Marc Blitzstein (1949)
Based on the play The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman

An Alabama matriarch goes to extraordinary lengths to secure a business deal for her family.

We started with “the woman in the bathtub”; now get ready for “A Bitch in the House.” That was the working title for Marc Blitzstein’s Regina, based on the play The Little Foxes by celebrated American playwright Lillian Hellman. But in today’s context, may I suggest another possible title? How about “The Art of the Deal”?

It’s the turn of the century on the Giddens family’s plantation home in Alabama. Regina and her siblings Oscar and Ben plan on expanding their family fortune by building a new cotton mill. The deal largely depends on finances from Regina’s ill husband, Horace. Ben and Regina renegotiate: Regina will get a larger cut of the profits — taking from Oscar’s share — if she promises to marry her daughter to Ben’s son so that the money stays in the family. Horace sees through Regina’s scheming and refuses to front the money, but the brothers steal Horace’s bonds, leaving Regina out of the deal entirely. When Horace has a heart attack, Regina refuses to fetch his medicine, leaving him to die. Knowing her brothers have Horace’s bonds, she blackmails them for an even larger share of the mill’s profits. Greed spoils her family — some of them spoiled to death.

Surrounding this family drama is the segregated South, reflected on stage by the Giddens family’s servants and farmers. They try to shield the youth of the family from their parents’ sadistic business dealings to little avail. Blitzstein reflects this diversity in the soundscape as well, drawing on spirituals, blues, and Dixieland jazz. Regina first opened on Broadway (just one day after Lost in the Stars!), which also shaped the score. It features a “Broadway ballad” in classic Rodgers & Hammerstein style. Much of the music that was cut for time on Broadway got restored when New York City Opera included Regina in its repertory, and even further revisions were made for the Scottish Opera in the 90s. Regardless of what version you produce, you’ll need singers adept in a variety of musical styles as well as spoken dialogue.

In reviewing Maryland Opera Studio’s 2016 production, Anna Mendham neatly noted the opera’s relevance today:

“…Blitzstein’s message…reflected the social atmosphere of his time: a privileged white family profiting at the expense of the black community in their town; the voice of social justice communicated through ragtime, spirituals, jazz and blues; and, most prominently, the destructive nature of greed. And let’s face it: we haven’t outgrown these themes. Regina is as important a work today as it has ever been.”

Revisiting Regina also offers a stage director the chance to interpret the work anew, perhaps with a more feminist approach. Reviewing that same 2016 production, Rachel Ace offered this analysis:

“At the time of the work’s premiere in the mid-twentieth century, Regina’s actions were meant to be shocking, callous, and evil… Today’s audience, however, might look back at Regina as a product of her environment. Perhaps the reason that she lies, cheats, and steals is not due to pure selfishness and malice; perhaps she is a woman who has been controlled by male relatives her entire life, and is ready to escape her arranged marriage by any means necessary.”

Extras

The program from Opera Theatre of St. Louis’s 2018 production of Regina (pages 90-95).

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