Dear Oscar - Fieger & Young (Original script)
Annotated Original Script for Oscar Wilde Broadway Musical, Produced, Written and Composed by Women
FIEGER, Addy O. (music); YOUNG, Caryl Gabrielle (book and lyrics); JOHN, Mary M. (producer). Dear Oscar. New York, 1971.
Original script for the 1972 Broadway musical based on the life of Oscar Wilde. Annotated throughout by the composer. The show made its debut on November 16 at the Playhouse Theatre in New York, and it ran for a brief 5 performances before closing on November 19, 1972. Oscar Wilde was played by Richard Kneeland.
Script includes: Cast of Characters, Synopsys of Scenes, and a list of Musical Numbers. The narrative follows Wilde around London at society parties, at home in bohemian Chelsea, at the theatre, and at homosexual dives. Characters include Lady Wilde, Constance Lloyd, Robert Ross, Bosie, Marquis of Queensberry, as well as an assortment of stable boys and blackmailers. The musical explores Wilde’s relationships with this wife and with his lover Lord Alfred Douglas, and it is fearless and forthright in its portrayal of homosexual love and desire.
290x230mm, mustard titled wrappers. Title page present, noted in ink annotation as copy No. 23. 115 leaves, with last page of text numbered 2-12-44. Xerographic duplication, rectos only, bound with two gold brads. A very good copy.
Provenance: copy belonging to composer Addy O. Fieger, with her name to title page and her annotations in pencil and ink throughout. Adeline Oppenheimer Fieger (d. 1989) composed the campaign song for New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1966, and an Off-Broadway jazz musical Changes in 1980. In late 1980s her songs were performed by many New York cabaret singers, and were included in several cabaret shows.