Can you imagine W.H.Auden, Carson McCullers, Benjamin Britten and Gypsy Rose Lee all living under one roof? It’s true. This musical play tells the story of a 1941 Brooklyn boarding house, one of the most colourful artistic salons of all time. Auden and Britten had left England at the outset of World War 2 and were writing an opera together, Carson McCullers had just published The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, and Gypsy Rose Lee had abandoned burlesque and was turning her hand to writing, assisted by George Davis, an editor at Harper’s, who created this unique household. Told from the point of view of Auden and McCullers as if they might meet again after some twenty years, the script draws on stories recounted in Sherill Tippins’ February House, as well as the written works of Auden, McCullers, Gypsy Rose Lee and Christopher Isherwood, one of their regular visitors. The play integrates the cabaret music of Benjamin Britten, Kurt Weill and others into the story line.
Year Printed: 2018
First Produced: Victoria (Feb 19,26,27/10)
Acts: 2
Running Time: 90
Female Cast: 1
Male Cast: 1
Other performers: one singer, one pianist
Search words: February House, World War 2, Benjamin Britten, W.H. Auden, Carson McCullers, Brooklyn, cabaret, salon