Medea, the Musical
Encyclopedia
Medea, the Musical is a 1994 musical comedy by American playwright John Fisher. The play, a farce
, concerns a theater director's attempt to recast Medea
, the ancient Greek
tragedy
by Euripides
, as a serious modern commentary on LGBT culture
, which goes humorously wrong when the director's cast and crew refuse to conform to the stereotyped roles he has created for them. The play became a long-running "cult favorite" in San Francisco in the mid 1990s before touring regionally.
festival". He has set the play as a serious commentary on contemporary gay issues.
Things start to go wrong when Paul (playing Jason, the hero of Medea), who has not been attracted to women since kindergarten, falls in love with leading lady
Elsa (playing Medea, Jason's lover), a straight feminist
. The two, disappointed with what they consider a sexist
portrayal of Medea as a muse and victim of Jason's ambitions in both the original and the Auteur's retelling (the real-life historical figure, Medea, did not kill her own children to spite her lover, as told in the original Greek tragedy), conspire to rewrite the play to promote a feminist agenda. This upsets the Auteur, who is hostile to feminism, and "grosses out" the rest of the cast, each of whom has their own reason for resenting the pair's unlikely off-stage relationship.
On opening night
the play falls completely apart, as the cast members revolt against the Auteur's direction. A theater critic from Time Magazine gives the play a glowing review, believing that the chaos was intentional. However, the audience of the play (as attributed by the actors to the real-life theater audience), knows that the play is a failure, both in performance and in its failure to present a coherent commentary on gay issues.
as gay at age 23, shortly after graduating with a drama degree from Berkeley. He returned for graduate school, where he wrote and directed plays while studying to be an academic scholar of theater. Dissatisfied with the plays of the time, which he felt depicted gays as unhappy, conflicted, and tragic, he decided to write plays that portrayed gays unapologetically.
Most of Fisher's work is gay-themed and includes a historically-based plot (often a retelling of an iconic tragic play or event), a large ensemble cast, an academic thesis as a sub-plot or theme, and elements of comedy, music, and farce. Before Medea, the Musical he wrote and directed Mary! (a musical take on Mary Stuart), Oresteia: The Musical, Cleopatra: the Musical, and Napoleon: The Camp-Drag-Disco-Musical Extravaganza (in which upon discovering that Joséphine de Beauharnais
is actually a man, Napoeon decides he is gay and liberates Europe so that all gays can be free). Medea is (as of now) his most successful work.
nightclub.
The play was later produced in Los Angeles, California, and Seattle, Washington in 2000.
The play was widely expected to open on Broadway, but plans did not materialize. Fisher and others attribute the lack of interest to the play's being "too gay". Although many gay-themed plays did well on Broadway at the time, all of them (according to Fisher and commentators) allowed straight audience members and conservative gays to keep some distance from the gay themes.
In 2005 there was a revival production at Theater Rhinoceros in San Francisco.
Critics generally (and approvingly) describe the play as self-consciously silly, campy, and "corny". The music was praised as "horrid" and "so absurdly bad it's funny". For example, the main characters fall in love while singing a duet from the musical, Oklahoma!
, that the Auteur in his questionable esthetic judgment had decided to insert into the ancient tragedy. The play also features the actors singing versions of disco classics I Will Survive
and Y.M.C.A. with lyrics rewritten to reflect the play's plot elements, as well as Phaedra's courting her stepson Hippolytus to the tune of Barry Manilow
's Copacabana
. One dance number evokes the choreography of Michael Jackson's Thriller video
.
Other critics describe the play as intelligent and profound, noting how most of the jokes and plot lines in the play draw parallels between modern sexual politics and Euripides' themes from the Greek version. For examples, the straight Elsa seducing Paul away from his gay life mirrors the barbarian
Medea seducing Jason from Greek civilization. Some note that the play spoofs itself, in a "so bad it's good" sort of way, lampooning amateur college productions (for example, the common custom of writing new lyrics for borrowed popular pop tunes) and the foibles of the cast, crew, reviewers, and audience who participate. More recent critics describe the play in retrospect as "dated", in part because of period-references to the 1970s, but also because gay farces and self-referential plays about plays became far more common in mainstream entertainment in the years after Medea's original production.
