Marie Christine
Encyclopedia
Marie Christine is a musical
written by Michael John LaChiusa
. It opened on Broadway
in 1999. Set in 1890s New Orleans and then 5 years later in Chicago; the story is loosely based on the Greek
play Medea
, and uses elements of voodoo
rituals and practices. The title character was based in part on the historical figure of Marie Laveau
– specifically, her daughter, who took the same name – and the myths surrounding them.
at the Vivian Beaumont Theater of Lincoln Center on December 2, 1999 and closed on January 9, 2000 after 42 performances and 39 previews. Directed and choreographed by Graciela Daniele
, it starred Audra McDonald
as Marie Christine, Anthony Crivello
as Dante Keyes, Vivian Reed
as Marie Christine's voodoo priestess mother, and Mary Testa
as Magdalena.
The production was nominated for several Tony Award
s, including Best Book of a Musical (LaChiusa), Best Score (LaChiusa), and Best Leading Actress in a Musical (McDonald).
, follow her as she tells her story. Marie's mother is a practitioner of voodoo
magic. In 1894 Marie had met Dante Keyes, a white sea captain from Chicago, whose ship is stranded. They fall in love and sail for 5 years along the Eastern seaboard and have two boys. They finally start a home in Chicago. However, Dante is now more interested in the political world of Chicago and runs for Alderman, telling Marie that she must leave. He becomes engaged to Helena, the daughter of the political boss, Charles Gates. In a confrontation, Gates offers to keep the children with Dante, but Marie refuses. On the day of his wedding, a present that Marie has given Helena turns out to be poison and kills her. Finally, Marie reveals that she has also killed her children.
Act II
Ben Brantley
wrote in The New York Times
: "When Audra McDonald sings her first notes as the Medea-like heroine of Marie Christine, Michael John LaChiusa's solemn, sometimes somnolent musical tragedy at Lincoln Center, there is clearly sorcery at work.... Marie Christine ... is a resounding confirmation of Ms. McDonald's status as a vocal artist of singular skills and sensibility.... As a musical portrait of an individual, Marie Christine is stunning; as a compelling, complete production, it still feels oddly unfinished. Despite ravishing orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, the score rarely achieves much momentum or intensity on its own, and its recurrent motifs don't haunt the imagination as they should."
Michael Feingold, reviewing for the Village Voice, wrote: "Proficient, skilled, and imaginative, LaChiusa marshals an enormous panoply of approaches to tell his tale, but it doesn't hold together, even with the towering talent of Audra McDonald at its center, because the myth won't supply what he needs from it; his constantly shifting strategies only diffuse it further. Though LaChiusa's blurry conception is often conveyed in equally blurry lyrics, his music, with its constant restless invention, probably deserves a fairer hearing than it gets here. More than any new score I've heard recently, it wants unplugging."
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
written by Michael John LaChiusa
Michael John LaChiusa
Michael John LaChiusa is an American musical theatre and opera composer, lyricist, and librettist. He is best known for complex, musically challenging shows such as Hello Again, Marie Christine, The Wild Party, and See What I Wanna See...
. It opened on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1999. Set in 1890s New Orleans and then 5 years later in Chicago; the story is loosely based on the Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
play Medea
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
, and uses elements of voodoo
Louisiana Voodoo
Louisiana Voodoo, also known as New Orleans Voodoo, describes a set of underground religious practices which originated from the traditions of the African diaspora. It is a cultural form of the Afro-American religions which developed within the French, Spanish, and Creole speaking African American...
rituals and practices. The title character was based in part on the historical figure of Marie Laveau
Marie Laveau
Marie Laveau was a Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voodoo renown in New Orleans. She was born free in New Orleans....
– specifically, her daughter, who took the same name – and the myths surrounding them.
Productions
The musical opened on BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
at the Vivian Beaumont Theater of Lincoln Center on December 2, 1999 and closed on January 9, 2000 after 42 performances and 39 previews. Directed and choreographed by Graciela Daniele
Graciela Daniele
Graciela Daniele is an Argentine-American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director.-Biography:Born at Buenos Aires, Daniele began her dance training at the age of seven at Teatro Colón, Argentina's equivalent of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre...
, it starred Audra McDonald
Audra McDonald
Audra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett. She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun...
as Marie Christine, Anthony Crivello
Anthony Crivello
Anthony Crivello is an American actor and singer, mostly in musicals on Broadway. He has written several scripts and more than twenty songs.-Personal life:...
as Dante Keyes, Vivian Reed
Vivian Reed (actress)
Vivian Reed is an African-American actress, singer, and dancer.BIOGRAPHYVivian Reed is a multi-award winner with two TONY nominations, Drama Desk Award, Theatre world Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Dance Education of America Award, NAACP Award and several others...
as Marie Christine's voodoo priestess mother, and Mary Testa
Mary Testa
Mary Testa is an American stage actress. She is a two-time Tony Award nominee, for performances in revivals of Leonard Bernstein's On the Town and 42nd Street ....
as Magdalena.
