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<\/a>There was a there there amid winter's last snow!<\/p><\/div>\n
I was so fortunate to be there to join the welcoming party for a preview and for opening night! (I only regret that I didn’t have an armload of yellow roses, Gertrude’s favorite flower, and an armload of lilacs, Alice’s favorite flower, to toss at the feet of the team that made all of this happen!)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Instead of a “review,” I call this a ” tribute” \u00a0to everyone who made “The Gertrude Stein Project” the phenomenal event that it was.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The core of the production is the company of soon-to-be-graduating BFA students who made up The Gertrude Stein Project Company. The performance magically and seamlessly intertwined Stein texts, movement and historical vignettes complemented by one of the best soundscapes I have ever heard in a production.<\/p>\n The historic GertrudeandAlice came to life as two Gertrudes, one of them male, and two Alices recounted key moments in their lives anchored in the story of Professor Leon Katz’s almost 60 year journey deciphering the Stein notebooks housed at Yale. Recent video of Dr. Katz recalling the months he spent with Alice in Paris reviewing the notebooks provided some of the most emotional moments of the performance.<\/p>\n Gertrude 1 and Alice 1 (photo by Ed Ellis, courtesy of Studio Theatre)<\/p><\/div>\n Gertrude I and Alice I and Alice II and Leon Katz (photo by Ed Ellis, courtesy of Studio Theatre)<\/p><\/div>\n Paper is also a key element in\u00a0 the production. The 70 foot high white screen at the back of the stage reminded me of the blank sheet of the paper that has confronted and confounded writers over the years. On it were projected the typed letters and words as\u00a0GertrudeandAlice have a\u00a0 verbal duel. The scene \u00a0culminates with an awkward moment when the word \u201cMay\u201d appears, foreshadowing the confrontation that \u00a0happens later when Alice confronts Gertrude about her Radcliffe-era lover.\u00a0 The text from one of Leo Stein\u2019s books is also typed on the screen, as a verklemp<\/em>t Leo recites the text and his litany of medical and digestive problems!<\/p>\n Le corps blanc with Gertrude II (photo by Ed Ellis, courtesy of Studio Theatre)<\/p><\/div>\n Paper plays a significant role in the opening scene when the actors are sleeping on large sheets of paper which serve as\u00a0 their \u201cyoga mats\u201d. While paper folders are shuffled in choreographed precision during an amazing scene about the archiving of historical collections. \u00a0(Some members of the company spend time at the Beinecke Library at Yale gathering inspiration for the show.) And in one of the most entertaining scenes, Gertrude, carrying a riding crop, disciplines her subjects during a writing exercise as she walks about categorizing each of the hapless guinea pigs based on their writing and demeanor \u2013\u201cBlonde\u2014category 2!!\u201d<\/p>\n Leon Katz and the archivists (photo by Ed Ellis, courtesy Studio Theatre)<\/p><\/div>\n I have deliberately not singled out any individuals involved with this production since it was a true collaboration, a\u00a0Gesamtkunstwerk –<\/em> a favorite German word which literally translated means “total or unified work of art.” \u00a0Instead I’ve included scans from the program so the complete list of the\u00a0Gesamtkunstwerkers, <\/em>including two poodles playing Basket I & II,\u00a0can be acknowledged.<\/p>\n When I reached Edmonton, a few items from my collection in tow to display in the lobby during the run of the show, I discovered that I was character in the production! \u00a0Several weeks ago I had done a Skype call with the cast speaking about GertrudeandAlice and some of the items I collected relating to them. \u00a0One of the items I described was the Smith-Premier typewriter I had found that was similar to the one Alice used when she first began typing Gertrude’s manuscripts. \u00a0Since our Skype call had not been taped, one of the company members played me talking about the typewriter acquisition. \u00a0His excellent impersonation was videotaped and played at one point in the production.<\/p>\n The typewriter responsible for the stage debut!<\/p><\/div>\n So at about 7:30 PM PST (8:30PM Edmonton time) during the run of the show, which closed on the 9th,\u00a0 I’d be thinking \u201cit\u2019s about time for me to go on\u2014project, smile, emote!\u201d \u00a0What an honor to have been a part of this. \u00a0What an honor to write this tribute and it’s not all, all good, just because I was in it!<\/p>\n<\/a>I generally don’t like reviews because in a review a critic often feels obligated to write about the good, the bad and the ugly. In this case there is no “bad” or \u00a0“ugly” and as you’ll see in a bit, I will provide full disclosure because all the “good,” is so, so good, you may wonder “What did they pay this guy?!”<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>And now for full disclosure:<\/p>\n<\/a>