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Apart from Ellen and Portia (or Oprah
and Gale...), probably the most famous
lesbian couple of modern history was
Gertrude Stein and her lifetime
companion Alice B. Toklas. It was in the
Parisian salon of Stein and Toklas that
modernism was born, thanks to the modern
art gallery that Stein installed in
their home. Paintings by Picasso,
Gauguin, Cézanne, Renoir, Matisse, and
Toulouse-Lautrec were in constant
circulation on the walls of 27, rue de
Fleurus.
Imagining those walls today, the mind
reels. And it's fascinating to imagine
Stein in that apartment surrounded by so
many modern art masterpieces, writing
the libretto for her lesbian opera, A
Lyrical Opera Made By Two, which depicts
her relationship with Toklas.
Written in 1928 by Stein, A Lyrical
Opera Made By Two was scored by William
Turner, and directed by Charles Gilbert,
for the International Festival of
Musical Theater in Cardiff, Wales in
2005.
Head of the Musical Theater Program at
Philadelphia's University of the Arts,
Gilbert is also a composer, director,
and writer - and from April 13 through
17, Gilbert's production of A Lyrical
Opera Made By Two will be presented at
Caplan Studio on South Broad Street in
Philadelphia as part of the Philadelphia
International Festival of the Arts.
Performances are from the 13th through
the 17th of April at 8 pm (with Saturday
and Sunday matinees at 2 pm). As Stein
once said, "America is my country, but
Paris is my hometown" - or in this case,
Philadelphia.
LINK:
http://www.pifa.org/events/980191110
Buy tickets:
https://tickets.pifa.org/Cart/Cart.aspx?perf_no=11938
Eighth in a series of features about
the Philadelphia International Festival
of the Arts (PIFA), continuing through
May 1 with the support of PIFA.
Follow PIFA at
http://www.twitter.com/PIFAPhilly
“Like” PIFA at
http://www.facebook.com/PIFA.Philly
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