Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) composed A Quiet Place, a three-act English psychological drama. Libretto by Stephen Wadsworth. It was premiered at Houston, Houston Grand Opera, Jones Hall, June 17, 1983. The setting is in Suburban America in the early 1980s and 1950s.
A Quiet Place composed by Leonard Bernstein is a sequel to the one-act opera Trouble in Tahiti which was premiered June 12, 1952. The revised Quiet Place includes Tahiti in its second act, scenes 2 and 4 of Act II.
Character Roles of A Quiet Place
- Sam (bass)
- Dede, Sam's daughter (soprano)
- Francois, Junior's boyfriend, later, Dede's husband (tenor)
- Junior, Sam's son (baritone)
- Young Sam (bass baritone)
- Dinah, Sam's wife (mezzo)
- Analyst (tenor)
- Funeral Director (tenor)
Plot Summary / Synopses of A Quiet Place
Prologue.
A ghostly chorus witnesses Dinah's death in a car accident.
Act I. A Room in a Funeral Parlor
The funeral director asks Dinah's friends to describe her two children, Dede and Junior. Sam, the widower, has never met Dede's husband, Francois. Junior arrives late, interrupting the reading. Sam is furious. After a brief flashback of the children growing up, Junior curses his father and begin to undress. There's a bit of commotion and someone knocks the coffin.
Postlude
Act II.
Scene 1. The Master Bedroom in Sam's House
Sam reads Dinah's diary and learns that she was sick of her marriage. Although he is disappointed, he misses her.
Scene 2. Sam and Dinah's House, Young Sam's Office, Office of Dinah's Psychiatrist, A Street.
In a flashback: Sam and Dinah fight. Dinah reminds Sam that it's Junior's play day, but Sam has an appointment at the gym. Dinah asks for money to pay her analyst. Sam goes to his office. Dinah tells her analyst about a dream in which she is trapped in a garden. Sam and Dinah see each other on the street. To avoid having lunch together, both lie and say they have appointments.
Scene 3. Two Bedrooms in Sam's house.
Back in the present: Sam and Dede go through Dinah's things. Next door, Francois chides Junior for his behavior at the funeral parlor. Junior caresses Francois, but Francois says that their days as lovers are over. Junior torments Francois by telling him he had sex with Dede. Dede changes into one of her mother's dresses. Junior slips into the nonsense mumbles that characterize his bouts of mental illness. Francoise puts him to bed and goes to Dede. Sam looks in on his sleeping son.
Scene 4. A Gym, a Movie Theater, a Hat Shop, a Bus Stop, the House
Flashback: The young Sam revels in his victory in the handball match. Dinah is at first skeptical, then carried away by the south-sea fantasy movie "Trouble in Tahiti." Later that evening, Sam wants to have an intimate conversation with her but cannot. Instead he takes her to "Trouble in Tahiti."
Prelude
Act III. Dinah's Garden behind the House
Junior and Dede have breakfast in their mother's garden. They play games from their childhood. In a flashback, Junior introduces his boyfriend, Francois, to Dede. The old Sam and Francois join Junior and Dede's game of tag. Sam welcomes Francois to the family and reads them portion of Dinah's diary in which she says how much she loves her family.
To Sam's delight the children decide to stay with him for another week but end up fighting over the sleeping arrangements. Peace descends when Junior tosses the pages of Dinah's diary into the air. Junior and Sam, Dede and Francois, are reconciled.
Source:
The Da Capo Opera Manual by Nicholas Ivor Martin, 1997 (Publisher: Boosey and Hawkes. © 1983, 1988 by L. Bernstein and s. Wadsworth)
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