Twenty-Seven explores the story of Gertrude Stein’s life in Paris between World War I and World War II at her famous home at 27 Rue de Fleurus. Destined to become a legendary author, poet, raconteuse, and patroness of the arts, Stein established in Paris one of the great salons of all time, hosting the most influential artists and personalities of her day. She was particularly fond of those she dubbed “the lost generation” – a group of artists who came of age during World War I. While they suffered its ravages, they also rose to the challenges of the interwar period to create many of the great works that defined the advent of Modernism.
The role of Gertrude Stein will be the centerpiece of the opera, by mezzo-soprano. The role of Stein is joined by a cast of four virtuosic singing actors who will change identities fluidly to portray those who surround her – from her brother Leo and her companion Alice B. Toklas to Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Juan Gris, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
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