MUSIC | Kevin Puts
LIBRETTO | Mark Campbell
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 1 hour 40 minutes (no intermission)
PERFORMANCES | July 28m; Aug 3, 10m, 12m, 16, 20m
GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY | Jacqueline B. Mars, with additional support from The National Endowment for the Arts, and The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc.
CONDUCTOR | Kelly Kuo
DIRECTOR | Alison Moritz
SET DESIGNER | Edward Morris
COSTUME DESIGNER | Amanda Seymour
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Kate Ashton
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
synopsis
Four distinct narrative elements form the story of Elizabeth Cree: 1) Elizabeth’s narration of her own life, from childhood to marriage; 2) Testimonies in the trial of Elizabeth for the murder of her husband; 3) Entries in a diary; and 4) Inspector Kildare’s pursuit of a serial killer.
In the prologue, last rites are ministered to Elizabeth Cree before she is hanged for the fatal poisoning of her husband John Cree.
Some months before, when Elizabeth stands trial for the poisoning, a lawyer’s question prompts her to look back at her childhood. She retraces her life from abject poverty and the loss of her mother to finding a new home in the British music hall where she is taken in by a company of theatricals, led by Dan Leno.
Meanwhile, a serial killer stalks the streets of London. Dubbed “The Limehouse Golem,” the killer’s grisly murders of a prostitute, a scholar, and an entire family are celebrated in a diary written in the hand of John Cree, a critic and playwright.
As the murders continue, Inspector Kildare of Scotland Yard works tirelessly to identify the killer, with no success—interviewing such historical luminaries as the novelist George Gissing, philosopher Karl Marx, and Dan Leno.
Elizabeth ascends to stardom in the British music hall but eventually marries the upper-class John Cree and lives in luxury. Their marriage is unhappy, and Elizabeth arranges for Aveline Mortimer, a former member of Leno’s company, to relieve her of her conjugal duties.
All plotlines converge in the reading room of the British Library before Elizabeth is convicted in the murder of her husband and makes a startling confession.
