A PLAY FOR OPERA LOVERS

An operatic play about the life of Opera's first superstar - Jenny Lind

Performance versions

• Fully staged play - (2 ½ hours with interval of 25 minutes)
• One woman entertainment - suitable for dinner entertainment or conference (One hour) - costumed and with piano accompaniment
• Illustrated lecture - (suitable for music clubs, societies and arts groups/NADFAS etc. 1 hour to 1 ½ hours as requested (not in costume, but slide show and recorded and live music as available.

Starring Susan Stacey (soprano) as Jenny Lind
With Clare Pendleton as the spirit of Young Jenny
(in full scale theatre presentations only)

"In her day, more celebrated than Maria Callas, more admired than Marilyn Monroe, and each day headlining the world's newspapers"

Swedish Nightingale was written by Millie Gorton and Susan Stacey in 1994 and was presented at its premiere at the Connaught Theatre, Worthing, West Sussex. It went on to tour the UK including performances at the 1995 BOC Covent Garden Opera Festival in a year that celebrated the opera divas of history.

Substantially rewritten in 2004, Susan's extraordinary performance has grown in the ten years since the first performance and is now a significant tour de force for a solo acting and opera sung performance. The full scale play is magnificently costumed (not less than 14 different 'frocks' all based as facsimile copies of Jenny Lind's own historic gowns) and is fully staged. As well as live singing and a script telling Jenny's life story through her personal anecdotes and writing, it features a recorded sound track of effects and various characters who peppered her life with a rich vein of comedy and tragedy alike. Indeed the play now features new information only recently unearthed about Jenny's relationship with Frederick Chopin, her possible love affair with him and music of his that became her own special trademark in performance.

Leaflet information

Jenny Lind was an unwanted child, born into an unloving family and, despite constant personal insecurity, vocal problems, ill-health, and fighting the moralities of a disapproving society, she found the will to survive and follow her dream - becoming a great star of the operatic firmament - one of the world's first superstars.
The 'Nightingale's' voice and personality were inspiration for composers Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, Schumann and Verdi, and the creative muse of storywriter Hans Christian Andersen. She was the darling of popular society and royalty alike. Promoted by Phineas T. Barnum on an extensive tour of America, her brilliant career reads like the 'Who's Who' of society and her influence has survived in memory for well over a hundred years and, sadly, before the era of recording could immortalise her singing. This one woman play has already achieved critical acclaim for its wily and incisive glimpses into the gutsy superstar's life, as it tells Jenny's story through her own words, reminiscences, anecdotes and song.

More information on www.swedishnightingale.co.uk

Reviews

"Susan Stacey has rendered a timely service to the memory of Lind, Stacey's mellifuous belcanto voice is particularly memorable. Her acting in scenes as diverse as auditioning Manuel Garcia, despite appearing on Barnum's American tour enhances the rich texture of the story ..."
The Stage

"The rapt audience were extremely appreciative and witnessed a rare treat. The whole evening was fascinating and informative and painted an impressive picture of the 'Madonna' of her day! Jenny Lind effectively managed her own career, and commanded the equivalent of multi million dollar contracts whilst still in her mid twenties. Our main protagonists got through an inordinate amount of Bel canto arias, When one thinks that Susan Stacey is a dramatic soprano - verging on the Wagnerian, they way she mastered the coloratura was stunning. To do a great deal of projected speaking and THEN to sing difficult repertoire on top, was both astounding and impressive".
Report on Dorset Opera fundraising gala performance November 2004