Why a Musical About Thea von Harbou?
Thea von Harbou was an extraordinary woman whose loves and struggles and defeats and triumphs form a story of almost Shakespearean proportions. She is the story of the 21st century but in the first half of the twentieth century, and only a musical play can fully realize all the dimensions of her life, loves, and hardships.
Today, she is known, if she is known at all, as the wife of director Fritz Lang and author of Metropolis and his other German films. However, she was so much more: At various times, she was an actor, an author, a director, a screenplay writer, an advocate for women’s reproductive rights and for animal rights, and the list goes on.
She spent her entire life pushing up against the “glass ceiling” of the patriarchy of Weimar Germary, and then the authoritarian patriarchy of Nazi Germany. This play is an attempt to restore her memory and the respect she earned as a pioneer filmmaker. This play is our attempt to free her from the Penitentiary of Time.
The Three Theas
Three women. One extraordinary life. Thea von Harbou is played by three actors, one for each phase of her life and career: the author, the celebrity, and the survivor. Each Thea is the focus of the story as it progresses in chronological order, but fhey also appear in each other’s scenes to provide narration and commentary. All three are introduced in the Prelude, but their individual character names are never heard by the audience: They are all Thea.
Small Cast Size
In addition to the three female leads, the play requires three other women who double the other female roles. Four male actors double all the men’s parts. A larger cast may be used at the discretion of the director.
Dynamic Staging
Woman in the Moon: The Musical is a full-scale musical play, but it can be performed on a small stage or even in the round. No flats or other rigid scenery is required. The physical production requires only movable platforms, pieces of furniture, and some free-standing “sandwich” signs with created movie posters. The emphasis is on lighting changes and imaginative costumes. A theatre with more resources may choose to use projections or a video wall, but they are not required.
does the play include any dance sequences?
Yes: A Baroque dance in the first act, and a Busby-Berkely-like sequence that opens the second act. There are also several scenes that require choreographed movement for actors.
How Long is the show?
Two and a half hours, not counting a fifteen-minute intermission.
Click on the link below to access a PDF of the Prelude and the first scene of the play.
Click on the link below to download a Zip file containing MP3s and sheet music for all the musical numbers in the excerpt.
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