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Home , 27 rue de Fleurus, Bruce Coughlin, Gertrude and Alice, Ricky Ian Gordon, Royce Vavrek

AN IN FIVE ACTS

MUSIC BY LIBRETTO BY

STEPHANIE BLYTHE ELIZABETH FUTRAL THEO LEBOW TOBIAS GREENHALGH DANIEL BREVIK MEMBERS OF THE ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY CONDUCTED BY MICHAEL CHRISTIE

COMMISSIONED AND PREMIERED BY OPERA THEATRE OF SAINT LOUIS RECORDED IN PERFORMANCE : JUNE 2014

1 CD 1 1) PROLOGUE | ALICE KNITS THE WORLD [5:35] ACT ONE

2) SCENE 1 — [10:12] ALICE B. TOKLAS 3) SCENE 2 — GERTRUDE SITS FOR PABLO [5:25] AND GERTRUDE 4) SCENE 3 — BACK AT THE [15:58] STEIN, 1922. ACT TWO | ZEPPELINS PHOTO BY MAN RAY. 5) SCENE 1 — CHATTER [5:21] 6) SCENE 2 — DOUGHBOY [4:13] SAN FRANCISCO

ACT THREE | GÉNÉRATION PERDUE MUSEUM OF

7) INTRODUCTION; “LOST BOYS” [5:26] MODERN ART. 8) “COME MEET MAN RAY” [5:48] 9) “HOW WOULD YOU CHOOSE?” [4:59] 10) “HE’S GONE, LOVEY” [2:30]

CD 2 ACT FOUR | IS SAFE, SAFE 1) INTRODUCTION; “TWICE DENYING A WAR” [7:36] 2) “JURY OF MY CANVAS” [6:07] ACT FIVE | ALICE ALONE 3) INTRODUCTION; “THERE ONCE LIVED TWO WOMEN” [8:40] 4) “I’VE BEEN CALLED MANY THINGS" [8:21]

2 If a magpie in the sky on the sky can not cry if the pigeon on the grass alas can alas and to pass the pigeon on the grass alas and the magpie in the sky on the sky and to try and to try alas on the grass the pigeon on the grass and alas. They might be very well very well very ALICE B. TOKLAS well they might be they might be very well they AND GERTRUDE might be very well very well they might be. STEIN, 1922.

PHOTO BY MAN RAY. EXCERPT FROM GERTUDE STEIN’S LIBRETTO FOR

SAN FRANCISCO FOUR SAINTS IN THREE ACTS BY VIRGIL THOMSON.

MUSEUM OF

MODERN ART.

3 PRODUCTION CAST ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY CONDUCTOR GERTRUDE STEIN DAVID ROBERTSON, MUSIC DIRECTOR Michael Christie FIRST VIOLINS BASSES HORNS STAGE DIRECTOR ALICE B. TOKLAS Erin Schreiber Erik Harris Thomas Jöstlein James Robinson Elizabeth Futral Emily Ho David DeRiso Anna Spina Helen Kim Donald Martin TRUMPETS SET DESIGNER , Joo Kim Ronald Moberly Thomas Drake Allen Moyer FERNANDE, F. SCOTT FITZGERALD, Xiaoxiao Qiang HARP Caroline Schafer COSTUME DESIGNER SOLDIER 1 Angie Smart Megan Stout TROMBONES James Schuette Theo Lebow Jessica Fellows FLUTES Paul Jenkins Kyle Lombard Andrea Kaplan Gerard Pagano CHOREOGRAPHER , Jennifer Yamamoto Ann Choomack TIMPANI Seán Curran MADAME MATISSE, DOUGHBOY, SECOND VIOLINS PICCOLO Thomas Stubbs LIGHTING DESIGNER MAN RAY, Kristin Ahlstrom Ann Choomack PERCUSSION SOLDIER 2 James F. Ingalls Eva Kozma OBOES John Kasica Tobias Greenhalgh Nicolae Bica Barbara Orland Chris Treloar VIDEO & PROJECTION Jooyeon Kong DESIGNER , Michelle Duskey PIANO Shawn Weil Greg Emetaz , Marc Gordon Damien Francoeur- , Jane Price ENGLISH HORN Krzyzek (OTSL) SOLDIER 3 WIG & MAKEUP Elizabeth Michelle Duskey DESIGNER Daniel Brevik Vonderheide Marc Gordon ORCHESTRA Tom Watson VIOLAS CLARINETS PERSONNEL Christian Woehr ORCHESTRATIONS The action takes place Diana Haskell Beth Paine Susan Gordon Ricky Ian Gordon Timothy Zavadil Megan Stout at 27 rue de Fleurus in Morris Jacob SAXOPHONE STAGE PERSONNEL the 6th arrondissement Gerald Fleminger Adrianne Honnold Bruce Mourning CREATIVE of Paris spanning many Chris Tantillo BASSOONS Joseph Clapper DRAMATURGY years in the early part CELLOS Andrew Gott Brian Marten Mike Cohen Melissa Brooks of the 20th century. David Savige Anne Fagerburg MUSIC LIBRARIANS Henry Skolnick James Czyzewski Elsbeth Brugger CONTRABASSOON Alvin McCall Henry Skolnick David Savige Davin Rubicz Henry Skolnick 4 FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF OPERA THEATRE JAMES ROBINSON

A couple of years ago, I approached my dear Stein’s lifelong partner, became a critical part HORNS friend Stephanie Blythe about doing a project of the story and we turned to the gorgeous Thomas Jöstlein for Opera Theatre. We had worked together Elizabeth Futral, who had played Cleopatra to Anna Spina many moons ago in a production of Handel’s Stephanie’s Caesar. When we needed a few TRUMPETS Julius Caesar (she played the villainous other characters, Ricky and Royce suggested a Thomas Drake Tolomeo) at the Wolf Trap Festival when we trio of strapping young men (all young artists Caroline Schafer were both relatively new to the opera business. from The Gerdine Young Artist Program) as TROMBONES Over the years, I have seen her hailed as one Picasso, Matisse, Hemingway, and the rest to Paul Jenkins of the most marvelous singers of our age and round out the salon at 27 rue de Fleurus. Gerard Pagano a formidable champion of American music. I am delighted that this fusion of established TIMPANI As an educator, she has helped to nurture American artists and early-career up-and- Thomas Stubbs young talent throughout the country, and comers has come together to celebrate the PERCUSSION she is known for giving early-career singers life of a great writer whose work continues to John Kasica rousing and inspiring master classes. So intrigue and inspire us. So we all welcome Chris Treloar having Stephanie in our midst in St. Louis was you to 27 rue de Fleurus — where, as Virgil PIANO a natural and appealing notion, but the project Thomson said, “Every story that ever came into Damien Francoeur- in which she would star eluded us. the house eventually got told in Alice’s way, and Krzyzek (OTSL) Ultimately, we decided that it would be ideal [that became] its definitive version.” p

if one of her favorite composers, the stylish THE 2014 WORLD PREMIERE OF “27” AT OPERA THEATRE ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL and sophisticated song and opera composer OF SAINT LOUIS. PHOTO BY KEN HOWARD. Beth Paine Ricky Ian Gordon, were to create a new work Megan Stout for her — but we still didn’t know what the subject would be. One day with giddy delight STAGE PERSONNEL Ricky presented his idea to us both: a fantasy Bruce Mourning Joseph Clapper on Gertrude Stein. Of course! We all devoured Brian Marten books on the colorful and influential American author and collector of art (and maker of MUSIC LIBRARIANS artists!), and decided to make an opera. Elsbeth Brugger Soon thereafter, the marvelous Royce Vavrek Henry Skolnick came on board and whipped up a soufflé of a libretto. Naturally, Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude 5 A NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER RICKY IAN GORDON

When James Robinson asked me to write an and facing the repercussions of them bravely. opera for the great Stephanie Blythe, I thought She loved beauty and was constantly inter- immediately of a lifelong obsession, Gertrude preting and reinterpreting what she thought Stein. At Carnegie Mellon University, at the was beautiful. Mostly, she believed in herself age of seventeen, I picked up the book Charmed with such rigor it fascinated me. And her world Circle just before catching a terrible cold, and — the habitués of her salon, Picasso, Matisse, read it in the course of a week in bed. I Hemingway, Fitzgerald, anyone who was doing remember nothing that week but eating anything of interest, thinking anything worth tangerines and reading about Gertrude and thinking — came through her Paris salon at 27 Alice and their milieu. I was mesmerized by rue de Fleurus, until finally, it was Alice who their world. Gertrude was in many ways a came through and stole her heart. I believe I perfect role model. She was committed to her was meant to write an opera about these two, own muse, ruggedly individual, unswayed by about their world, because it is what I wanted others’ opinions, and uninhibited in terms of my world to be. When I left school, I held being who she was, loving whom she loved, salons in my New York apartment. Everything weighing what she weighed, having opinions I wrote, I premiered there.

