The world premiere of The Hours of Life, a musical about Edgar Allan Poe by Paul Lewis shines with loving attention. Directed by Corey McDaniel, this presentation by Theatre22 at the tiny Cornish Playhouse Studio at Seattle Center delivers the goods.
Synopsis: Poe (Brian Pucheu nails the part) lives with his “Aunt Muddy” Maria Clemm (Patricia Haines-Ainesworth) and Virginia Clemm, or Sissy (Sarah Trowbridge, her solo and death scenes were standout), his cousin and wife who he married when she was 13 and he was 26. They are happy, Sissy sings for private parties, and Poe publishes “The Raven” to instant and tremendous public acclaim. Despite this emotional abundance, the family lives in dire poverty. “The Raven” netted Poe only $9. This pattern continued throughout his life—publishers reaped great rewards from publishing his works and he would receive only a pittance.
Lewis skillfully fills in the backstory as the play unfolds: Poe’s actress mother died when she was 24 and Edgar was just three. He had a brother and sister. Their father had disappeared the year before. With no immediate family, the children were scattered to families that would take them in. John Allan, a wealthy citizen of Richmond, VA, took in Poe, most likely at the insistence of his wife. When Mrs. Allan died Poe was nearly an adult, but thereafter Allan either provided inadequate support or none at all.
During a recital, Sissy starts to cough and cuts the recital short. It’s the first sign that she has tuberculosis (TB). Poe knows all too well that death has begun to stalk his wife as his mother and brother both had succumbed to the disease. Yet, from her own youthful hardiness and the tender attentions of her mother and Poe, she survives another 5 years, dying at the age of 24, the same age of death as his mother.
Not quite before Sissy is dead, Poe begins to scout for a new wife. Some scholars suspect that he needed a wife and stable home to counterbalance the cruel and unjust male world of publishing. Watching it unfold in 2014, I say he was really looking for a good therapist, only this was 80 years before the profession was started by Freud. There were several relationships Poe pursued simultaneously. This musical focuses on the most erotic and poetic one, that between Poe and Sarah Helen Whitman (Meg McLynn in a solid turn). This courtship is conducted practically in public as Poe and Whitman flirt by publishing poems to one another. They also exchange letters.
If a Greek tragedy is keyed to the hero possessing a single but fatal flaw, our man Poe didn’t stand a chance as he possessed several, or rather, several flaws possessed him. After his engagement with Whitman falls through because he can’t manage sobriety, all his flaws afflict him at once. While traveling south, he goes missing for five days. He turns up in a city that was not on his travel itinerary drunk, sick, and out of his mind with paranoia. He dies within a couple of days. He was 40 years old.
This production features 17 musical numbers, a cast of 15, a crew of 15, plus 5 musicians. Four years in the development including an Indiegogo funding project to raise the money to pay the performers, this truly is a gift to Seattle. The stage is in the round and skillfully put to use by the company. Lighting, blocking, and basic furniture like a chair, writing desk, or bed serve to establish scenes. Kudos to everyone and especially Stage Manager Michelle Berweiler for this.
If you like Poe, if you like musicals, if you like good acting, or any one of these three, go see this show.
The Hours of Life: A New Musical by Paul Lewis, directed by Corey McDaniel. A Theatre22 Production. Cornish Playhouse Studio at Seattle Center. Run time 2.5 hours. December 5 – 14. Evening shows at 8 PM, Sunday matinees at 2 PM are pay what you will. Industry night is December 9. More information and tickets: theatre22.org. Closes Dec. 14.