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A CONCORD THEATRICALS TITLE
Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4w, 1m
Michael John LaChiusa
Discover the lives of some of history’s most neglected figures: the wives of former U.S. presidents, including Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Mamie Eisenhower, Bess Truman and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Winner: Two 1994 Obie Awards
Michael John LaChiusa’s First Lady Suite is an enthralling look into the lives of some of history’s most neglected figures, the wives of U.S. presidents. They are: Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Mamie Eisenhower, Bess Truman and Eleanor Roosevelt.
The first piece, the staccato, yet hauntingly lyrical Over Texas, takes place aboard Air Force One on November 22nd, 1963. Mary Gallagher, the First Lady’s personal secretary, and Evelyn Lincoln, personal secretary to the President, are trying to relax as they fly into Dallas. Mary is coaxed into napping by the cool, collected Evelyn. Mary’s dreams become portentous nightmares as they are haunted by a ghostly Jackie and an eerie Lady Bird.
The brassy, bouncy Where's Mamie? takes place in Ike and Mamie’s bedroom at the White House, yet quickly turns into a time-travel fantasy as Mamie, melancholic and alone on her birthday, is paid a visit by the celebrated opera star Marian Anderson. Marian whisks Mamie off to Algiers to confront Ike about an affair, and warn him of the racial strife he’ll face later in life as President.
The comical Olio presents first daughter Margaret Truman at a recital trying her best to sing as she’s constantly upstaged by First Lady Bess.
The final piece of the Suite, Eleanor Sleeps Here, is a heart rending examination of the relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok as they’re being flown over Washington by Amelia Earhart.
First Lady Suite was produced off-Broadway by the New York Shakespeare Festival in December 1993.
OVER TEXASEVELYN LINCOLNMARY GALLAGHERPRESIDENTIAL AIDETHE FIRST LADYLADY BIRD JOHNSON
WHERE’S MAMIE?MAMIE EISENHOWERMARIAN ANDERSONIKEIKE’S CHAUFFEUR
OLIOBESS TRUMANMARGARET TRUMAN
ELEANOR SLEEPS HEREELEANOR ROOSEVELTHICKAMELIA EARHART
“Weird, funny and wigged out.” – New York Times
“A mesmerizing celebration of extraordinary women.” – Broadway World
“LaChiusa is part of the post-Stephen Sondheim generation of composers who are as happy to explore the dynamics of a relationship or the contents of a character’s mind as their predecessors were to chronicle a clambake or a hoedown.” – New York Times
“The composer-lyricist-librettist’s gift for tossing off engaging melody and his sly sense of humor are as abundant and nourishing as April rain.” – TheatreMania
First Lady Suite – Arc Stages Trailer
6 Piano-Vocal (rehearsal)2 Piano 1&2 (performance)
Michael John LaChiusa is a five-time Tony Award-nominated composer, lyricist and librettist for his Broadway productions of The Wild Party, Marie Christine and Chronicle of a Death Foretold. LaChiusa’s acclaimed off-Broadway musicals have been seen at The Public Theater, Linc ...
by Michael John LaChiusa