6 In Royce Vavrek I found the perfect of events, narrowing down the collection of librettist. Making characters out of these people to the few who seemed seminal, and two, creating a “story”— a “narrative” — out using the World Wars as brackets to give us a of events in their world, and compressing it sense of who and what they were, and what into ninety minutes is quite a challenge. I their struggles and delights were. Right at didn’t want to bring Gertrude to life through the outset I told Royce not to whitewash her writings, as Virgil Thomson and so her — as there is speculation as to HOW many others already had. I wanted to bring they stayed safe during the war, being both the woman to life, to create a sense of who Jewish and lesbian. And the paintings are so she was, what she felt, how she and Alice alive, they should sing! And he didn’t and lived their lives and related to one another they do… and to the denizens of their world. Gertrude I was almost in a trance composing this found her life in Paris with and through opera. I was excited to play it for anyone her brother Leo, but Leo couldn’t find I could, because it felt so alive. It was of himself, and was threatened by Alice and course, a great pleasure, hearing Stephanie’s by Gertrude’s ascension as a writer. He saw voice in my head as I wrote it, as well as that in Alice a hundred percent commitment of my dear friend Elizabeth Futral, who to his sister whom he could never support was cast early on as Alice. I hope this opera so completely. Royce used Alice’s knitting is as much of a pleasure for the audience as — an appropriate musical gesture — as a it was to create. p departure point, and wove together a stream

SCENES FROM

THE 2014 WORLD

PREMIERE AT

OPERA THEATRE

OF SAINT LOUIS.

PHOTOS BY

KEN HOWARD.

7 THE COMPOSER RICKY IAN GORDON’S songs have been performed and/or recorded by such renowned singers as Renée Fleming, , Audra McDonald, Nicole Cabell, , the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Nathan Gunn, and . His opera debuted at Minnesota Opera and was seen in New York at Carnegie Hall. Other works include Orpheus and Euridice (Lincoln Center: ); Green Sneakers (Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival and Lincoln Center); Rappahannock County (Virginia Opera, Virginia Arts Festival); A Coffin in Egypt for Houston Grand Opera, with a libretto adapted from Horton Foote by Leonard Foglia starring Frederica von Stade; and the musicals Sycamore Trees (The Signature Theatre); My Life with Albertine (); and Dream True (Vineyard Theatre). Upcoming projects include Morning Star for , with librettist William M. Hoffman, andIntimate Apparel for The , with playwright Lynn Nottage adapting her play. p

THE LIBRETTIST ROYCE VAVREK is a Brooklyn-based writer of opera, musical theater, and concert works. His notable lyrics/libretti include Dog Days, Vinkensport, or the Finch Opera, and Am I Born with David T. Little; Song from the Uproar with ; Strip Mall with Matt Marks; The Hubble Cantata with Paola Prestini; and Stoned Prince with Hannah Lash. In addition to “27,” his recent and upcoming projects include JFK with David T. Little for Fort Worth Opera/American Lyric Theater, Midwestern Gothic with Joshua Schmidt for Signature Theatre, Angel’s Bone with for the , O Columbia with Gregory Spears for HGOco, and Breaking the Waves, an adaptation of the film by Lars von Trier, with Missy Mazzoli for Opera Philadelphia/ Beth Morrison Projects. Royce is Co-Artistic Director with soprano of the opera-theater company The Coterie. p

8 STEPHANIE BLYTHE ELIZABETH FUTRAL GERTRUDE STEIN ALICE B. TOKLAS

THE ARTISTS

DANIEL BREVIK TOBIAS GREENHALGH THEO LEBOW MATISSE ET AL. LEO STEIN ET AL. PICASSO ET AL.

MICHAEL CHRISTIE JAMES ROBINSON CONDUCTOR STAGE DIRECTOR 9 SYNOPSIS

Alice B. Toklas sits in her After the war, Gertrude’s living room at 27 rue de Fleurus attention shifts from painters and conjures the world she to writers, now welcoming the shared with Gertrude Stein by likes of Ernest Hemingway and knitting the memories of their F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the past back to life. photographer Man Ray. Ernest Gertrude enters the salon and Scotty are desperate for and invites her guests to peruse Gertrude’s endorsement so she her collection, praising the encour-ages them to wrestle genius of the artists, as Alice for her attention — she will attends to everyone. Pablo announce the winner a genius. Picasso reveals his own portrait The writers are expelled from of Gertrude in a ceremony the salon as the next war that is met with disdain by Leo approaches. Stein and a bit of jealousy by Henri Matisse. Leo survive the Second World announces he is moving to Italy and storms out. War by sacrificing paintings. Picasso’s portrait Gertrude and Alice toast his departure and sing of of Gertrude preys on her conscience, asking her the ringing bells of genius that celebrate their love. to explain how a Jewish-American authoress Gertrude and Alice weather the First World survived Nazi-occupied France. The guilt eats War in Paris. Gertrude continues to write as away at her and she dies in Alice’s arms. the cold sets in and food becomes scarce. An Alice, now alone, is surprised by the return of American doughboy stationed in Paris becomes Picasso. Together they say goodbye to the portrait a friend, and provides them with coal and of Gertrude as it is being shipped off to The cigarettes, but fails to return with sought-after Metropolitan Museum of Art in . eggs. Another boy is added to the tally of the Picasso sketches an image of Gertrude for Alice . as the bells of genius and love chime once more.

ELIZABETH FUTRAL, THEO LEBOW, AND STEPHANIE BLYTHE. PHOTO BY KEN HOWARD.

10 PROLOGUE | ALICE KNITS THE WORLD the rest that constitute the changing paintings that [ALICE B. TOKLAS, a small, slight, consistent woman, sing throughout the opera. These paintings will, at sits on a chaise-longue downstage, knitting and times, become animated and provide the conscience mumbling to herself by the fireplace as the audience of Gertrude Stein. All of the paintings hang in knitted comes into the house. She is completely enveloped in frames, with balls of yarn collected underneath her crafting, her language almost trance-like.] them on the floor. At the top of the show, these ALICE PAINTINGS are Matisse’s “Femme au chapeau,” [methodically] Picasso’s “Strolling Player with Child,” and Cezanne’s Knit, One. “Bathers.” The three male singers stand behind the Purl, One. canvases, unseen by the audience.] Gertrude Stein. PAINTINGS Knit, Alice. There once lived two women Purl, Alice. On rue de Fleurus. Gertrude And Alice. The writer, writer. Picasso, One. Where is the writer? Matisse, One. ALICE Gertrude, The writer is writing. Gertrude, She’ll be out in a minute. Alice. PAINTINGS Knit, One. The writer and… Purl, One. ALICE Salon, One. Her secretary. Knock, One. Knock, One. PAINTINGS Knock, One. The writer and… Knock. Knock. Knock! Knock! Knock! ALICE Her biographer. [Hanging behind ALICE is a wall of paintings hung in the studio at 27 rue de Fleurus. It should seem PAINTINGS that every square inch of the cozy apartment is The writer and… occupied by art. Throughout the show, there are ALICE three larger, central frames, more prominent than Please call me wife.

