COLETTE COLLAGE Music by Harvey Schmidt, book by Elinor Jones: lyrics by Tom Jones Inspired by Earthly Paradise by Colette Ellen Stewart Theatre, Off-Broadway 6 May, 1970 (101 perfs) York Playhouse at the Church of Heavenly Rest (Off-Off Broadway)- Opened 31 March, 1983 -(17 perfs) A fascinating portrait of the great French authoress by the major talents of the creators of The Fantastiks, Celebration and many other shows. Act one deals with Colette's youthful marriage to an exploitive older man, culminating in her break for independence. Act two shows her, in celebrated maturity, falling in love with a much younger man and their moving survival through doubts and a world war into a calm twilight. The title is carefully chosen, not just for its alliteration but as some indication for the concept of the show: a collage, a colourful assembly of many elements arranged in an abstract pattern to create a unified work. Scenes shift in a wistful way. Time and place are telescoped here and there. There is no slavish adherence to plot progression or development from scene to scene. The form is free and contemplative. The performers often ruminate aloud or confront the audience directly. SYNOPSIS PART ONE - "Willy." "Joy" is the opening song and sets the tone for the musical play. An 80-year-old woman at her writing desk expresses her joy, not only of being alive, but of indulging in memories of when she was a mere slip of a girl of 17. A group of shadowy figures accompany her in the song and turn the clock back singing "Let's peel this ancient face away" as the octogenarian is transformed into the young, vibrant teenager in long braids early in the century. The place now is Saint-Sauveur, Colette's childhood home: a village a hundred miles southeast of Paris, an idyllic rural cottage, an arbor, a trellis, and a sophisticated visitor from Paris completes the picture. He is Henri Gautier-Villars, better known in his Parisian circles by his pen name, Willy. Twice her age, with top hat and cane and a distinguished moustache, Willy urges her to "Come To Life," to embrace the world and all its pleasures. This sophisticated author bewitches Colette, but her mother, Sido, warns her that she's too young, too naive and yet gives her headstrong daughter her blessing to marry this man of the world. "A Simple Country Wedding" follows. What was a desk in the opening sequence has become a bed in Paris. In his garret, cluttered with manuscripts, clippings, files and newspapers, as much an office as their living quarters, visitors come and go including an array of young men ghost writing Willy's columns as he urges them on with "Do It For Willy," as well as a bevy of young girls with whom he flirts and manages to seduce while Colette looks on from the sidelines. She can't help but comment on how successful he is at winning over anyone who crosses his path. Colette seeks the advice of Jacques, Willy's secretary, who cautions her to remain the youngster she is, innocent and unsophisticated in order to hold on to Willy. If she becomes mature and sophisticated he warns her in song, "Willy Will Grow Cold," advising her to dress as the child she is and play the innocent. Plagued by debts despite the stable of writers he has working for him, Willy seeks distraction with Colette. She entertains him with naughty little stories of her schooldays. He's enchanted and comes up with the idea of publishing her tales, urging her to enhance them with provocative details and a lot of slang. She becomes the new discovery in his "literary factory." We see her now at work reading passages fromThe Adventures of Claudine aloud to Willy. He urges her on with compliments and criticisms calling for a bit more spice here, a little hanky-panky there as the women's chorus joins her in "The Claudines." Tossing off page after page, she spins out the naughty adventures of Claudine, a promiscuous 15-year
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODU3MzQ=