About the Composer/Librettist
FADE
Composer, Stefan Weisman
Librettist, David Cote
Click here for tickets.
ALBERT and GERTRUDE, a wealthy older couple enjoying their first day there.
GERTRUDE is your classic society lady—the last of her kind, in a way. While she never had a formal job, she has spent years involved in variety of charities. These include raising money to fight poverty and famine in developing countries, AIDS prevention in Africa and most recently, environmental causes. She was the chief organizer for a large dinner party where Al Gore spoke.
ALBERT married up; GERTRUDE comes from old money but ALBERT had to work for it. He retired recently from his position as CFO of a large accounting firm in the city. They have a penthouse on the East Side.
The HOUSEKEEPER. She has been separated from her husband for a little over a year. She has two kids at home. She makes very little money. High-school graduate, but no college. Attractive, dressed in jeans and nice button-up shirt with somewhat stylish jacket. She works hard and parties hard with friends but has vowed to stop dating deadbeats. The HOUSEKEEPER came recommended by a local landscaper who worked on the grounds.
This house was custom built for ALBERT and GERTRUDE. He had the old house (falling apart for decades) bulldozed and built a "green," opulent mansion on the same spot. GERTRUDE can remember the summers she spent as a child playing there. She inherited the house. The nearest town is a five-mile drive down mountain roads.
It’s mid-summer. When the action begins, it is roughly 20 minutes before sunset, before the complete extinguishing of light on the horizon. The single location is one of the house’s large, comfortable, modern living rooms. There might be a large, unseen bay window downstage, allowing the fading light of the sunset to enter the playing space. Since this is ALBERT and GERTRUDE’s moving day, there are boxes stacked in the room. Besides the boxes, the room includes a sofa, chairs and a table.
WHO: Center City Opera Theater
WHAT: FADE
Part of
ConNEXTions (The Philly Fringe) which includes three new operas
WHEN: Friday, September 12 at 4p
Saturday, September 13 at 8p
Sunday, September 14 at 3pm
WHERE: The Ethical Society, 1906 Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
HOW MUCH: only $20
Click here for ticket information.
Artistic Vision
Fade is a contemporary slice-of-life tale with dark undertones. It begins in a spirit of light satire and comedy; there’s a crack in the narrative with the blackout; then it proceeds to a nervous, dislocating ending.
The piece is meant to resonate on a number of levels. It contains several oppositions: wealth and privilege versus poverty and dependence; architecture versus the land; consumerism versus conservationism; modernity versus tradition; and connection versus isolation. Without becoming preachy or allegorical, it is a story about America in this historical moment.
In 25 minutes, the piece charts a journey from comedy to a more ineffable mood of fear, paranoia and—oddly—rapture (Gertrude can’t take her eyes away from the setting sun).
Both in its language and music, Fade evokes a simple but gripping mood piece that covers a spectrum of emotions and ideas, providing performers, designers, directors and players a chance to collaborate on a haunting chamber work.
Synopsis
Fade unfolds in real time, about 25 minutes before sunset inside a large mountain estate in the Adirondacks. Gertrude and Albert—the wealthy couple* who commissioned the summer home—have just arrived in the living room. The room is chock-full of moving boxes. The Housekeeper, a young woman hired from a neighboring town, is busying herself with unpacking.
The Housekeeper introduces herself and the three get to know each other. We learn that the new house was built on the demolished remains of Gertrude’s grandmother’s estate. The couple goes upstairs with their travel bags. Left alone, the Housekeeper muses cynically on her new job as a maid (“Slavery was abolished ages ago”) and sorts through the boxes with curiosity.
Albert and Gertrude come back down to announce that he wants a drink. He offers the Housekeeper one, but she’s driving. Albert asks the Housekeeper what she thinks of the house. Environmentally concerned Gertrude expected it to be more eco-friendly. Albert replies that it is (“It’s thirty percent Green”). Gertrude isn’t convinced and thinks there are too many rooms.
The Housekeeper excuses herself to prepare dinner. Gertrude gazes out the bay window and sees the setting sun reflected on the lake (“Look, look at the light”). In a nostalgic reverie, she recalls the summers she spent at the estate as a girl. Meanwhile, Albert, not listening, is irritated that he can’t get a signal on his cell phone; he grumbles that the landline hasn’t been installed yet, either. He pours himself another drink.
Suddenly, there’s a blackout. The only light comes from the setting sun through the windows. The Housekeeper enters. Neither she nor Albert knows how to fix the fuse box, or whether a half-solar house even has a fuse box. They decide to wait it out. Tension arises in the silence. Gertrude becomes more nervous, alluding to sinister news that day. Albert brushes it off. Gertrude, her mind racing, begins talking about the poor and her work in charity. Albert replies cynically that the poor are lazy.
Finally, the Housekeeper, worried about her two children back in town, announces that she must go to them, since she can’t call. Gertrude initially objects, but Albert quiets her, saying that they understand. The Housekeeper leaves.
Albert and Gertrude sit in the gathering darkness, as the tension grows. Gertrude worries about their families, frets that the Housekeeper might not work out. Then she tells Albert to get the keys, they should go. Albert, who has been drinking steadily, heads off but stumbles into a piece of furniture, painfully stubbing his toe. Tipsy and furious, he sits and sulks in the gloom.
Gertrude is transfixed by the sunset. She invites Albert to come watch it with her, but he refuses. Slowly, the light dies.
Using the minimalist processes, Stefan Weisman creates playful and broody soundscapes described by Anthony Tommasini (New York Times) as "personal, moody and skillfully wrought." His works include chamber, orchestral and choral pieces. He has specialized in vocal pieces that explore edgy and compelling topics, and was recently commissioned by Second Movement for a one-act opera to be premiered in London in 2008. His opera Darkling, commissioned by American Opera Projects, was included in the Guggenheim Museum's Works & Process series, premiered to great acclaim at the Classic Stage Company and toured Europe in 2007. Among his other commissions are works for Bang on a Can, Sequitur, and the Empire City Men's Choir. A graduate of Bard College and Yale University, he is a PhD candidate at Princeton University. His composition instructors include David Lang, Joan Tower, Martin Bresnick, Steven Mackey, and Paul Lansky. Presently, he is on the faculty of the Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program, and the Music Department of the City College, CCNY.
For more info: www.stefanweisman.com.
David Cote, librettist, is an author, playwright, librettist, essayist, critic, blogger and editor. Since 2003, he has been theater editor and chief drama critic for Time Out New York. Mr. Cote’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Times (UK), Opera News, Maxim, and The Best Plays Theater Yearbook. He is a member of the New York Drama Critics Circle and appears as a contributing critic on NY1’s On Stage. His popular companion books to Broadway musicals include Wicked, Jersey Boys and Spring Awakening. Since its release, Wicked: The Grimmerie has been a bestselling performing arts book on Amazon.com. He serves as Public Dramaturge for Montclair State University’s international Peak Performance series. He is working on an original full-length play commissioned by Gingold Theatrical Group, as well as libretti with composers Stefan Weisman and Robert Paterson. Previously, he was an actor and director. In the 1990s he appeared in works by avant-garde auteurs Richard Foreman, Richard Maxwell, Robert Cucuzza, Iranian expatriate auteur Assurbanipal Babilla, and others. He founded and edited the ’zines OFF: the journal of alternative theater (1996-98) and EdgeNY (1999). He keeps a blog at http://histriomastix.typepad.com.