11 PAINTINGS De la part de qui venez-vous? The writer writes and writes. Who invited you? ALICE PAINTINGS All night she writes. [To each other.] PAINTINGS Did you invite them? The secretary… [The paintings attempt to figure out who.] ALICE You? Me? No. You? Maybe? No. The wife! Gertrude? PAINTINGS GERTRUDE Types, types, types. Did I invite you? Up up up, wakes up early, Yes. Yes. Yes. Typing the scribbles the writer scribbled. Of course I did! ALICE PAINTINGS Knitting, stitching. Of course she did! Knit one, purl one. Yes. Yes. Yes. Typing, cooking. GERTRUDE Knitting, stitching. I have a habit of inviting. Purl one, knit one. PAINTINGS PAINTINGS And forgetting. Have you visited rue de Fleurus? GERTRUDE Knock knock [Bellowing inside.] Knock on the door marked “27” Alice! More hors d’oeuvres! Saturday knock. 27. Knock. 27. ALICE Knock Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Already in the oven! Knock… GERTRUDE The painters paint, and I invite. [GERTRUDE STEIN walks down the long hallway, Painters invite: opening the door. She is a large, imposing figure, but Picasso invites, she is also warm, boisterous, welcoming.] Matisse invites. GERTRUDE My brother invites [In a decidedly American accent.] the most uninteresting.

12 ALICE ALICE Too uninteresting! The wife. GERTRUDE PAINTINGS Too many people. The writer and her companion. Word spreads, ALICE Too many people for this cozy salon. The wife. [Pointing to a man in the audience.] GERTRUDE Monsieur with the suspenders…who invited you?? The writer and… ALICE PAINTINGS [Chiming in.] Two women, You invited them all… A life. PAINTINGS Gertrude Stein and Alice – Gertrude invites and invites and ALICE Forgets. Her wife. ALICE Direct segue into the next scene. [Running about.] Invite them in, Gertrude! ACT ONE GERTRUDE SCENE 1 – 27 RUE DE FLEURUS Come in. Come in. Come in! [The men step out from behind the paintings, finally visible. They are PABLO Picasso, HENRI Matisse and PAINTINGS Gertrude’s brother LEO, scattered about the apartment. Bring your friends, It is a claustrophobic room that features a large Bring your lovers, central table, many chairs with colorful needlepointed Bring your wives… cushions, a large wooden chest of drawers up against GERTRUDE the wall, and bric-a-brac everywhere. ALICE still sits The paintings are singing. on the chaise-longue knitting with the wives. Sing so loud, singing. The central of the three large paintings has been The neighbors will someday complain. covered with a veil. It dominates the room.] PAINTINGS GERTRUDE Come see the writer. [With great excitement, almost breathlessly.] The writer and the secretary. You chose the perfect Saturday to come. Did you hear? 13 You must have heard! [To the audience.] After one hundred sittings. Peruse, peruse! I swear, one hundred sittings! The walls are carpeted, Young Pablo… From ceiling to floor, [She pulls PABLO close to her, he hands her With the canvases of friends. a large bouquet of flowers.] Alice, grab their coats! Dear young Picasso… [ALICE walks by with a handful of fur jackets With a pocket full of posies! and a giant bottle of bubbly.] The flowers of friendship! And fill up their goblets. Dear young Picasso will unveil my portrait. Peruse, peruse! And I, his! Paintings journey, His portrait of me in paint… Week to week, And mine in words! Month to month, Alice, put these in water! Each will find their perfect place. Peruse, peruse! [ALICE grabs the flowers and places them on the The Cezannes are clustered over there. chest of drawers underneath the veiled portrait.] The lesser-knowns around the top. And isn’t he so handsome… The Picassos are scattered every-which-where. [to PABLO, holding his face.] Peruse, peruse! Has anybody told you that you look like Abe Lincoln? Alice, the “hors d’oeuvres!” ALICE PABLO No no no no no… They’re coming! Coming! Coming! GERTRUDE GERTRUDE Alice! Alice! You must meet Henri. ALICE [She pulls HENRI close to her.] Whatever you say, lovey! The outlaw of the Independent! GERTRUDE I adore the fearless! I say he looks like Lincoln. Fearless with his palate. But miniature. Form, form, fearless form. A good quality. Do not fear this wild beast, He’s muzzled while with Gertrude!

14 [To the audience.] Speak, Henri! ALICE [To the audience.] Peruse, peruse! [He opens his mouth about to speak but GERTRUDE I am the wife, The walls are carpeted, doesn’t give him the chance. HENRI turns away The wife who deals with the wives. From ceiling to floor, defeated without telling about his use of color.] With the canvases of friends. The wife who cleans the dirty dishes Alice, grab their coats! Peruse, peruse! Who washes the laundry So glad you’re here… Who peels the carrots. [ALICE walks by with a handful of fur jackets What a night! What a night! A momentous night! Who does all her dirty work and a giant bottle of bubbly.] He’s gifted, young Pablo. Pruning wilted blossoms of her rotten friendships. And fill up their goblets. Young radical. I do not care for cats digging up my garden. Peruse, peruse! A genius, and I know genius! I do not care for fancy fibers. Paintings journey, One hundred times I sat for him! I do not care to be lonely. Week to week, So glad you’re here! No no no no. Month to month, Peruse, peruse! And I do not care for violence. Each will find their perfect place. Paris! No no no no. Peruse, peruse! I am the American in Paris, [To GERTRUDE.] The Cezannes are clustered over there. What did you think I’d do? Oh, but I’d stab your brother gladly with my The lesser-knowns around the top. Collect Europeans, needles. The Picassos are scattered every-which-where. It makes perfect sense! LEO Peruse, peruse! Alice! The Renoirs are on the west wall. Alice, the “hors d’oeuvres!” Another wife has arrived! Yes, I am the brother. ALICE [Pointing to ALICE’s chaise-longue.] I have been called a – They’re coming! Coming! Coming! Wives with my Alice: ALICE GERTRUDE My lobster, my pussy, my cake… [Cutting him off.] You must meet Henri. Geniuses with me. Bastard! This is the life for Americans in Paris….Paris [She pulls HENRI close to her.] LEO On rue de Fleurus. Prophet! The outlaw of the Independent! Peruse, peruse! Angel of Post-Impressionism! I adore the fearless! Alice: Fearless with his palate. My cherub, my kitten, my queen… ALICE Form, form, fearless form. Snatch the wife! Who called you that? Do not fear this wild beast, LEO He’s muzzled while with Gertrude! You may call me Leo. 15 All the paintings, all the good ones, GERTRUDE Credit me! “It’s perfectly attractive!” The Renoirs on the west wall. HENRI Please, peruse! That idiot! HENRI Now I’ve been replaced [Staring at his “Woman with a Hat” painting.] By a Spaniard. She used to hang in the middle of the room. [Conjuring phlegm, he spits on the ground.] Mine was the sensation. I made this salon a destination! By a portrait of Gertrude! Sure they laughed, picked at the paint, [He spits again.] But Gertrude loved her: By a Spaniard. GERTRUDE “It’s perfectly natural!” [He spits again.] HENRI She’s dead to me. She said over and over again. [Before he can spit again, GERTRUDE clinks.] GERTRUDE “Perfectly natural, GERTRUDE perfectly attractive.” [Clinking a spoon to a glass.] HENRI Friends! Over and over… It is with great pride, And the reason that we gather, GERTRUDE That I unveil Pablo’s latest. Yet they mock your colors… HENRI [HENRI spits again.] “A pot of paint…” Alice! Alice! GERTRUDE [ALICE sweeps in.] … as they mock my words. HENRI Would you do the honors? [Finishing the quote.] [ALICE removes the sheet that is covering the “…has been flung in the face of the public,” painting, GERTRUDE stands in amazement.] Mauclair said.

16 PABLO [ALICE brings a canvas downstage with a partially Tell me it’s good. painted GERTRUDE on it. The lights shift…] GERTRUDE SCENE 2 – GERTRUDE SITS FOR PABLO [She gasps, smiling from ear to ear.] [FLASHBACK: GERTRUDE sits for PABLO for It is, Pablo. the 99th time. ALICE sets up the easel and holds It is very good. the paint wheel. GERTRUDE smokes…] Exactly as I imagined. Exactly as you imagined! GERTRUDE It is very… I have no talent for portraiture. But I wish, LEO AND HENRI I do wish I could create a portrait. [Under their breaths.] Brown. ALICE [Whispering in GERTRUDE’s ear.] GERTRUDE You paint portraits, Gertrude. … bold! Every day you scribble and scrawl. You found my face! Do you remember, Pablo? GERTRUDE All the times I sat for you? I have no talent for portraiture. The hours I sat, Perhaps some flowers behind me Wanting to wiggle. For a pop of color? But still I kept still. PABLO PABLO Let the painter paint! You wiggled! GERTRUDE GERTRUDE Perhaps I have the talent of the My legs went numb! Person in the portrait. My hands went numb! ALICE I sat so still. You paint, you paint, you paint with words! You remember, Pablo! PABLO PABLO My chère Gertrude, I remember. Vous serez la gloire de l’Amérique GERTRUDE Like cowboys and Indians, I remember. Buildings as high as the sky.

