Act I: A studio of a poor painter outside Paris, 1846. Two doors, paintings, and equipment. Act II: The salon of a rich widow in Paris, same year. Four doors, French windows, and fine furnishings.
NOTES
Mild adult language
ISBN
978-0-9709046-7-6
Jean-Francois Millet, a young painter of genius, is in love with Marie Leroux but in debt to a villainous picture-dealer, Bastien Andre. Andre forecloses on Millet, threatening debtor's prison unless Marie marries him. Millet realizes that the only way he can pay his debts and keep Marie from marrying Andre is to die, as it is only dead painters who achieve fame and fortune. Millet fakes his death and prospers, all while passing himself off as his own sister, the Widow Tillou. Now a rich "widow," he must find a way to get out of a dress, return to life, and marry Marie.
"A ripely enjoyable confection! An elaborate madcap comedy that registers high on the mirth meter and reaches especially giddy comic heights!"
John McMartin and Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz in the Broadway production of Is He Dead?, Lyceum Theatre, New York City (2007). Photo: Joan Marcus.
