REALIZATION OF THE OPERA, QUEENIE PIE
March 1, 2022
Composing many works sewn into American culture's fabric and vernacular, Edward K. "Duke" Ellington is arguably the most prolific American composer. Of his approximately 3,000 innovative compositions, Queenie Pie—stands alone in style, genre, and breadth. Ellington envisaged the work in the 1930s, shaping and reshaping it throughout his life until his death in May of 1974, though he never completed the work. Throughout the years, Ellington conceptualized and referred to Queenie Pie differently: an opéra comique, since the narrative is advanced primarily through song and recitative, street opera, and a folk opera. These particular mixtures of words or labels, and the search for how to best describe QP, suggest that, while the work has its popular elements, it has very serious artistic aims as well. This duality was at the core of Ellington's modus operandi and will permeate throughout the whole of his oeuvre. Duke would spend his entire life looking for ways to represent better the new sounds of his fellow African Americans whose music was yet to be considered equally among the more serious music of the European concert tradition. The tonal, jazz-based score includes vocals that combine scat and vocalise (wordless vowel-singing), show tunes, popular song form, romantic ballads, polyrhythmic horn lines, and a variety of non-Western musical influences. The orchestra was called upon to swing with exuberance, paint some of the quieter, more heartfelt ballads with the Ellington's signature woodwind colors, and provide backup for wild, growling solos from the horn section.
In Queenie Pie, Ellington utilizes multiple themes that thread through much of Ellington's oeuvre: the Harlem experience, African mythology, a love triangle, profound spirituality, and a celebration of beauty -- the beauty of a woman and the power that such beauty holds over men. But looking deeper, Ellington riffs on social commentary, addressing issues of African American identity, colorism (colorism and preferences toward lighter skin and straighter hair within the African American community), primitivism, and gender inequality. Drawing superficial parallels to Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Michael Walsh of Time Magazine wrote, "Queenie Pie has the authentic sass and soul of Black America; what happened to Bess after she left Catfish Row."
Queenie Pie (QP) was cast for eight female singers, nine male singers, and an ensemble of choristers and dancers.) The work is divided into two acts: Act I Harlem, Act II An Uncharted Island. The opera centers around its lead character, Queenie, who is known for producing high-quality beauty products. Queenie has earned the honorary title of "Best" for the past ten years bestowed annually upon one beautician-cosmetologist by her professional colleagues. Each year, Harlem celebrates the "crowning" of a Queen with a Mardi Gras Parade, held on the 13th of every May. With business and position secure, Queenie has settled into a life of social respectability—her salon is a gathering place for interesting people who love each other madly.
This year's contest finds Queenie in serious trouble with a beautiful, young contender, Café Olay—the smooth, sleek personification of her name: light-skinned, young, and beautiful. Possessing a bad, jealous temper, Café Olay is "TROUBLE." Holt Fay, a handsome member of Queenie's inner circle and in charge of contest festivities, has grown fond of Café Olay. The contest, then, becomes a personal struggle for these three, and tragedy sets in when Café Olay kills Holt Fay. Queenie wins the title and crown by default. Queenie realizes that time is fast on her heels, and during a poignant self-appraisal, her faithful old friend and servant, Lil' Daddy, guides her thoughts to his birthplace, an uncharted Island. On the island, there exists a magic formula for everlasting "anythingness" known as the "Nucli."
LIL' DADDY
There's a thing that grows in the heart
of the tree, and this thing someday will be the basic
ingredient for every modern product- medical, cosmetic,
industrial and physical energy. And all it needs is
someone to go and get it. It's called NUCLI, and it's
yours for the taking. You got to get your yacht and go
and get it. Those little girl competitors are comin' close.
QUEENIE PIE
Lil' Daddy, this NUCLI, will it make hair grow?
LD
Two inches a day.
QP
Will it make freckles go?
LD
Just wipe em' away
QP
Will it remove a wrinkle?
LD
A touch in a twinkle
QP
How about a blister?
LD
She'd think her sweetheart kissed her.
[. . .]
Before my Big Daddy passes on thru the mist
He gave me the map, charts, instructions by list,
Here, help me take this off ---would you believe
What you need is right here, up my sleeve…..
(laughs)
Map, charts, thirteen magic cigarettes,
One for you, and six to be smoked enroute
to the isle,
Six to be smoked upon leaving, while
Only by your Navigator – so that later
He will guide you safely through
The dangerous coral reef, then you
BE READY, watch the tree,
At exactly midnight, she
Will open her limbs to embrace the moon,
Move quickly – reach down into her heart,
Grab the NUCLI – now, remember this part,
Get to the boat QUICKLY – never look back
Head out to sea…
Don't look back.
