesdays - Saturdays, 8pm;
Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3pm (Sat. March 8th - no matinee)

RELATED LINKS:

The Steiny Road to Operadom: The Making of American Operas by Karren LaLonde Alenier addresses the process of creating American opera and music theater through the story of Gertrude Stein’s collaboration with Virgil Thomson. Alice Toklas and women’s salons play heartily in this landscape of volcanic partnerships. The book told though the voice of the Steiny Road Poet is based on Alenier’s monthly Scene4 Magazine column. The column has featured a discussion about the early development of 27 rue de Fleurus, Paris by Ted Sod. [link ‘discussion’ to http://www.scene4.com/archivesqv6/apr-2007/html/karrenalenier0407.html] For more information about The Steiny Road to Operadom, visit Alenier.blogspot.com.