''Queenie Pie'' is an unfinished opera by American jazz musician

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

. It tells a story of a

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

beautician named Queenie Pie. Ellington referred to the opera as "opera comique", and worked on it from the 1930s until his death in 1974. The opera was later staged in 1986, but the arrangements were lost. In 2007 musician Marc Bolin recreated the opera that was staged in the Oakland Opera Theater.

History

Ellington first had an idea to write an opera about a Harlem beautician

Madam C. J. Walker Madam C.J. Walker (born Sarah Breedlove; December 23, 1867 – May 25, 1919) was an African American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political and social activist. She is recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in America in the '' G ...

, a black millionaire, in 1930s. He started to work on a "street opera" in 1962, and got a commission from a New York's

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

TV station for an hour-long opera. In 1970 NET Opera commissioned Ellington to complete the opera. In 1971

Maurice Peress Maurice Peress (March 18, 1930 – December 31, 2017) was an American orchestra conductor, educator and author. After serving as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein beginning in 1961, Peress went on to stand a ...

was hired to assist with arrangements, he worked with Ellington in 1972–1973. Ellington saw his opera as "opera comique", and had an idea "to 'interrupt' his television opera with commercials and news bulletins about Queenie's life". If you are agreeable to the eye Of your favorite guy You can make him hit the sky ... Just apply some Queenie Pie ... And try, I mean, BUY. Ellington was thinking about the personnel, and chose

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

for Queenie, Maurice Peress as a conductor for Ellington Orchestra, "supplemented with French horns, a harp, and a small string section", and himself as a narrator. Peress gives one piece of a dialogue that Ellington wrote for the opera: Queenie: Li'l Daddy, this NUCLI? Will it make hair grow? Li'l Daddy: Two inches a day. Queenie: Will it make freckles go? Li'l Daddy: Just wipe 'em away. Queenie: Will it remove a wrinkle? Li'l Daddy: A touch in a twinkle. Queenie: What about a blister? Li'l Daddy: She'd think her sweetheart kissed her. Duke Ellington died on May 24, 1974, before the demo tape was recorded.

Plot

The opera is about Queenie Pie, a black beautician named best in town, who is challenged by a lighter-skinned woman, Café O'Lay. Queenie's manager and lover, Holt Faye, falls in love with O'Lay, but she shoots and kills him in a quarrel. Queenie Pie then departs to a magic island, "in search of a magic flower, meets up with a king and a witch doctor and ultimately has reconciliation with Café O'Lay."

Completion history

In the early 1980s,

John A. Williams John Alfred Williams (December 5, 1925 – July 3, 2015) was an African Americans, African American author, journalist, and academic. His novel ''The Man Who Cried I Am'' was a bestseller in 1967. Also a poet, he won an American Book Award for hi ...

and the composer and flautist Leslie Burrs, with the agreement of

Mercer Ellington Mercer Kennedy Ellington (March 11, 1919 – February 8, 1996) was an American musician, composer, and arranger. His father was Duke Ellington, whose band Mercer led for 20 years after his father's death. Biography Early life and education Ellin ...

, began collaborating on the completion of ''Queenie Pie''. The project fell through, and the opera was eventually completed by other hands. Maurice Peress participated in staging the ''Queenie Pie'' on Broadway in 1986–1987. George C. Wolf wrote a libretto based on Ellington's notes. The 1986 arrangement was lost, but the opera was later recreated from notes and staged in 2008 by Marc Bolin and the Oakland Opera Theater, and in 2014 by

Long Beach Opera Long Beach Opera is a Southern California opera company serving the greater Los Angeles and Orange County, California, Orange County metroplex. Founded in 1979, it is the oldest continually running opera company in the L.A. area. Though small in siz ...

and

Chicago Opera Theater The Chicago Opera Theater (COT) is an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. COT is a resident company at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago's Millennium Park and is currently in residence at the newly renovated Studeb ...

References

External links

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''Queenie Pie'' by Marc Bolin
{{Authority control 1986 operas English-language operas Harlem in fiction Operas Operas by Duke Ellington Operas completed by others Operas set in the 20th century Operas set in the United States Unfinished operas