Faced with the real possibility of defeat, Queenie embarks on a journey to this Island, acquires the mysterious Nucli, only to lose it when she fails to follow Lil' Daddy's explicit directions—she looks back. While on the uncharted island, "Queenie embarks on a journey of self-discovery, loss, moving on…and must decide what is most important in her life – the PRIZE or the [journey] while on the road to attaining the prize. She must learn to choose…[and] where to go to give up."
Realization of the Project
In a conversation between Tom Dean, Mia Steadman (Oakland Opera), and myself, sometime in the summer of 2005, I introduced the idea of a holiday celebration. The event would feature Ellington's Nutcracker Suite (Ellington/Strayhorn) and other works performed by the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, the Savage Dance Company, and the vocal talent of Oakland Opera Theater company (OOT). Although the performances never materialized due to the lack of preparation time, the availability of key talent, money, and other factors, some good came out of the failed attempt–the idea to produce Queenie Pie.
Then in early 2006, Skye Atman (Oakland Opera Theater's Assistant Musical Director, to whom responsibility had been placed to recover the manuscript) spoke with Maurice Peress (hired by Duke Ellington and later his son Mercer to orchestrate Queenie Pie). Peress relayed that he thought he might have some material from the 1986 production of QP in his basement. Ultimately, Peress was unable to locate any of the materials. Later that year, Atman became aware of two manuscripts: one at the Smithsonian Institute, at the Betty McGettigan collection, and another at the University of California at Irvine, which came from the Donald McKayle (choreographer) collection. Each manuscript seeming to "complete" the other, albeit it incomplete. Because death snatched the quill from Ellington's hand, Atman's combined score represents as close to a completed score of Queenie Pie that exists.
Early in the fall of 2007, I gained the commission to complete Ellington's unfinished opera Queenie Pie to be premiered in a fully staged production by Oakland Opera Theater in May of 2008. To complete the project, I assembled the scattered manuscript from the seemingly detached and often disjointed segments of a work that had not been realized in Ellington's lifetime. This task was made more difficult by the dearth of material, songs that shared similar or the same title but were completely different in musical makeup, and Ellington's penchant for jotting-down notes on hotel stationery. It was required that we navigate the treacherous waters of ownership and copyright law.
We found that Mercer Ellington inherited the whole of Ellington's body of work, which would include, so he thought, QP. Betty McGettigan, Ellington's companion, confidante, and secretary in the last years of his life, claimed co-authorship of the libretto. She also claimed that Duke bequeathed QP to her while on his deathbed. Then, in 1986, the Ellington estate sued McGettigan, and she signed over her rights in exchange for 1% of the gross revenues from any production of QP, to continue even after her death. When OOT requested grand performing rights, Famous Music discovered, to their dismay, that they did not own QP after all. To add to the confusion, Sony was in the process of acquiring Famous Music. At the same time, Michael Jackson was acquiring Sony, all the while Paul Ellington was suing both Famous Music and ASCAP for the rights to QP—all in the summer of 2007! Atman later recalled, "Gradually, through countless Google searches and phone calls, library research and detective work, a story of intrigue, debt, lawsuits, and family feuds emerged. Who knows how much of it is true?"
Lindsay Spiller (San Francisco Bay area entertainment lawyer) was helping Betty on a pro bono basis to secure her rights to the libretto with the Ellington estate. Spiller eventually located a Sony executive in New York who agreed to sort the tangle because he was a fan of Ellington's music and wanted to see the opera produced. It was determined that Sony indeed owned the list of songs, and a license was issued on April 4, 2008. As things stand, Sony owns the copyright to all the songs listed in the QP book and sets the fees and gives permission (Grand Theater Rights) for all performances. Queenie Pie was premiered on May 9, 2008.
Since OOT's production, the opera has only gained momentum. In 2009, the Center for American Music and the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin sponsored the Echoes of Ellington Conference, exploring the music and life of Duke Ellington. The conference, held in conjunction with a staging of the opera and several "all Ellington" concerts, featured talks by James Lincoln Collier, John Franceschina, and me, where I presented my paper, "Realizing the Duke," reflecting upon the experience of realizing the opera. Then, in Spring 2014, the Long Beach Opera, with Artistic Director Kenny Burrell's Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra Unlimited, and Chicago Opera Theater, with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, co-produced the production of Queenie Pie. Jeff Lindberg is conducting both productions.
Most recently (2021), the Lexington Philharmonic Society commissioned this 15-minute suite of music from the opera to be premiered by the Lexington Philharmonic in collaboration with the University of Kentucky Opera Theater. The work was to be premiered on October 16, 2021, at the Lexington Opera House as part of the Queen's Rule concert, featuring works by Samuel Barber, Joseph Haydn, Carlos Rafael Rivera, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But, due to the COVID-19 epidemic—and an abundance of precaution—the premiere was postponed to April 9, 2022, at the Singletary Center.