"Class And Crass--" The New Hit Broadway Musical About The Papin Sisters!!!!!!!!!!
Who were the Papin Sisters? How about a refresher course, darlings?????????????
Years before, when I began my "Bitch Of The Week" column, they were actually my first topic! Now they are back.
Christine, on the right, was six years older than Lea, on the left. They were employed as house maids to the wealthy Lancelin family, in the town of Le Mans, France. On the afternoon of February 2, 1933--while America was waiting for the groundhog to declare a long Winter or early Spring--social and class tensions, coupled with resentment, came to a boil, and the sisters, who were engaged in an incestuous relationship, murdered both matriarch Leonine Lancelin and her daughter, Genevieve, in the most gruesome fashion, with blood and even an eyeball scattered everywhere. They were convicted, with Christine eventually going to the guillotine, while Lea was released, given a new identity, and worked for a family as house maid for the rest of her life, with no one knowing who she really was.
Though Christine was the unstable one, this was a folie a deux--both sisters were needed to commit the murders; one could not have done it on her own.
There have been several dramatizations--Wendy Kesselman's 1981 play, "My Sister In This House," its film version, "Sister, My Sister," in 1994, and "Murderous Maids," in 2000, among others, including its signature piece, Jean Genet's "The Maids," first performed on April 17, 1947.
But how about a musical version, with songs, dances and comedy? Never will have murder been as wicked or fun! If done correctly, it could be the next "Sweeney Todd!"
Think about it, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 comments:
I LOVE it!!
Look how crazy everyone is about Sweeney Todd!!!
Victoria,
I think it would work, but casting the sisters would be a problem.
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