17 GERTRUDE To be a genius. But I wish, You must sit around, I do wish I could – Doing nothing. ALICE To create a portrait. With words, Gertrude! PABLO Words, lovey! To paint a portrait. PABLO GERTRUDE Your face holds the glory of America. To write a portrait. GERTRUDE ALICE Wait! Knit, one, I can create a portrait too, Purl, one. With words, Pablo! PABLO AND GERTRUDE ALICE To be a portrait. Knit one, purl one. It takes a lot of time. GERTRUDE To be a genius, I can scribble and scrawl! It takes a lot of time. Would you like that, Pablo? Doing nothing. If I were to create your portrait as you do mine? Nothing, it takes a lot of time. Would you like that? GERTRUDE PABLO Give it time. [Throwing down his paintbrush.] The face will emerge. No no no no no. The image finds its reason. I can’t see it! PABLO AND GERTRUDE After ninety-nine sittings… Genius needs nothing. I can’t see your face anymore. And nothing and more nothing. [Frustrated, PABLO smears paint on the canvas.] But time and time and more time. And the most – GERTRUDE Pablo, Pablo… young Picasso. [The next scene breaks into the romance It takes a lot of time, of the previous duet.] Time and time and more time

18 SCENE 3 – BACK AT THE SALON LEO [LEO forces us out of the flashback I’ve already got one Gertrude in my house. to the unveiling of the painting.] I don’t need another gargoyled on my wall! LEO HENRI [On top of the previous two words sung by [Shaking his head.] PABLO and GERTRUDE, to the painting.] This is not a salon. The most godalmighty shit. This is nothing: a circus, a vaudeville, Words, and paint, and words. An American vaudeville. The most godalmighty shit portraits. The Théâtre de Stein! GERTRUDE With Picasso the star. [Reading her word portrait.] With Picasso and Alice the stars. If I told him would he like it? [He spits.] Would he like it if I told him? GERTRUDE LEO Did you hear that Alice? Stop! Stop! Stop! It’s disgusting. ALICE All I hear are the wives… HENRI It’s embarrassing. GERTRUDE Matisse has made you a star LEO In the Vaudeville de Stein. It’s stupid. Have you memorized your lines, Alice? Your little poem is stupid. Every line? And the painting as well! I will not share the stage HENRI With an unprepared ingénue. Dull, colorless. ALICE LEO Never missed a cue. Look look look Never mis-stitched or mis-typed, It looks nothing like you, Go, be a genius. Except for the size, Let me be a wife, And the corduroy. Your wife, HENRI Among the wives, The corduroy is correct. The wife among the wives.

19 [The three men don makeshift furs and hats, turning MADAME MATISSE themselves into the wives and mistresses of the Chapeaux! visiting artists. They are FERNANDE, MADAME MARIE MATISSE and MARIE LAURENCIN. They all smoke Dance in the buff with my hat! exaggeratedly long cigarettes.] FERNANDE ALICE Chapeaux! Knit one, purl one. MADAME MATISSE Knit one, purl one. Chapeaux! Knit, Picasso, brings his mistress. FERNANDE Purl, Matisse, brings his wife. My hat has a feather! Knit, a whore, with caked on face. MARIE Purl, my job to entertain. And mine’s made of leather! Wives of geniuses, ALICE Wives who aren’t wives, Let’s all sing together: Wives who are the wives Of geniuses who aren’t geniuses. ALICE, FERNANDE, MADAME MATISSE AND MARIE So many wives Chapeaux! Wannabe wives, ALICE Who talk about hats. But sometimes they talk of perfume! FERNANDE FERNANDE Chapeaux! Parfum! J’adore parfum! MADAME MATISSE Parfum! Chapeaux! MADAME MATISSE MARIE Parfum! [Overly masculine.] MARIE Hats! Merde! ALICE ALICE I have nothing to say about… I have nothing to say about… FERNANDE FERNANDE Chapeaux! Parfum!

20 MADAME MATISSE FERNANDE Parfum! Fourrure! I lure him to me with fragrance! MADAME MATISSE MARIE Fourrure! Plugging her nose, then sneezing. MARIE Pi-u! Everyone paws at… Achoo! ALICE FERNANDE Interrupting. My only extravagance! Marie! MARIE FERNANDE Why would I waste my francs? Fourrure! ALICE MADAME MATISSE Stink up ze room with parfume! Fourrure! MARIE MARIE Ze scent of doom! My beaver! ALICE MADAME MATISSE Wives of geniuses, Ma tête! Wives who aren’t wives, FERNANDE Wives who are the wives I am wrapped in La Bête! Of geniuses who aren’t geniuses. ALICE So many wives. And they croon like a barber’s quartet! Wanna be wives Who talk about fur. BARBERSHOP QUARTET: THREE MEN AND ALICE On Monday she’s swathed in her sable, sable. FERNANDE Oh baby, sweet baby. Fourrure! On Tuesday her haute couture label, label. MADAME MATISSE Ermine with chinchilla trim hangs from her side. Fourrure! Wednesdays, it’s fox. MARIE Thursdays, the lynx. Fur! Fridays, the hide. ALICE Weekends it’s mink! Mink! Mink! Mink! Mink! I am bored when they talk of their… Baby, sweet baby.

21 ALICE LEO Wives of geniuses. I’m taking Matisse! Wives who aren’t wives. GERTRUDE ALICE AND MEN [Pointing at Henri.] Wives who are the wives Him? Of geniuses. HENRI ALICE Him. Who aren’t geniuses. GERTRUDE So many wives On holiday? Wannabe wives, LEO When I am the wife No. Who only has eyes, Permanently. Not for hats, GERTRUDE not for fur, Where? not for perfume… LEO FERNANDE, MADAME MATISSE, MARIE Italy. … Perfume … HENRI ALICE I am not going to Italy. But for Gertrude! LEO FERNANDE, MADAME MATISSE, MARIE [Scaling the walls with HENRI, taking down his … Gertrude … portraits, with a dancelike grace and ferocity.] ALICE Henri is not going to Italy. My life! But he is helping me gather my paintings. Knit one… I’m taking the apples. [LEO breaks in.] Cezanne’s painted apples. LEO GERTRUDE I’m leaving. Goodbye. GERTRUDE Goodbye. [With feigned disappointment.] Take the apples and goodbye. No!

22 PABLO ALICE [To GERTRUDE.] Knit, one. I’ll paint you an apple. LEO LEO …unknowingly. Keep the Picassos. ALICE I hate the Picassos. Purl, one. The Renoirs are mine. LEO MATISSE Leaving you comatose. [Whispering into LEO’s ear.] She does everything: Take all the Matisses. Keeps your house… LEO GERTRUDE AND ALICE Yes yes yes, I’ll take the Matisses! Get out! GERTRUDE LEO [Gruffly.] Types your words… Paws off my Matisses. GERTRUDE AND ALICE GERTRUDE AND ALICE Goodbye! Goodbye. LEO Au revoir and Goodbye. Rids the undesirables… LEO GERTRUDE AND ALICE Your dainty little Alice… À bientot. is a boa constrictor. LEO ALICE Your pussy has crippled you! Knit, one. GERTRUDE AND ALICE LEO Goodbye. An abnormal vampire. LEO ALICE There is a war brewing. Purl, one. GERTRUDE LEO There will be no war. Waiting to choke you and bleed you… There will be no war.

