The Houseboat on the Styx

D No: 603

Text - Author or Scripture: RWD & Frank Baer

Performing Forces: SATB, piano

Date Published: MS

Date of Composition: 1957

Notes: An operetta in two acts Libretto by Frank Baer, based on the book by John Kendrick Bangs. Lyrics by Frank Baer with the composer collaborating. Staged and performed by the glee clubs of the National Cathedral School for Girls and St. Albans School for Boys, in the Whitby Gymnasium of NCS in May, 1957. The plot centers in a Houseboat moored on the Styx river which serves as a club for the men “shades” of Pluto’s Underworld, and the women “shades” who aggressively seek to become members of this exclusive club. The cast is large and renowned, since many of the famous characters in history now dwell in or near Hades. Examples: Dr. Johnson, Socrates, George Washington, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Walter Raleigh, Henry VIII, Captain Kidd, Elizabeth I, Cleopatra, Marie Antoinette, Pocahontas, Lucretia Borgia and Martha Washington. Index of musical numbers: Prologue— We’re apparitions! Charmers of the underworld, women’s chorus; Act I, scene 1 no! You should never have come here, Johnson, recitative; You, gentlemen, you decided, Johnson, recit.; You may think it quite a pity, Johnson and men’s chorus; Scene 2—There’s a hook in the back, Borgia, Henry VIII, Casanova, olio; Scene 3—Where there’s a man, chorus; Tell me, is it what you expected?, recit., A touch of rose, a blend of blue, chorus; Think it through, Patience and Casanova, duet; Henry, Henry, Henry, the six wives in search of Henry VIII; Hamlet, my son, Shakespeare and Hamlet, recit.; Look at the shape of his face, Shakespeare, Hamlet, and men’s chorus; Raleigh-o, Raleigh and women’s chorus; Finale—Words, Words!, women’s chorus. Act 2, scene 1—A house and a garden, Dolly Madison, Cleopatra, Marie Antoinette and women’s chorus; I was a queen without a king, Elizabeth I, solo; Scene 2—Sit down, sit down!, soloists and men’s chorus; We need a woman’s hand, men’s chorus; Scene 3—Reprise: Sit down, sit down!, men’s chorus; Finale—Where there’s a man, entire company. (Perf. time 2 hrs 20 minutes)