World Premiere Of Musical The Kiss at Berklee Performance Center

The Kiss, a new original musical having its world premiere, aims to answer the question “Who is the woman in Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’?” While Klimt’s painting is famous, little is known about the woman depicted. Playwright Cheryl Coons was intrigued by the artist and wanted to learn more. The Kiss is the result of her collaboration with Peter Eldridge, Berklee professor of voice.

Directed by assistant professors Rene Pfister and Kristin Bohr, The Kiss will be performed by students in the Musical Theater Ensemble and the Musical Theater Orchestra.

To bring this musical from the page to the stage, Berklee created the Making Musical Theater Initiative (MMTI), allowing other students, alumni and faculty to present new original works. MMTI combines several classes: Musical Theater Ensemble, Musical Theater Orchestra, Elements of Theater Production, Stage Reading Ensemble, and Workshopping the New Musical....

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The Kiss, a new original musical having its world premiere, aims to answer the question “Who is the woman in Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’?” While Klimt’s painting is famous, little is known about the woman depicted. Playwright Cheryl Coons was intrigued by the artist and wanted to learn more. The Kiss is the result of her collaboration with Peter Eldridge, Berklee professor of voice.

Directed by assistant professors Rene Pfister and Kristin Bohr, The Kiss will be performed by students in the Musical Theater Ensemble and the Musical Theater Orchestra.

To bring this musical from the page to the stage, Berklee created the Making Musical Theater Initiative (MMTI), allowing other students, alumni and faculty to present new original works. MMTI combines several classes: Musical Theater Ensemble, Musical Theater Orchestra, Elements of Theater Production, Stage Reading Ensemble, and Workshopping the New Musical.

The Kiss follows two women on the brink of independence, and the notorious artist driven to capture them both. Taking place in 1943, Vienna, it tells the story of retired couture designer Emilie Flöge is summoned by a Nazi museum director to the Exhibition Hall to authenticate a sketch by her soul-mate, the controversial painter of women, Gustav Klimt.

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