23 LEO ALICE It’s already here! Chime for you. And you’ll just sit. Chime for Picasso. Helpless, doing nothing, doing nothing. Chime for genius. PABLO ALICE Genius is doing nothing… The bells ring. Doing nothing… Your face, your eyes, your voice Ring, ring, ring, ring… [ALICE slams the door in LEO’s face.] Ring, joyful, GERTRUDE Ring, loud, He’s gone, kitten, Ring bright, Gertrude! My lobster, An angel’s trumpet, My pussy, Cupid’s bow, My wife. The bells, the bells of my Gertrude. Always ready to slam the door. The genius is in ALICE At 27 rue de Fleurus. He’s gone, lovey. GERTRUDE [PABLO stands with his back to the audience They ring, ring, ring. looking at his painting as GERTRUDE and For my dear Alice. ALICE have their moment.] Locked in the bell-tower of my heart.

ALICE ALICE Look at me, Gertrude. Ring, ring, ring. Let me hear the bells that ring: GERTRUDE The bells that chime your genius. Ring with the whistle of the kettle. That only chime your genius. ALICE PABLO Ring. Am I good? GERTRUDE I’m good. Ring with chopping of the string beans. ALICE, GERTRUDE, PABLO ALICE Good. Ring. Chime.

24 ALICE GERTRUDE GERTRUDE Chime for you. Ring with the running of your bath. I have the genius of the person in the portrait. Chime for Picasso. ALICE GERTRUDE AND ALICE Chime for genius. Ring, ring… I promise it will look like you. ALICE GERTRUDE AND ALICE GERTRUDE AND ALICE The bells ring. Ring. Ring! Your face, your eyes, your voice GERTRUDE Ring, ring, ring, ring… You are my genius ACT TWO | ZEPPELINS Ring, joyful, At 27 rue de Fleurus. SCENE 1 – CHATTER Ring, loud, GERTRUDE AND ALICE [Three GRIS PAINTINGS occupy the central frames Ring bright, Gertrude! Ring, ring, ring. of the salon. It is cold — the paintings appear frozen, An angel’s trumpet, Ring, ring, ring. crackling with frost. Zeppelin alarms are heard Cupid’s bow, nearby. The flowers, given by Pablo in the previous act The bells, the bells of my Gertrude. ALICE have wilted noticeably. GERTRUDE writes at her desk The genius is in The genius is in… while ALICE sleeps. A loud bomb is heard.] At 27 rue de Fleurus. GERTRUDE GRIS PAINTINGS GERTRUDE At 27 rue de Fleurus. [Illuminating as they sing, not unlike the final scene They ring, ring, ring. ALICE of Leos Carax’s “Holy Motors.”] For my dear Alice. The genius is in… The coal’s run out. Locked in the bell-tower of my heart. GERTRUDE The zeppelins drop bombs in the Luxembourg Gardens. ALICE You are my genius. Our teeth chatter, Ring, ring, ring. ALICE Chatter, chatter. GERTRUDE At 27 rue de Fleurus. She’s burned all the pages. Ring with the whistle of the kettle. GERTRUDE Failed pages. ALICE At 27 rue de Fleurus. Manuscript pages. Ring. GERTRUDE Writes more and more, GERTRUDE The bells ring. More to be burned. Ring with chopping of the string beans. PABLO Nobody wants Gertrude’s pages. ALICE [Turning to GERTRUDE.] She said no war. Ring. The portrait will look like you. She writes and writes, writes more.

25 With the bombs outside rattling their door, GERTRUDE War is war is war. Why don’t we leave? War is war is war. America is only an ocean away. [Another, louder, bomb is heard. The paintings ALICE shake, one of the smaller pieces falls off the wall. We cannot leave. GERTRUDE runs up to ALICE who is sleeping in GRIS PAINTINGS bed.] Keep us safe safe safe safe safe, keep us safe. GERTRUDE Send us to the safety of America. [Quietly.] Take us down from the walls. Cherub… Even the horses pull the gold out of Paris. It’s getting closer. You sent your manuscripts to safety in America. Louder. The bombs explode a block away, Dropping in the Luxembourg Gardens. [Beat.] Chatter chatter chatter. Don’t turn the lights on. ALICE My teeth are chattering. Your work is here in Paris. My hands shake. Writing, writing, writing. I can’t write. GERTRUDE ALICE [Writes.] Keep writing. Paris is a pale absinthe. You must keep writing. ALICE We don’t change. I do not like violence. Paintings change. You do not like change. We don’t change. So there is no war! GRIS PAINTINGS GERTRUDE The party’s over. But there is a war! The party’s done. [A bomb is heard, this one even closer.] Get us outta here. The guests have gone. ALICE There’s nothing left. Poor lovey, There is no need to worship. Please write. There is no need to be worshipped.

26 GERTRUDE DOUGHBOY Hold me, Alice. Huh? [ALICE’s small body holds GERTRUDE in the bed.] GERTRUDE Two bags of coal. GERTRUDE What is the answer? [He hands her two bags of coal.] What is the answer? Oh boy, oh boy. [The GRIS PAINTINGS’ teeth chatter. GERTRUDE GERTRUDE gets out of bed, a large blanket And please, a cigarette? held tightly around her body.] [He removes a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.] GRIS PAINTINGS GERTRUDE Take us away. Or two? Take us away. [He gives her two.] GERTRUDE Is there not a bag of coal to be found in all of Paris? GERTRUDE No way, no way for a genius to live! We’re dying for some eggs. DOUGHBOY SCENE 2 – DOUGHBOY Eggs? [GERTRUDE leaves the apartment, appealing to an GERTRUDE American DOUGHBOY standing on the corner.] My wife makes the most perfect omelets. GERTRUDE She’ll cook, she’ll cook for you. Oh boy, oh boy. My name is Gertrude Stein. DOUGHBOY Let me see what I can find. DOUGHBOY You hear the zeppelins? [The DOUGHBOY runs off as a loud bomb Stay inside! is heard in that direction.] GERTRUDE GERTRUDE My partner is shivering, He’ll never return with the eggs. I am an American writer Another boy lost, And the blood in my hands is frozen blue. Doughboy lost. Can I beg you. A parade of young men Beg your helping a fellow countryman and his wife. From an ocean away.

27 Lost boys away away. Find your way down the rue de Fleurus. March away away. Find your way… Lost boys away away. Lost boys… March away away. Lost boys… An ocean away. Find your way down the rue de Fleurus. Changed to their marrow. To a place where you can be found. Lost boys. ALICE Find your way down the rue de Fleurus. Knit, one. To a place where you can be found. Purl, one. GRIS PAINTINGS Gertrude Stein. Have you visited rue de Fleurus? Knit, Alice. Knock knock Purl, Alice. Knock on the door marked “27.” Gertrude and Alice. Saturday knock. Picasso, gone. 27. Knock. 27. 27. Matisse, gone. Knock knock. Gertrude, Gertude, ALICE Alice… Are we safe safe, are we safe? Carrying on. Keep us safe safe safe safe safe safe Knit, one. Keep us safe. Purl, one. Salon, one. ACT 3 | GÉNÉRATION PERDUE Lost, lost, lost, lost, lost, lost. [The war has ended. Hanging in the three central Generation, lost. frames are PAINTINGS by Picasso: the portrait of PAINTINGS Gertrude flanked by his “Standing Nude, Hands There once lived two women, Clasped” and “Head of a Sailor.” A small study The war is over! for a portrait is highlighted as well, but not in a On rue de Fleurus. central location. Those paintings (not the portrait of There will be no more war. Gertrude) sing as ALICE knits on her chaise-longue.] The writer, the genius. PAINTINGS There will be no more war. Lost boys… Where is the genius? Lost boys…

