27 Rue de Fleurus (My Life with Gertrude)
by Ted Sod, Lisa Koch

Name: 27 Rue de Fleurus (My Life with Gertrude)
Brand: Ted Sod
SKU: 9780573663628
Rating: 3 (1 reviews)

Off-Broadway

27 Rue de Fleurus (My Life with Gertrude) Cover

27 Rue de Fleurus (My Life with Gertrude) Book Cover — 27 Rue de Fleurus (My Life with Gertrude) Cover

Highlights

Female

75 mins 1940s/WWII All Women Unit Set/Multiple Settings Period Costumes

Synopsis

Unlike most of the stage works about Gertrude and Alice, 27 Rue de Fleurus tells the story from Alice's point of view.

Alice tries to set the record straight about being Gertrude Stein's wife for nearly 40 years.

Gertrude, growing tired of what she considers Alice's lack of panache in telling their story, attempts to hijack the play (as only the author of such lines as “sugar is not a vegetable” can).

But Alice silences the famously verbose Gertrude by sharing some secrets with the audience.

As the musical progresses, the celebrated partners confront one another about love, marriage, jealousy, genius and a few other delicious topics—as Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mabel Dodge, Sylvia Beach and even Jean Harlow drop by for a visit.

Press Reviews

"27 Rue de Fleurus gets its sweetness from a genuine love of its subject, the marriage of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas."
— The Village Voice

"What we have here is a love story, fraught with jealousy and passion like others, but most of all, it celebrates the incredible bond between two women who decided to share their lives, even during a time when it was relatively unheard of. That alone makes 27 Rue de Fleurus worth an evening of your time."
— GO Magazine

"Credit Ted Sod and Lisa Koch, writers of 27 Rue de Fleurus, with the provocative notion of fashioning a revisionist musical from Alice B. Toklas’ corrective version of her life with literary giant Gertrude Stein. Name-dropping opening number “Salon (Let’s Talk)” sets the smart tone for the musical’s mise en scene – the Parisian apartment at 27 Rue de Fleurus where Gertrude and her companion Alice preside over a fashionable literary salon that attracts artists and writers of international renown, as well as the occasional American feminist and Hollywood movie star. It’s an inviting scene, to be sure."
— Variety

"Bookwriter Ted Sod, who collaborated on the lyrics with Lisa Koch, have both done the most important thing right: They’ve made Stein and Toklas human beings who are struggling through the confines of a marriage, with Stein ‘playing’ the husband, and Toklas the wife. Koch sure likes to write waltzes; not since Night Music has a score contained so many. But they’re all lovely-to-beautiful. The opening is a good deal of fun, because the waltz plays against all the ungainly subjects Gertrude, Alice and their guests discuss."
— Theatremania

"This is Alice’s turn, Alice’s attempt to put herself center stage and give her version of being ‘the woman behind the woman.’ The show’s opening has a genuine brightness as Alice introduces herself as a transformed glamorous creature, the Alice she wanted to see in the mirror. We enter the salon of 27 Rue de Fleurus, where Alice has come to live and Gertrude bluntly sings, ‘Be my wife, Alice/Give up your life, Alice.’ The two opening songs — ‘Salon (Let’s Talk)’ and ‘Genius’ — glow with good humor and witty lyrics and set the salon as the place to be. As well as Picasso and Fitzgerald, it’s also the scene for Mabel Dodge, Sylvia Beach, Marian Walker, and even Jean Harlow."
— Backstage

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Gertrude Stein Robust, stout, a larger-than-life personality. She is a masculine and handsome woman. A self- proclaimed genius who speaks her own mind eloquently.	female	—	Robust, stout, a larger-than-life personality. She is a masculine and handsome woman. A self- proclaimed genius who speaks her own mind eloquently.
Leo Stein Gertrude's dyspeptic brothers; has a very high opinion of himself and thinks little of Alice's relationship to his sister.	female	—	Gertrude's dyspeptic brothers; has a very high opinion of himself and thinks little of Alice's relationship to his sister.
Pablo Picasso A famous artist whose ego is huge and who has problems understanding languages and concepts other than his own.	male	—	A famous artist whose ego is huge and who has problems understanding languages and concepts other than his own.
Marian Walker A family friend of Gertrude's from Baltimore, she is feminist who has a large family.	female	—	A family friend of Gertrude's from Baltimore, she is feminist who has a large family.
Mabel Dodge The notorious narcissistic socialite/heiress and femme fatale.	—	—	The notorious narcissistic socialite/heiress and femme fatale.
Sylvia Beach A no-nonsense lesbian who is proprietor of Shakespeare and Company, an English languages bookstore in Paris.	—	—	A no-nonsense lesbian who is proprietor of Shakespeare and Company, an English languages bookstore in Paris.
F. Scott Fitzgerald A famous writer who is alcoholic and has low self-esteem.	—	—	A famous writer who is alcoholic and has low self-esteem.
May Bookstaver A beauty who was Gertrude's first love from medical school at Radcliffe.	—	—	A beauty who was Gertrude's first love from medical school at Radcliffe.
Violet Startup A Seattle farm girl with whom Alice was smitten when she was 19.	female	—	A Seattle farm girl with whom Alice was smitten when she was 19.
Jean Harlow The famous seductive screen siren of the 1930s who sported platinum hair. Her generation's Madonna.	female	30s	The famous seductive screen siren of the 1930s who sported platinum hair. Her generation's Madonna.
Doctor French, tells Alice that Gertrude's illness is grave.	—	—	French, tells Alice that Gertrude's illness is grave.
Paintings, Wives	—	—	—
Alice B. Toklas Petite, occasionally dry and sometimes caustic. The woman behind the woman. Madly in love with Gertrude and emotionally vulnerable. The perfect hostess to those whom she admires; no so generous to others.	female	—	Petite, occasionally dry and sometimes caustic. The woman behind the woman. Madly in love with Gertrude and emotionally vulnerable. The perfect hostess to those whom she admires; no so generous to others.