| About Virgil Thomson | The Company | Note From The Author | Songs Used in Oh Virgil! | Production Photos | Video & Audio Clips |
A Note From The Author, Wallace Norman
Gertrude Stein Portrait by Pablo Picasso
The idea for Oh Virgil! A Theatrical Portrait began sometime early in 2006 when a colleague, Larry Alan Smith, came to me with his idea of a play about the life and music of Virgil Thomson. Thomson had a big personality, was very influential and was on the scene at a time when the music and art world exploded. His operas and friendship with Gertrude Stein are legendary. We knew from the start that we wanted to incorporate some of Thomson's songs and music into our presentation. So, a workshop of this a new play with music was a perfect fit for our annual Woodstock Fringe Festival of Theatre & Song. We asked the Virgil Thomson Foundation for support. We were delighted when the Foundation responded enthusiastically and generously supported the development of this play and a workshop production. We were off.
Research started and I read every bit of material about Virgil Thomson I could find. Thomson's life and work is well documented and there was much to learn about. I set out to collect and surround myself with information about the man and the world he lived in. Larry and I traveled to the archives at Yale University to listen to audio tapes and video tapes on Thomson. Thomson had written an autobiography. Invaluable was Anthony Tommasini's extraordinary biography, Virgil Thomson Composer on the Aisle. Another great resource was Steven Watson's Prepare For Saints which encyclopedically documents the production of Thomson and Stein’s Four Saints In Three Acts. Individuals who knew and worked with Thomson were kind enough to speak to me about Thomson, including Richard Flender, Charles Fussell, Ned Rorem, Tim Page, Craig Rutenberg, Anthony Tommasini, and Scott Wheeler. I loved immersing myself in this material.
Virgil Thomson was coming into focus. He was a complex man who lead a “big” life. A great raconteur and host, his dinner parties at the Chelsea Hotel were famous for their excellent food, conversation and impressive guests. Those interviewed spoke of Thomson's fierce intelligence, great wit and the many pleasures they experienced knowing him. Life with and around Thomson was at times hugely entertaining and at other times very difficult. Thomson expressed pleasure and disappointment extravagantly. Everyone I spoke to felt that their lives were much richer for having known him and that having known him was a very important part of their life.
After some time and learning how much information is available and how rich was Thomson's artistic and social life, I began to feel overwhelmed and daunted by the task of writing a play about this man. Tommasini and Watson had spent years researching and writing their books. (Tommasini's great book is more than 600 pages.) We had to produce Oh Virgil! in just a little more than a year's time. Larry and I met several times to kick around ideas for scenes, select what part of Thomson's “story” we want to tell. I struggled to find a structure for the play. The deadline was looming. I had no play yet.
Finally the idea “write a portrait” came to me. Thomson wrote hundreds of what he called “musical portraits.” Thomson's idea for this came from Gertrude Stein who wrote what she called “word portraits.” Individuals would sit for Thomson and he would write a musical piece using musical ideas to “paint” his subjects. So, I would set out to compose a theatrical and music portrait of Thomson. The name of our play was changed to Oh Virgil! A Theatrical Portrait. We use a pianist, two singers and three actors to create our portrait of Virgil Thomson.
I am grateful to Michael Conley, Artistic Director of Judson Arts, for inviting Woodstock Fringe to present the world premier of our play at the Judson Memorial Church. I am very excited to have this work come to life.
Research started and I read every bit of material about Virgil Thomson I could find. Thomson's life and work is well documented and there was much to learn about. I set out to collect and surround myself with information about the man and the world he lived in. Larry and I traveled to the archives at Yale University to listen to audio tapes and video tapes on Thomson. Thomson had written an autobiography. Invaluable was Anthony Tommasini's extraordinary biography, Virgil Thomson Composer on the Aisle. Another great resource was Steven Watson's Prepare For Saints which encyclopedically documents the production of Thomson and Stein’s Four Saints In Three Acts. Individuals who knew and worked with Thomson were kind enough to speak to me about Thomson, including Richard Flender, Charles Fussell, Ned Rorem, Tim Page, Craig Rutenberg, Anthony Tommasini, and Scott Wheeler. I loved immersing myself in this material.
Virgil Thomson was coming into focus. He was a complex man who lead a “big” life. A great raconteur and host, his dinner parties at the Chelsea Hotel were famous for their excellent food, conversation and impressive guests. Those interviewed spoke of Thomson's fierce intelligence, great wit and the many pleasures they experienced knowing him. Life with and around Thomson was at times hugely entertaining and at other times very difficult. Thomson expressed pleasure and disappointment extravagantly. Everyone I spoke to felt that their lives were much richer for having known him and that having known him was a very important part of their life.
After some time and learning how much information is available and how rich was Thomson's artistic and social life, I began to feel overwhelmed and daunted by the task of writing a play about this man. Tommasini and Watson had spent years researching and writing their books. (Tommasini's great book is more than 600 pages.) We had to produce Oh Virgil! in just a little more than a year's time. Larry and I met several times to kick around ideas for scenes, select what part of Thomson's “story” we want to tell. I struggled to find a structure for the play. The deadline was looming. I had no play yet.
Finally the idea “write a portrait” came to me. Thomson wrote hundreds of what he called “musical portraits.” Thomson's idea for this came from Gertrude Stein who wrote what she called “word portraits.” Individuals would sit for Thomson and he would write a musical piece using musical ideas to “paint” his subjects. So, I would set out to compose a theatrical and music portrait of Thomson. The name of our play was changed to Oh Virgil! A Theatrical Portrait. We use a pianist, two singers and three actors to create our portrait of Virgil Thomson.
I am grateful to Michael Conley, Artistic Director of Judson Arts, for inviting Woodstock Fringe to present the world premier of our play at the Judson Memorial Church. I am very excited to have this work come to life.