Wagner College Theatre Will Present FIRST LADY SUITE This Season

Wagner College Theatre will present FIRST LADY SUITE, the daring chamber musical by acclaimed contemporary composer and librettist Michael John LaChiusa. Through four interconnected, non-linear vignettes, FIRST LADY SUITE enters the private worlds of Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower, and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. Blending history with surreal, dreamlike theatricality, the work examines identity, marriage, legacy, and the complex nature of power held by women who stood at the center of public life without formal political authority.

Wagner College Professor and Director Theresa McCarthy brings a personal connection to the piece, having starred in LaChiusa's companion work FIRST DAUGHTER SUITE at The Public Theater in 2015. "First Lady Suite presents a thrilling challenge for the creative team, especially for young artists eager to apply their singing and acting skills to contemporary musical theatre," says McCarthy. "Its ingenious and unconventional structure invites performers and audiences alike to engage with the emotional and psychological lives of these women, celebrating their voices and experiences in ways that are both startling and inspiring."

Rarely undertaken at the collegiate level, FIRST LADY SUITE's musical complexity and layered character work showcase the exceptional talent and ambition of Wagner College's students and creative team. Presented as part of WCT's season theme - Portraits of America: Lived, Seen, Heard - leading up to the nation's 250th anniversary, the production offers a fantastical, imagined meditation on women who lived in proximity to power and wielded influence of their own.