CLICK! A Musical Play: 80 minutes in one act.
Cast: André Kertész - baritone, Elizabeth Kertész - alto, Interviewer, off-stage speaking part.
Scored for Chamber Orchestra: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 2 horns, 2 percussion, harp, piano and strings.
(Coming soon, for mixed small ensemble: 1 flute, 1 oboe, 2 clarinets, 1 trumpet, 1 percussion, piano, keyboard and 5 violins, 3 violas, 2 cellos, 1 bass.)
Script of book and lyrics of CLICK! available for perusal by interested parties: steve.bramson@icloud.com
Synopsis
1980s: André Kertész in his eighties walks the streets of an urban area. He is aging and unsteady. He stops to understand a voice that is speaking to him, an unseen interviewer asking him questions. He feebly answers the questions with disjointed, almost rote answers. He enters his apartment and slams the door. He calls for a woman. She is nowhere to be found as he anxiously asks for her help in answering the questions and telling the story of his life. He imagines he is in front of a crowd lined up for his autograph. (THEY WANT TO KNOW). A woman (Elizabeth) appears and begins to tell his story. Her presence and support free him to do some sharing of his own. (LIGHT / PERFECT and LIGHT / ART) The interview questions urgently resume. André prompts Elizabeth to continue her answers. She refuses, leaving him to his own devices. (THIS IS HOW I TELL YOU) Elizabeth returns to tell about his experiences in the war and his solo move to Paris. (LIGHT / WAR and LIGHT / PARIS)
André is in the swell of the arts movement in Paris in the mid 1920s and receives the endorsement and support of other artists. (THIS IS HOW I TELL YOU reprise) Five years later Elizabeth joins him in Paris and their romance resumes. His impetuous neediness is a curious match for her domineering direction. (MARRIAGE I) André moves into an experimental phase, perhaps floundering a bit with the tilted political world and the rise of Nazism. (DISTORTIONS) The world is indeed changing and Elizabeth senses it is imperative they leave Paris and head for New York with much reluctance from Andre. (LIGHT / FADING)
They move to New York where André is frustrated as he navigates the daunting skyscrapers and closed professional doors. (THIS CITY) Elizabeth becomes a successful business woman, satisfying her love of niceties through her own income while frustrated but firm in her love for André and his work. (NICE THINGS) André becomes entrapped for too many years in commercial photography. (THIS IS HOW I TELL YOU 2nd reprise) Elizabeth is having none of it and they find themselves at a crossroads. (MARRIAGE III) Sick with having sold himself out for the bulk of his career, André quits it all. (HOUSE & GARDEN) He reworks his body of photography, completely rededicating himself to his life’s work in order to gain the recognition he feels he deserves. He finds himself in the French countryside unearthing a chest of his hidden photographs from his earliest years. He finds himself in Paris at a solo show of his work. He finds himself receiving the Biennale Gold Prize in Venice. From New York Elizabeth directs and cheers him on, planting seeds for their return to Paris. (LA RÉUNION) As all their dreams are finally coming true fate cruelly intervenes when Elizabeth dies of cancer. (LIGHT / DARKNESS)
André is alone and barely functioning as he walks the streets of New York in a trench coat, an unhappy 80 year old man. Drawn to a compelling object in a store window he purchases the object which for him has an uncanny resemblance to Elizabeth. (GLASS BUST STORY) The interviewer again asks him questions. He offers no response but listens deeply. In his apartment his grief is overwhelming until the stars outside the window offer comfort. (THROUGH THE WINDOW) He uses a Polaroid camera, previously rejected when given to him as a gift, to photograph cherished objects around the room. As the light changes throughout the day he is motivated to use this novel Polaroid to capture the objects in fresh, new ways. (I’VE COME INSIDE / COME UP) The interviewer asks more questions. André answers with real clarity now, basking at last in his international acclaim though it’s bittersweetly realized in Elizabeth’s physical absence. Click, says André, is the chemistry between two people. It is knowing the perfect moment to take the photograph and the moment when everything in your life comes together. Elizabeth’s penetrating gaze is always watching.