Mary Testa and the ensemble in Queen of the Mist
Queen of the Mist is a new musical by Michael John LaChiusa (Marie Christine, The Wild Party), whichthe Transport Group produced at the Judson Gym in the West Village lastmonth. Starring the fiercely charismaticMary Testa, the musical tells the story of Anna “Annie” Edson Taylor (1838 – 1921), the first person to go over Niagara Falls ina barrel and survive—and on her 63rd birthday (in 1901), at that.
The musicalis significant for placing a middle-aged woman squarely at the center of itsnarrative. In fact, only one otherperformer has a stable character part—Andrew Samonsky as Annie’s drunken,rough-hewn, opportunistic manager, Frank Russell. The rest of the cast is a quintet of terrificactor/singers who cycle through a number of subsidiary roles, all written tosupport the journey of the central character.
Testa morethan meets the challenges of a role that requires her to be a stalwart,pragmatic single woman in an age when women were much more often domesticatedin heterosexual nuclear families. Annieis a dreamer, a woman who insists, in one of the show’s best songs, “I havegreatness in me.” How often do we see musicalsabout older, single women determined to actualize their dreams?
The show’sstructure, as well as its story, makes it unique. This is not a typical “opposites attract,”heterosexual love story that resolves the relationships and the musical world’smetaphorical social divisions by the performance’s end. Instead, Queenof the Mist keeps Annie alone throughout, and her relationship with Russellone of affection and grudging love, but not romance. This makes Annie a remarkably originalcharacter even by present-day standards, let alone for an actual historicalwoman who came of age in the 19th century.
Before heridea to ride over the falls coalesces, Annie tries and fails to make economic endsmeet through various schemes. Queen of the Mist’s book cleverly introducesus to her through long monologues of cunning and manipulation meant to distracther landlords and buy her time to pay her rent. In one scene after another, she’s evicted from her lodgings.
Annie tellsstories about once having been married, though she never was. She lies about her age, moving herself nicely(over the course of a scene or a song or two) from 47, through her 50s, to 63,her actual age when she did what she called her “deed.”
Her sister, Jane, who lived with her husband and children in Auburn, NewYork, provides Annie’s gender foil. Ensemble-memberTheresa McCarthy is wonderful as the pinched, submissive woman, who was happyto be a mother and wife, with no ambitions but to make her home. Annie wanted much more than that. Her outsized expectations chafed at herbrother-in-law, who insisted Annie leave his house on the one occasion Janerescued her sister from indigence.
Annie’s single-mindedpassion to distinguish herself and to make “the green” (as she calls money)keeps her from intimacy with her family or her few friends. She carefully planned out her ride down thefalls, ordering a specially constructed, scientifically designed barrel andattending to the details of the stunt’s public relations as much as to therudimentary technology that she hoped would save her life.
Annie Edson and her specially designed barrel
Anniepersuades Russell to be her manager so that he can carry out her plan for howher stunt will appear to the public. Russell is an alcoholic accustomed to exploiting his clients, but he’sfascinated by Annie’s work ethic. Hissurprising affection for this unusual woman is quite moving in Samonsky's subtle rendition. He can’t emulate her strict morality; in fact,he steals her barrel after her successful trip down the falls, and employs animpersonator to play Annie in a seedy burlesque about her deed.
The raw spaceof the Judson Gym was designed for Queenof the Mist to evoke the banks of the river that runs into the rushingwaters of Niagara Falls. The divided audiencesat on risers facing each other across the narrow playing space, with twosmaller playing spaces at either end. The intimacy of the stage meant that Testa could easily project Annie’smajesty into the audience.
Testainhabited fully a role that seems to have been written for her. Her carriage perfectly erect, her hands quietat her sides, she used her face and her eyes and her large eloquent voice tocommand the stage, communicating the power and determination of a woman who hadto live by her wits in an age when women had few opportunities for agency.
Queen of the Mist underlines how unseemly it was for women toseek public attention at the turn of the 20th century. Nevertheless, Annie did go down in history asthe first person to survive the plunge down Niagara Falls.
But after sheaccomplishes her dream, Annie becomes strangely distanced from herself and heradoring but finally impatient public. Queen of the Mist’s second act quietsher down a bit and the show loses some of its focus and verve.
A quieter Annie after her "deed" is done
It’s notquite clear whether Annie is supposed to be disappointed about the reception toher stunt and how quickly she passes from the public eye, or if something elsehas suddenly drawn the wind from her considerable sails. She also begins to lose her eyesight. LaChiusa seems uncertain whether this is meantto be metaphorical or simply factual.
Finally,then, despite its considerable charms, Queenof the Mist seems a bit unsure what it’s about. Is it a FloydCollins-style indictment of the press and the way that it did or didn’t makeheroes of people? The press badgersAnnie for years to share the specifics of what she felt in that barrel as shemoved down the river toward the falls. But Annie believes the fact that she did the deed should have beenenough. In the show’s 11th hourrevelation scene, after much prompting and suspense, Annie finally confesseswhat she felt during her ride down the falls. She bares her heart as she describes herterror and her love for all those she feared she might never see again.
But Queen of the Mist doesn’t explain whyshe was reluctant to share these details all along, and what her hesitancymeans for the story’s larger implications. Does the show mean to suggest that Annie should have been moreemotionally available in her life? Thata kind of emotional hubris was her downfall?
Or does theshow respect Annie for refusing to pander to sensationalism by describing heremotions and the terrifying sensation of plummeting over the falls, in thedark, with pounding water pummeling the thin wooden membrane between your bodyand your death?
Hard tosay. In a talk-back after theperformance we saw, Testa and director Jack Cummings III said that Annie wantedto “own” her story, and felt that the factof her deed was enough. We weren’t quite sure, however, that the show itself madethat clear.
Nonetheless, Queen of the Mist has wonderfulpotential and a terrific cast who spoke eloquently about the project. Here’s hoping Annie Edson Taylor gets anotherchance at fame.
The FeministSpectator
Queen of the Mist, Judson Gym, December 1, 2011.
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