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
, concerns a theater director's attempt to recast Medea
Medea (play)
Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed...
, the ancient 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...
tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
by Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
, as a serious modern commentary on LGBT culture
LGBT culture
LGBT culture, is the common culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. It is sometimes also referred to as Queer culture. The term gay culture, though not synonymous, is sometimes also used though this may also apply specifically to the culture of homosexual men.LGBT...
, which goes humorously wrong when the director's cast and crew refuse to conform to the stereotyped roles he has created for them. The play became a long-running "cult favorite" in San Francisco in the mid 1990s before touring regionally.
Characters
- The "Auteur", or theater director, who has rewritten Medea and is now trying to rehearse and stage the play, portrayed in some productions by Fisher himself
- Paul, who plays JasonJasonJason was a late ancient Greek mythological hero from the late 10th Century BC, famous as the leader of the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcus...
in the production, and while not acting is lead singer of a discoDiscoDisco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
band, the ArgonautsArgonautsThe Argonauts ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts", therefore, literally means... - Elsa, who plays MedeaMedeaMedea 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...
- Actors playing PhaedraPhaedraPhaedra can refer to:*Phaedra *Various artistic works based on the legend:**Hippolytus by Euripides**Phaedra by Seneca the Younger**Phèdre by Jean Racine...
, Hippolytus, AphroditeAphroditeAphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....
, the King of ColchisColchisIn ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgian state kingdom and region in Western Georgia, which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgian nation.The Kingdom of Colchis contributed significantly to the development of medieval Georgian...
, ErosErosEros , in Greek mythology, was the Greek god of love. His Roman counterpart was Cupid . Some myths make him a primordial god, while in other myths, he is the son of Aphrodite....
, Apsyrtus, and other mythological figures from the Greek play - The piano player and stage manager
- "The rocker", a young gay rock star
- Princess Tamalpa (a mythical MiwokMiwokMiwok can refer to any one of four linguistically related groups of Native Americans, native to Northern California, who spoke one of the Miwokan languages in the Utian family...
Indian woman after whom Mount TamalpaisMount TamalpaisMount Tamalpais is a peak in Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tamalpais is protected within public lands such as Mount Tamalpais State Park and the Mount Tamalpais Watershed.-Geography:...
is named)
Plot
The Auteur is rehearsing a production of the ancient Greek tragedy Medea, for the "EuripidesEuripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
festival". He has set the play as a serious commentary on contemporary gay issues.
Things start to go wrong when Paul (playing Jason, the hero of Medea), who has not been attracted to women since kindergarten, falls in love with leading lady
Leading lady
Leading lady is an informal term for the actress who plays a secondary lead or supporting role, usually a love interest, to the leading actor in a film or play. It is not usually applied to the leading actress in the performance if her character is the protagonist.A leading lady can also be an...
Elsa (playing Medea, Jason's lover), a straight feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
. The two, disappointed with what they consider a sexist
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
portrayal of Medea as a muse and victim of Jason's ambitions in both the original and the Auteur's retelling (the real-life historical figure, Medea, did not kill her own children to spite her lover, as told in the original Greek tragedy), conspire to rewrite the play to promote a feminist agenda. This upsets the Auteur, who is hostile to feminism, and "grosses out" the rest of the cast, each of whom has their own reason for resenting the pair's unlikely off-stage relationship.
On opening night
Opening Night
Opening Night is a 1977 drama film written and directed by John Cassavetes. The film stars Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara, Joan Blondell, Paul Stewart, Zohra Lampert and John Cassavetes.-Plot:...
the play falls completely apart, as the cast members revolt against the Auteur's direction. A theater critic from Time Magazine gives the play a glowing review, believing that the chaos was intentional. However, the audience of the play (as attributed by the actors to the real-life theater audience), knows that the play is a failure, both in performance and in its failure to present a coherent commentary on gay issues.