28 ALICE Peruse, peruse, The genius is writing. And be sure to pet Basket the dog! She’ll be out in a minute. ALICE GERTRUDE Yes, lovey. [ ] Opening the door. [As Basket, maneuvering a large knitted poodle.] De la part de qui venez-vous? Ruff! Ruff! Who invited you? GERTRUDE PAINTINGS Basket! You, you, we’re sure it was you. Our pride and joy! GERTRUDE Come meet Man Ray. You lost? Here to take photos of me. ALICE And the boy writers: Invite them in, Gertrude! Ernest and Scotty. GERTRUDE Alice, when are they coming? Peruse, peruse. Will we see our Hemingway and Fitzgerald? The art is still on the walls. Where are they hiding? You’d never know bombs had fallen! ALICE Feel free to peruse… [Pointing under the table.] Picasso’s not coming, On the way. Doesn’t visit anymore. GERTRUDE Too big for his britches. [She laughs heartedly.] He’s a cubist now. Ply them with pot roast! The painters are gone [ALICE scurries to the kitchen.] In favor of lost boys. Yes! American boys! MAN RAY Once I was the American in Paris. The camera is set. Now we’re home to a gaggle of them… [ALICE returns with a pot roast that she reluctantly Americans in Paris. puts on the floor. The young ERNEST Hemingway [Beat.] and F. Scott “SCOTTY” Fitzgerald crawl out from under the table, cigarettes hanging from their mouths, Alice, take their coats! devouring the meat like animals, using their fingers And fill up their goblets! and messing their faces.] 29 GERTRUDE MAN RAY The boys must be thirsty. And… smile. Give them a straw! GERTRUDE AND ALICE There’s plenty of beef, boys! [Together, turning their heads to the camera, ALICE GERTRUDE smiling ever so slightly, ALICE Pigs. giving her signature straight face.] [ERNEST snorts. ALICE sits with GERTRUDE at the Patterns. (Memoir.) long table, in the pose from their iconic photo.] [The camera flashes.] MAN RAY ALICE Feel free to move, [She has a brilliant new idea!] The eyes, the head, Cookbook! Movement, the illusion of a candid snap. GERTRUDE [They don’t move.] Boys! GERTRUDE [ERNEST and SCOTTY look up from the roast, their Man Ray, make us look very… faces like a cubist painting of meat and sauce.] Literary. Someday Alice will write her memoirs. GERTRUDE ALICE Boys, we must talk. Perhaps. Alice – GERTRUDE [ALICE grabs the tray with the roast on it and “My Years With Gertrude Stein” drags it with a piece of yarn that she attaches to it. ALICE She leaves it in front of GERTRUDE. They follow Perhaps a book of needlepoint patterns. the trail of the meat.] GERTRUDE ALICE Perhaps, or a memoir. More liquor? ALICE GERTRUDE Or patterns. The water of life! GERTRUDE [Beat.] Perhaps, or… A memoir. Come here, come here.

30 [They both sit, cross legged in front of her, So lean. GERTRUDE in her chair, feet dangling.] You think too much. My boys, SCOTTY My wayward boys. [Through stifled tears]. Why do you insist on coming drunk? It’s true, it’s true, I do think too much! SCOTTY AND ERNEST GERTRUDE We don’t! Have you learned nothing from me? You keep filling our cups! Nothing from Cezanne? GERTRUDE Nothing from Picasso? But mostly from me? Alice! They blame me for their boozing. Ernest, dear Ernest, In your case it’s crass, it’s crude. [To ALICE.] You’ve got talent, it’s true, Top them up. But your ego, your penis! [ALICE does.] Do you think Miss Toklas wants to read about your My boys, penis? You, of a lost generation. [To ALICE.] I know full well what it means to write. Pussy? To write, and write some more. ALICE Alice’s fingers, callused and raw, I have no interest. From typing, typing, typing my words. I have no interest in violence. ERNEST GERTRUDE Did you read my story, Gertrude? She has no interest. SCOTTY And I’m convinced… Did you read my story, Gertrude? That you know diddly about sex! GERTRUDE ERNEST Yes yes yes, I did, What!? And no no no… SCOTTY I was… disappointed. [Practically sobbing.] It’s all so stark, I assure you, So stripped,

31 He’s very sexual! SCOTTY Ask his wife! [Wailing.] ALICE He’d kill me! The wife of a genius, GERTRUDE Who isn’t a genius. [To SCOTTY.] GERTRUDE Best be scrappy! [To SCOTTY, still quite upset.] ERNEST You, Scotty boy, He is a kitty cat! A clever runt, He’s a very emotional souse! You write like a man of thirty, [All of a sudden SCOTTY lunges at ERNEST, Which I quite admire. attacking him like a lion. They wrestle But you need to thicken your skin! aggressively, rolling all over the floor.] I’ve never made a genius Out of a wimp! ALICE I do not care for Hemingway. I’m not yet convinced you are good enough. I do not care for Fitzgerald. Either of you. I do not care for violence. And I don’t have the time And I do not care for their wives, To create genius out of every lost boy. Their wives who think I am Gertrude Stein. Their husbands all are geniuses. But what if I could make a genius out of one of you? MAN RAY ERNEST AND SCOTTY [Presenting GERTRUDE with a large framed painting.] How would you choose? I have a gift for you, Gertrude. GERTRUDE GERTRUDE You should wrestle. Is it our photograph? ERNEST AND SCOTTY MAN RAY Wrestle? [Handing her a painting.] GERTRUDE No, a painting I made for your wall. Wrestle for my attention, Like men. GERTRUDE Alice, hang it in your garden. ERNEST But I’d kill him! MAN RAY Not the salon?

32 GERTRUDE [The face of Picasso’s Gertrude becomes animated, Man Ray, ferociously turning towards the audience. A hand Can I offer you a piece of advice? in the portrait reaches out of the frame and grabs MAN RAY ERNEST by the neck, picking him up, as if she is about Please… to devour him like Goya’s “Saturn Devouring His Son.”] GERTRUDE ALICE I’ve met many geniuses in my time. Knit, one. You, my dear, are a photographer. Purl, one. Gertrude and Alice. [MAN RAY grabs his painting from her hands and exits in a huff, stepping over the wrestling boys. [ERNEST’s feet kick wildly.] ERNEST has SCOTTY in a headlock.] ERNEST ERNEST I can’t… Tell her I’m the genius. Breathe. [SCOTTY knees him in the crotch, gets out of Help me! ERNEST’s clutches, then throws him up against Help me! the giant painting of Picasso’s Gertrude.] Help me, Scotty. Save me from the genius who isn’t a genius. SCOTTY [Increasing his chokehold on ERNEST.] [To SCOTTY, but indirectly to GERTRUDE.] Tell her I’m the genius. She calls us lost. Tell her, tell her! Bullshit. ERNEST So she can claim to find us. I can’t breathe! Gertrude Stein with her nose SCOTTY For talent. Say uncle. Bullshit. Uncle. Gertrude Stein is a stink Tell her. That likes her own smell. ERNEST She calls us lost. No uncle! Bullshit. This is stupid, Scotty! Better to be lost Gertrude Stein does not make genius. Than not be found. It takes genius to make genius.

33 Gertrude Stein [To GERTRUDE.] Was never found. He’s gone, lovey. A man but never a man. GERTRUDE A writer but never a genius. My pussy, She calls us lost. My lobster, A lost generation. My cake, Her ego. My wife. Her mental laziness. Always ready to slam the door. She is the lost. ALICE She is anonymous. He is wrong. Bullshit. GERTRUDE GERTRUDE You are right, I am historical. He is wrong. ERNEST My baby, Bullshit. My cherub, My queen. [The painting of Gertrude releases her grip on ALICE ERNEST and he falls to the ground. HE gets up, I am the wife, dusts himself off as ALICE opens the door, The wife who deals with wives. encouraging the boys to leave.] Who tends the weeds and the genius. SCOTTY Who tends to the lamb and the confidence. [To GERTRUDE.] GERTRUDE I’d very much like to be made a genius. I will write your memoirs. [He exits.] Alice B. Toklas will tell my story. ERNEST [ALICE and GERTRUDE dance.] [At the door, as if to sing another verse of his aria.] You call us lost… GERTRUDE Ring joyful, ALICE Ring loud, [Slamming the door on ERNEST.] Ring bright, Gertrude Bullshit! Alice, Alice.