The production was nominated for several Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
s, including Best Book of a Musical (LaChiusa), Best Score (LaChiusa), and Best Leading Actress in a Musical (McDonald).
Synopsis
In New Orleans in 1899 Marie Christine, a racially mixed woman, is in prison. Three of the prisoners, acting as a Greek chorusGreek chorus
A Greek chorus is a homogenous, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action....
, follow her as she tells her story. Marie's mother is a practitioner of voodoo
Louisiana Voodoo
Louisiana Voodoo, also known as New Orleans Voodoo, describes a set of underground religious practices which originated from the traditions of the African diaspora. It is a cultural form of the Afro-American religions which developed within the French, Spanish, and Creole speaking African American...
magic. In 1894 Marie had met Dante Keyes, a white sea captain from Chicago, whose ship is stranded. They fall in love and sail for 5 years along the Eastern seaboard and have two boys. They finally start a home in Chicago. However, Dante is now more interested in the political world of Chicago and runs for Alderman, telling Marie that she must leave. He becomes engaged to Helena, the daughter of the political boss, Charles Gates. In a confrontation, Gates offers to keep the children with Dante, but Marie refuses. On the day of his wedding, a present that Marie has given Helena turns out to be poison and kills her. Finally, Marie reveals that she has also killed her children.
Songs
Act I- The Map of Your Heart - Paris, Jean & Marie Christine
- Before the Morning - Women
- Mamzell - Marie/Company
- Ton Grandpere est le soleil - Marie Christine's Mother
- Beautiful - Marie Christine
- Way Back to Paradise - Marie Christine & Lisette
- Storm - Dante
- To Find a Lover - Marie Christine & Company
- Nothing Beats Chicago/Ocean Is Different/Danced With a Girl - Dante
- Tou Mi Mi - Lisette
- Miracles and Mysteries - Marie Christine's Mother & Prisoners
- I Don't Hear the Ocean - Dante & Marie Christine
- Bird Inside the House - Maids & Valets
- All Eyes Look Upon You - Jean
- A Month Ago - Maids
- Danced With a Girl (Reprise) - Dante
- We're Gonna Go to Chicago - Dante & Marie Christine
- Dansez Calinda - Lisette
- I Will Give - Marie Christine & Prisoners
- Finale of Act I - Paris & Company
Act II
- Opening/I Will Love You - Prisoners, Dante, Marie Christine
- Cincinnati - Magdalena & Daughters
- You're Looking at the Man - Leary, McMahon, Dante & Company
- The Scorpion - Dante & Marie Christine
- Lover Bring Me Summer - Olivia & Grace Parker
- Old Dante - Old Dante
- Tell Me - Marie Christine
- Paradise Is Burning Down - Magdalena
- Prison in a Prison - Marie Christine & Prisoners, Helena & Dante
- Better & Best - Leary & McMahon
- Good Looking Woman - Gates, Leary & McMahon
- No Turning Back - Paris, Mother, Jean & Lisette
- Beautiful (Reprise) - Marie Christine
- A Lovely Wedding - Magdalena
- I Will Love You (Reprise) - Marie Christine
- Your Name - Dante
- Finale of Act II
Response
The production received mixed reviews.Ben Brantley
Ben Brantley
Benjamin D. "Ben" Brantley is an American journalist and the chief theater critic of The New York Times.-Life and career:...
wrote in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
: "When Audra McDonald sings her first notes as the Medea-like heroine of Marie Christine, Michael John LaChiusa's solemn, sometimes somnolent musical tragedy at Lincoln Center, there is clearly sorcery at work.... Marie Christine ... is a resounding confirmation of Ms. McDonald's status as a vocal artist of singular skills and sensibility.... As a musical portrait of an individual, Marie Christine is stunning; as a compelling, complete production, it still feels oddly unfinished. Despite ravishing orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, the score rarely achieves much momentum or intensity on its own, and its recurrent motifs don't haunt the imagination as they should."
Michael Feingold, reviewing for the Village Voice, wrote: "Proficient, skilled, and imaginative, LaChiusa marshals an enormous panoply of approaches to tell his tale, but it doesn't hold together, even with the towering talent of Audra McDonald at its center, because the myth won't supply what he needs from it; his constantly shifting strategies only diffuse it further. Though LaChiusa's blurry conception is often conveyed in equally blurry lyrics, his music, with its constant restless invention, probably deserves a fairer hearing than it gets here. More than any new score I've heard recently, it wants unplugging."