THE VISIT Goodman Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, Friday, September 21 through Saturday, November 3, 2001. Opening night was October 1, 2001. Friedrich Durrenmatt's classic story of revenge was revisited by Terrence McNally with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The three had previously collaborated on Kiss of the Spider Woman. The original production was directed by Frank Galati with choreography by Ann Reinking on the Albert Ivar stage of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Synopsis: It seems that Claire fled Brachen at the age of seventeen, because she had been betrayed by her lover, Anton Schell (played by George Hearn at the Signature and by John McMartin at the Goodman), now a shopkeeper and one of Brachen’s most respectable citizens. When she became pregnant with his child, he denied her, not wanting his life to be dragged down by marriage to a girl half-Gypsy, half Jew. Anton even went so far as to hire two young men to say, in court, that they had enjoyed Claire’s sexual favors repeatedly, paying them with a bottle of schnapps. Her life in ruin, Claire fled Brachen and began life as a whore, gradually working her way up through ever richer and more powerful men, and amassing the world’s largest fortune in the process. Now she wants justice for the injury she has endured, and she offers the town a deal: all the money they can use in return for the life of Anton Schell. The town is horrified and declines the offer in the name of humanity. “I’ll wait,” Claire sings, before she settles into the local hotel with her bizarre entourage of servants. Life in Brachen goes on, but its citizens curiously feel a new sense of optimism about the future. They begin to buy on credit. Frightened by this new prosperity and by the fact that his own wife and children seem caught up in the euphoria, Anton Schell decides to flee the town, but is met at the station by a crowd of citizens. Confronted as much by his own conscience as by the crowd, Schell is paralyzed and misses his train. As the people of Brachen look forward to a golden future, Schell comes to accept his fate, and he reaches a kind of reconciliation with Claire. He waits for Brachen to vote to accept or reject Claire’s offer. They accept and the men of the town execute Anton with their bare hands. In the final scene, Claire and her entourage leave the town with the body of Anton Schell in the magnificent coffin brought for the occasion. The visit is over. Musical Numbers Act I Prologue...........................................Young Claire, Young Out of the Darkness.....................................Townspeople At Last................................Claire, Eunuchs, Townspeople A Happy Ending............The Mayor, The Police Inspector, The Doctor, The Priest, The Schoolmaster, Townspeople You, You, You...................................Young Anton, Anton, Claire, Young Claire I Know Claire........................................................ Anton You Know Me..........................Matilda, The Mayor's Wife Look at Me................................Anton, Claire, Entourage, Young Anton, Young Claire, Family Look at Her................................................Townspeople All You Need to Know...........................Claire, Entourage, Townspeople A Masque..................................The Mayor, Townspeople Eunuchs' Testimony.............................................Eunuchs Winter......................................................................Claire Yellow Shoes....................Kurt, The Doctor, Townspeople Intermission Act II Chorale ...................................................... Townspeople A Confession .........................................Claire, Entourage I Would Never Leave You .....................Entourage, Claire Back and Forth ....................................The Schoolmaster The Only One .......................................The Schoolmaster A Car Ride .................Anton, Matilda, Ottilie, Karl, Claire Winter Reprise .............................................Young Anton Love and Love Alone .............................................Claire In the Forest Again ..............Anton, Claire, Young Anton, Young Claire Finale ..........................................................Townspeople |
Cast The Visit Trivia: The musical version was originally conceived as a vehicle for Angela Lansbury, who backed out of the production when her husband fell seriously ill. An off-Broadway production was scheduled for the Public Theatre in January 2004 with Chita as Claire and Frank Langella as Anton, but was cancelled when backers pulled out in August 2003. Behind the scenes the creators were rumored to be working with the Roundabout Theatre with a mind to a Broadway opening at Studio 54 within the same January 2004 time frame, but no production ever materialized. After repeated disappointing delays, Chita finally moved on and began work on Chita Rivera: the Dancer's Life with Terrence McNally.
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