34 [SOLDIERS remove the two paintings that flank War makes cannibals Picasso’s portrait of Gertrude. They appear in the Out of everyone. empty frames of the paintings, singing as they Twice denying a war march into war.] is no war is no war is no war. SOLDIERS Twice it came. Lost boys march. War is war is war. The flame of French resistance. [GERTRUDE stands behind ALICE at the typewriter.] Marching, marching. GERTRUDE AND ALICE Another generation. Gertrude Stein is safe, is safe, is safe – Lost boys, lost… Gertrude Stein, right famous American authoress, ACT FOUR | GERTRUDE STEIN IS SAFE, SAFE Is safe, safe, is safe. [The Gertrude portrait by Picasso hangs prominently in With Alice and Basket Two, too. the middle of the stage, flanked by two EMPTY FRAMES. Safe, safe, is safe. two men stand inside one empty frame, while the other Gertrude Stein is safe in isolation stands solo. The sounds of warfare as the PAINTINGS from the Nazi occupation. watch GERTRUDE and ALICE, as ALICE puts the Gertrude Stein is safe, safe, is safe Cezanne painting into a grinder, creating a meal for the Gertrude Stein is safe, safe, is safe… two of them. They sit and eat the strings of canvas at the [The trio of men congregate behind PICASSO’S table. Picasso’s flowers have completely died in the vase.] GERTRUDE portrait, singing as GERTRUDE’S EMPTY FRAMES conscience.] Twice denying a war PICASSO’S GERTRUDE is no war is no war is no war. Gertrude’s eyes, Twice it came. Almonds of worry. War is war is war. Gertrude’s lips, Paintings ripped from frames Holding in lies. To keep them fed. [Beat.] Leave empty spaces sold and served with sauces. Gertrude Stein, They ate the Cezanne. You are charged with They ate us, too, Betrayal,

35 Narcissism, ALICE Blindness, Knit one, purl war… Collaboration, Is no war. Self-hatred. GERTRUDE ALICE However near, She is not guilty. War feels like an ocean away, away. She is Gertrude Stein. PICASSO’S GERTRUDE GERTRUDE Stay safe, stay safe? I am Gertrude Stein, Did you think of your heritage? American authoress. GERTRUDE PICASSO’S GERTRUDE American! How does Gertrude Stein stay safe, safe, stay safe? That is my heritage. What is the answer? Me writing. ALICE Me in my chair writing. She owes no answer. PICASSO’S GERTRUDE She is Gertrude Stein. Gertrude Stein, right famous Jewish authoress. GERTRUDE Translating speeches, Vichy speeches. The war never entered my house. GERTRUDE War was never welcome. Translating speeches for highly political friends. PICASSO’S GERTRUDE Art-loving friends. How did Gertrude Stein stay safe, safe, stay safe? PICASSO’S GERTRUDE ALICE Eight hundred pages of hate. Always ready to slam the door. Eight hundred pages Lock out the war. To stay safe, safe, safe from the Nazis. GERTRUDE Deaf to the Final Solution. Deaf to Jewish suffering, Lock out the war. Deaf to Jewish silence. PICASSO’S GERTRUDE Did you feel the war, [Getting much angrier.] Breathing down, down your back? Gertrude Stein, accomplice! Stay safe, safe? Gertrude Stein, hangman! Gertrude Stein…

36 Gertrude Stein… Nurtured genius of Gertrude Stein… painters, writers, soldiers, ALICE lost young men who marched away away. [Cutting them off.] [To ALICE.] Historical! The bells! GERTRUDE Jury of my canvas: I did it for you! Remember the books, the portraits, For you, Gertrude! the lectures, the , For Gris, for Picasso, Cezanne. The flowers, the flowers, the friendship. You are my heart, pounding, Hung by nail. [To ALICE.] I did it for you. So loud! PICASSO’S GERTRUDE ALICE Gertrude Stein, guilty. They ring! Gertrude Stein, guilty. GERTRUDE [GERTRUDE is in a puddle on the floor.] Jury of my canvas: GERTRUDE Absolve me. De la part de qui venez-vous? Solve Stein. Who invited you? PICASSO’S GERTRUDE PICASSO’S GERTRUDE How does Gertrude Stein stay safe, safe, stay safe? You! GERTRUDE GERTRUDE The paintings are singing. [To the painting.] Sing so loud, singing. Jury of my canvas: [To ALICE.] Remember the medal placed around my neck, Tell me. A token of my service, Tell me that I’m good. Of my compassion, ALICE Of supplies driven to French hospitals, You are good, lovey, Of Gertrude Stein in the first war. You are very good. Jury of my canvas: PICASSO’S GERTRUDE Remember that I opened my home, How does Gertrude Stein stay safe, safe, stay safe?

37 [Down from the painting walks the DOUGHBOY, GERTRUDE lighting a cigarette noticing Gertrude. He pulls What is the question? from his pocket three eggs that glow.] [GERTRUDE dies in ALICE’s lap, ALICE GERTRUDE closes GERTRUDE’s eyes and kisses her.] [To the DOUGHBOY.] What is the answer? ACT FIVE | ALICE ALONE What is the answer? [The paintings are all crated up, ready to be sent to America. All that is left are empty knitted frames. PICASSO’S GERTRUDE ALICE sits knitting in bed, alone. The flowers on Take her away… the small desk have wilted entirely. From off-stage GERTRUDE we hear the voices of the PAINTINGS. Picasso’s [The DOUGHBOY vanishes, her question painted Gertrude leans up against the wall.] gets redirected to ALICE] PAINTINGS The answer? [Distant.] The answer? There once lived two women, PICASSO’S GERTRUDE On rue de Fleurus. Take her a… The genius, the writer. GERTRUDE Where is the writer? Ring, ring, ring… [There is a knock at the door. ALICE answers.] ALICE ALICE Shhhhh. There is no salon today. GERTRUDE AND ALICE Ring, ring, ring. [SHE quickly closes the door, returns to her bed]. PAINTINGS ALICE Before we say hello, hello. [Distant.] The answer is Hello. There once lived two women, On rue de Fleurus. GERTRUDE Knock knock knock What is the question? Knock on the door marked “27”. ALICE Before we say goodbye, goodbye. [Another knock at the door. ALICE gets up and opens The answer is goodbye. it, before she can turn the visitor away, she recognizes him as a figure of her past days with Gertrude…]

38 ALICE ALICE Has anybody told you that you look like Abe Your Gertrude. Lincoln? She’s been very chatty lately, your Gertrude. [It’s PABLO, holding a fresh bouquet of flowers, PABLO handing them to her.] Your Gertrude. PABLO ALICE No no no no no. Ours. Ours. ALICE PABLO AND ALICE Come in, come in. Ours. They are beautiful, Pablo. ALICE PABLO Will she ever shut up? It’s been too long. [She laughs.] ALICE Will she whisper to [ ] Replacing the dead flowers with the new bouquet. the passersby? What matters is you’ve come back. Filling the room. And not a moment too soon. Perched high above the crowd, To say goodbye to genius. Looking down on her public To say goodbye to Gertrude. Picking out new geniuses? The American men I will miss her laugh. From the museum Are coming. [Beat.] [PABLO stands in front of his painting of Gertrude.] You were right, Pablo. PABLO You were perfectly right. We will never see her again. PABLO ALICE How so? What will I do without her? ALICE It’s a lonely house, Pablo. It is good. And she’s a good listener. And it looks exactly like her. PABLO PABLO Your Gertrude. It is not entirely accurate.

39 [Pablo gets up and grabs a blank, giant [ALICE threads a needle, and begins to stitch needlepoint canvas, and begins to draw.] GERTRUDE’s portrait. As she does this, GERTRUDE ALICE is revealed sitting in her iconic pose. ALICE continues Trying to knit, but failing miserably. needlepointing, as GERTRUDE sings…] I’ve tried – GERTRUDE Gertrude one, I’ve been called many things, Alice one. Many, many things. I’ve tried – The “homme des lettres.” To purl, The dictator of art. I’ve tried. A fascist. I beg. Lovey. PABLO I’ve been called many things, I remember it takes time. Many many things. Time and time and more time. I’ve painted with my words, The face will emerge, Painted with colors never seen The image finds its reason. ever seen by Genius needs nothing and nothing the eye. And more nothing But time and time and more time. The flowers, You are good. Before the flowers. Good Alice. Friendship faded Genius Alice. Before the flowers of friendship… PABLO AND ALICE Faded Friendship Faded. Stitch her back to life. Come sit, come sit. She will keep you/me company. Come. She will sing so loud singing. De la part de qui venez-vous? [Presenting the needlepoint canvas, I invited, I invited, with an outline of GERTRUDE to ALICE.] I needed you! ALICE My baby, my kitten, my queen… My pussy, my lobster, my cake. These are the flowers of friendship. I painted your portrait with words…