Conception
John Fisher came outComing out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
as gay at age 23, shortly after graduating with a drama degree from Berkeley. He returned for graduate school, where he wrote and directed plays while studying to be an academic scholar of theater. Dissatisfied with the plays of the time, which he felt depicted gays as unhappy, conflicted, and tragic, he decided to write plays that portrayed gays unapologetically.
Most of Fisher's work is gay-themed and includes a historically-based plot (often a retelling of an iconic tragic play or event), a large ensemble cast, an academic thesis as a sub-plot or theme, and elements of comedy, music, and farce. Before Medea, the Musical he wrote and directed Mary! (a musical take on Mary Stuart), Oresteia: The Musical, Cleopatra: the Musical, and Napoleon: The Camp-Drag-Disco-Musical Extravaganza (in which upon discovering that Joséphine de Beauharnais
Joséphine de Beauharnais
Joséphine de Beauharnais was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte, and thus the first Empress of the French. Her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais had been guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she had been imprisoned in the Carmes prison until her release five days after Alexandre's...
is actually a man, Napoeon decides he is gay and liberates Europe so that all gays can be free). Medea is (as of now) his most successful work.
Productions
The play was originally produced at UC Berkeley in 1994, when Fisher was a graduate student there, with a mostly volunteer cast of Fisher's school friends. It later moved to San Francisco, where it ran for fifteen months with the same cast members at a succession of ever-larger theaters. Most of the play's run was at the 565-seat Stage Door Theater, which later became the Ruby SkyeRuby Skye
Ruby Skye is a popular nightclub in San Francisco, California. The nightclub is housed in the Native Sons of the Golden West building at 420 Mason Street, built in 1890 by architect August Headman. The nightclub is housed in what was originally an auditorium/meeting hall...
nightclub.
The play was later produced in Los Angeles, California, and Seattle, Washington in 2000.
The play was widely expected to open on Broadway, but plans did not materialize. Fisher and others attribute the lack of interest to the play's being "too gay". Although many gay-themed plays did well on Broadway at the time, all of them (according to Fisher and commentators) allowed straight audience members and conservative gays to keep some distance from the gay themes.
In 2005 there was a revival production at Theater Rhinoceros in San Francisco.
Reception
The play was a surprise hit. Originally scheduled for a limited run the original production played fifteen months in San Francisco.Critics generally (and approvingly) describe the play as self-consciously silly, campy, and "corny". The music was praised as "horrid" and "so absurdly bad it's funny". For example, the main characters fall in love while singing a duet from the musical, Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
, that the Auteur in his questionable esthetic judgment had decided to insert into the ancient tragedy. The play also features the actors singing versions of disco classics I Will Survive
I Will Survive
"I Will Survive" is a song first performed by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978. It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris...
and Y.M.C.A. with lyrics rewritten to reflect the play's plot elements, as well as Phaedra's courting her stepson Hippolytus to the tune of Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
's Copacabana
Copacabana (song)
"Copacabana", also known as "Copacabana ", is a 1978 song which was sung by Barry Manilow and written by Jack Feldman, Barry Manilow, and Bruce Sussman.-Song information:...
. One dance number evokes the choreography of Michael Jackson's Thriller video
Thriller (music video)
Michael Jackson's Thriller is a 14-minute music video for the song of the same name released on December 2, 1983 and directed by John Landis, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jackson....
.
Other critics describe the play as intelligent and profound, noting how most of the jokes and plot lines in the play draw parallels between modern sexual politics and Euripides' themes from the Greek version. For examples, the straight Elsa seducing Paul away from his gay life mirrors the barbarian
Barbarian
Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
Medea seducing Jason from Greek civilization. Some note that the play spoofs itself, in a "so bad it's good" sort of way, lampooning amateur college productions (for example, the common custom of writing new lyrics for borrowed popular pop tunes) and the foibles of the cast, crew, reviewers, and audience who participate. More recent critics describe the play in retrospect as "dated", in part because of period-references to the 1970s, but also because gay farces and self-referential plays about plays became far more common in mainstream entertainment in the years after Medea's original production.