Exceptional women often figure as central characters among the two dozen musicals crafted by composer, lyricist and librettist Michael John LaChiusa – First Lady Suite, Marie-Christine, Bernarda Alba, to name several. Probably the most unusual (so far) among his fictional and real-life heroines is Anna Edson Taylor, the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel. LaChiusa’s poignant Queen of the Mist was originally produced off Broadway by the ever-enterprising Transport Group in 2011, when his musical nabbed an Outer Critics Circle Award.
Queen of the Mist resurfaces briefly this weekend in a fine staged concert version produced in the PEAK Performance series at Montclair State University in northern New Jersey. A first-class staging of such a distinctive music-theater work is always welcome, but what makes this one special is that Anna Edson Taylor once more is portrayed by Mary Testa, for whom LaChiusa wrote the role.
An ironic American success story pivoting on Taylor’s death-defying feat in 1901, Queen of the Mist tips off the audience in its opening number that her life will not involve a happy ending. A swift first act reveals the ambitious Taylor’s failed attempts to establish various schools, her uneasy times with her fond sister Jane, and how – at the age of 63 – Taylor came up with a mad scheme to get rich and famous by going over Niagara Falls. “There is greatness in me,” Taylor insists. Setting her methodical “scientific” mind to work, Taylor designs the barrel, hires a manager to publicize her attempt and as the first act concludes, bravely takes the plunge. Like many American lives, Taylor’s second act proves to be scarcely so successful, but ultimately she takes comfort in the memory of her achievement.
A sophisticated work distinguished by a radiant, elevated score echoing 1890s-1900s tunes in spots and with most of its dialogue richly underscored, Queen of the Mist sounds closer to modern opera than Broadway-type musical theater. Whatever genre, it succeeds as a fervent, highly inventive and ultimately tender musical work about a dauntless American woman. (It also offers a strangely droll little encounter with assassin Leon Czolgosz on his fateful way to shake hands with President McKinley in nearby Buffalo.)
Performing at the 450-seat Alexander Kasser Theater in the early manner of the New York City Center’s Encores! concerts, most actors occasionally refer to scripts as they handle their multiple roles, although this event is no mere stand-and-deliver affair. Featured at the foot of the proscenium stage in what is scarcely an orchestra pit so much as a lower shelf, a seven-musician ensemble conducted by musical director Jude Obermüller render Michael Starobin’s elegant original orchestrations.
Confidently produced upon a virtually bare stage by director Kirsten Sanderson, a longtime LaChiusa associate, the concert benefits visually from numerous large-scaled projections that Sanderson designed to depict Niagara Falls and similar markers in Taylor’s life. Often they are tinted 1900s postcards – a salute to the way Taylor liked to advertise herself – lending charm and later even drama during the first act finale, when they suddenly transform into moving images of the cataracts as Taylor makes her dive. The roar of rushing waters are mixed into the music by sound designer Ken Travis while misty lighting from designer Keith A. Truax further contributes to the power of that climactic sequence.
Other than diction and possibly sound reinforcement issues that muddied lyrics at times, Sanderson’s nimbly-staged production is top notch. Effectively dressed in turn of the last century duds by designer Lara de Bruijn, half a dozen versatile singer-actors easily become various characters. Klea Blackhurst, whose bright, clarion vocals bolster the ensemble numbers, proves most prominent as a frankly dismissive Carrie Nation. Erin Davie employs a sweet soprano and manner as kindly sister Jane and later erupts into a nasty vaudeville tootsie. A warmly resonant baritone, Leo Roberts presents several contrasting figures of authority. Kelvin Moon Loh and Anthony Norman provide nice cameos respectively as a bumbling anarchist and a peach-fuzzy soldier boy who recalls Taylor’s triumph. A strong, smooth singer being mighty slick in a key role as the lady’s shady manager, George Abud eventually reveals a heart beating beneath the sleaze.
A veteran artist with an extensive resume of secondary parts, Mary Testa rises nobly to the challenge of creating once more the exacting central role of Anna Edson Taylor, an improbable American heroine who calmly proclaims to one and all, “I am a phenomenon.” While Testa’s ample, steely voice may no longer be always secure in the score’s most demanding passages, she still endows the indomitable soul with a fearless, frowsy grandeur that is touching to behold.
Queen of the Mist opened February 20, 2025, at the Alexander Kasser Theater (Montclair, NJ) and runs through February 23. Information: peakperfs.org