40 I painted our portrait, ALICE To make me historical. The writer… Gertrude with Alice, historical. GERTRUDE Before the flowers of friendship faded, and her wife. Friendship faded. ALICE Before the flowers of friendship faded, Lovey. Alice never faded. GERTRUDE Our friends, they are singing. Lovey. Faded, but singing: GERTRUDE, ALICE, PABLO, ERNEST AND MAN RAY PABLO, ERNEST, MAN RAY Ring, ring, ring. [Unseen but heard, repeated under ALICE Alice and Gertrude’s following duet.] The genius is in… To live, to die, to be: GERTRUDE Living, dying, being, existing. At 27 rue de Fleurus. GERTRUDE AND ALICE ALICE Two women. The genius is in… PABLO, ERNEST, MAN RAY GERTRUDE To live, to die, to be: You are my genius. Dying, being, existing. GERTRUDE, ALICE, PABLO, ERNEST, AND MAN RAY GERTRUDE AND ALICE At 27 rue du Fleurus. Two women, GERTRUDE The writer, the genius. The bells ring. PABLO, ERNEST, MAN RAY ALICE The writer, the genius. Ring. GERTRUDE AND ALICE Two women, [ALICE ascends into the painting with GERTRUDE. The writer, her secretary. The lights go out on GERTRUDE and ALICE sitting The writer, her biographer. together, revealing the finished needlepoint. It is most GERTRUDE, ALICE, PABLO, ERNEST AND MAN RAY definitely Picasso’s portrait of Gertrude, only Alice’s image has been added behind Gertrude. Picasso’s Two women, two women. portrait is now accurate. Blackout.] p

41 COMMISSIONED AND PREMIERED BY: RECORDED AT: OPERA THEATRE OF SAINT LOUIS The Loretto-Hilton Center Timothy O’Leary, General Director Virginia Jackson Browning Theatre Stephen Lord, Music Director St. Louis, MO, USA James Robinson, Artistic Director During June 2014 performances

Paul Kilmer, RECORDED AND PRODUCED BY: Director of Artistic Administration Pan Galactic Company Stephen M. Ryan, Peter Henderson, Producer Director of Production and Operations Paul Hennerich, ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY Recording Engineer, Assistant Producer David Robertson, Music Director Boris Golynskiy, Eric Buettner, Assistant Engineers Michael Ferguson, Front of House Sound Engineer COMPACT DISC BOOKLET: Maggie Stearns, Publications Director Michael Simpson, Design/Typographer

The audio recording of “27” was made possible with a generous leadership gift from Mrs. Walter F. Brissenden. The commissioning and development of “27” were made possible with a leadership gift from Alison and John Ferring. Generous support also came from the Fred M. Saigh Endowment at Opera Theatre, the National Endowment for the Arts, and OPERA America’s Opera Fund. The production of “27” was made possible with a leadership gift from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and by OTSL’s Rudolph W. Driscoll Endowment for Contemporary Opera, with support from major production sponsor Phoebe Dent Weil and production underwriters Emily Rauh Pulitzer and the late Emma Coulter Ware.

PAGE 3, ALICE B. TOKLAS AND GERTRUDE STEIN: © MAN RAY TRUST/ ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NY/ ADAGP, PARIS 2014.

42 “‘27’ tells a great American story, about Gertrude Stein, as well as American opera in the 21st century… The acting, the journey, the brevity, it all says good things about American opera, serious things, and director James Robinson balances them with some precision. He lets the bigness of ‘27’ shine through; it’s opera and it ought to be a little grand… It is every century’s job to define the century before it, and ‘27’ isn’t afraid to do that with certainty and depth.” DENVER POST

“Opera Theatre’s ‘27’ “It is a treat to hear is serious fun… Tenor this lively fantasia Theo Lebow, baritone about a curious Tobias Greenhalgh and historical figure bass-baritone Daniel that embraces Brevik, in a tour de her peculiarities force of quick costume but makes her and character changes, sympathetic. It is are collectively and no small matter that individually a delight. the piece was written They’re examples of for Stephanie Blythe, OTSL’s standards with its an outsize personality Gerdine Young Artists; herself, whose grand, each of them seems multifaceted mezzo ready to step out into brings the character a serious career.” to vibrant life.” “A Hit is a Hit is a Hit.” ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH THE WALL STREET JOURNAL OPERA TODAY

43 “Especially adept in “It is a brilliant idea to suggesting geniality write an opera about and nostalgia, his is Gertrude Stein. It is music that singers like an even more brilliant to sing and audiences idea to write it for the are happy to hear… powerhouse contralto The best moment Stephanie Blythe. If ever comes with the there were a historical delicate music figure who can burst following Stein’s into full-throated song death, as Futral sings without apparent in haunting pianissimo contradiction, it’s Stein; tones, cradling and Blythe is a singer Stein’s head, in an with Stein’s larger-than- encapsulation of the life presence, thanks to quiet love she had a majestic, magnetic, shown Stein as ‘wife’ powerful voice that throughout.” makes you take notice.” FINANCIAL TIMES (LONDON) WASHINGTON POST

“In ‘27,’ Opera Theatre again uses powerful art to challenge… Opera WWW.ALBANYRECORDS.COM TROY1549/50 ALBANY RECORDS U.S. Theatre has distinguished itself 915 BROADWAY, ALBANY, NY 12207 TEL: 518.436.8814 FAX: 518.436.0643 by a bold decision to confront ALBANY RECORDS U.K. BOX 137, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA8 0XD controversies surrounding the human TEL: 01539 824008 © 2014 ALBANY RECORDS MADE IN THE USA condition, controversies that might DDD WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL. more conveniently be left alone.” ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO 44 “27” WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING TROY 1549/50 TROY

AN OPERA IN FIVE ACTS

MUSIC BY LIBRETTO BY

RICKY IAN GORDON ROYCE VAVREK

STEPHANIE BLYTHE ELIZABETH FUTRAL THEO LEBOW TOBIAS GREENHALGH DANIEL BREVIK MEMBERS OF THE ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY

CONDUCTED BY MICHAEL CHRISTIE TROY 1549/50

WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING COMMISSIONED AND PREMIERED BY OPERA THEATRE OF SAINT LOUIS RECORDED IN PERFORMANCE : JUNE 2014 “27” “27”

AN OPERA IN FIVE ACTS

MUSIC BY LIBRETTO BY AN OPERA IN FIVE ACTS RICKY IAN GORDON ROYCE VAVREK TROY 1549/50 TROY CD 1 1) PROLOGUE | ALICE KNITS THE WORLD [5:35] ACT ONE 2) SCENE 1 — 27 RUE DE FLEURUS [10:12] 3) SCENE 2 — GERTRUDE SITS FOR PABLO [5:25] 4) SCENE 3 — BACK AT THE SALON [15:58] ACT TWO | ZEPPELINS 5) SCENE 1 — CHATTER [5:21] 6) SCENE 2 — DOUGHBOY [4:13] ACT THREE | GÉNÉRATION PERDUE

7) INTRODUCTION; “LOST BOYS” [5:26]

8) “COME MEET MAN RAY” [5:48]

9) “HOW WOULD YOU CHOOSE?” [4:59] 10) “HE’S GONE, LOVEY” [2:30]

CD 2 ACT FOUR | GERTRUDE STEIN IS SAFE, SAFE 1) INTRODUCTION; “TWICE DENYING A WAR” [7:36] 2) “JURY OF MY CANVAS” [6:07] ACT FIVE | ALICE ALONE 3) INTRODUCTION; “THERE ONCE LIVED TWO WOMEN” [8:40] 4) “I’VE BEEN CALLED MANY THINGS” [8:21] TROY 1549/50 WWW.ALBANYRECORDS.COM TROY 1549/50 ALBANY RECORDS U.S. 915 BROADWAY, ALBANY, NY 12207 TEL: 518.436.8814 FAX: 518.436.0643

AN OPERA IN FIVE ACTS ALBANY RECORDS U.K. BOX 137, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA8 0XD TEL: 01539 824008 © 2014 ALBANY RECORDS MADE IN THE USA DDD WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL. “27”