Adelaide Behr, a budding American showgirl who joins the fight for women’s rights on the eve of World War I, is asked to choose between her values, her career,
and the music of her heart.
Act One
On a beautiful September day in 1911 in Chicago, an 18-year old girl from David City, Nebraska is sweeping up the millinery shop in which she works. Her birthday is the next day, and she hopes her Grandfather will send her some extra money in secret so she can buy a new dress. (“When They Finally Listen”). In her voice lesson a few days later she hears Maestro Haranyi’s plucky 20-year old accompanist Ruth playing a sad song. It is a tribute to Ruth’s cousin, who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (“Baruch dayan ha'emet”). Adelaide starts singing with Ruth, picking up the tune as she goes. Ruth is immediately attracted to Adelaide’s talent, emotion and clarity of delivery, and we learn that Adelaide yearns to sing in a venue more socially acceptable than Burlesque, yet more relevant than the Ladies’ Luncheons where she’s been performing. (“Irene Franklin, Nora Bayes and Me / When I Get To The Palace”).
An unlikely bond forms between the Nebraska farm girl and the daughter of Eastern European Jews… both are somewhat adrift in Chicago, a city whose fierce pioneer gaiety enlivens the senses, yet throbs with masculine loneliness (“Square Peg / Round Hole”). On their day off Adelaide allows Ruth to take her to her first Vaudeville theatre to see "proper actresses" Fola LaFollette perform in a play called "How the Vote Was Won". Her eyes are opened to the cause, and she quickly becomes indoctrinated into suffragette society in Chicago… a secret she keeps from her Grandfather back in David City (“Yes, Things Here Are Just Fine”). Adelaide sees new possibilities for herself, and sings that the profession of the activist performer is the greatest in the world. (“Harriot Says”).
When the elderly Swedish mistress of Adelaide’s boarding house passes away, Ruth invites Adelaide to rent a small room with her. Adelaide accepts. Ruth and her friend and fellow suffragette Emmeline help Adelaide move her meagre belongings to their new neighborhood (“What Could Be Better Than This?”). The pair then try to draft Adelaide - by now a fairly recognizable figure in Chicago suffragette society - to use her melodious speaking voice to deliver a speech at the Convention of Women Voters at Chicago's Blackstone Theatre (“You Can, Too!”). When Adelaide demurs, Ruth realizes that her true calling really is in show business, and delves into her savings to buy Adelaide a copy of the 1913 book “How To Enter Vaudeville”.
After the Chicago Womens' Suffrage parade, Adelaide pulls an about-face and decides she hates the crowds, rain, infighting, and is tired of the constant harassment by the police. In a fit of frustration she screws up her courage, lowers her standards, and auditions for the Gem Theatre Burlesque (“Why Did They Have To Be Right?”). She is immediately hired, and befriends fellow performer June Conrad. They keep each other laughing through the advances of the owner, even as he regrets the way he treats the girls (“It’s Only Business, After All”). Adelaide finds it difficult to change her suffragette habits, however, and opens June’s eyes to the role female performers have in furthering the fight for women’s rights (“Melinda and Her Sisters”). When June and Adelaide meet up with Ruth and Emmeline one Sunday for tea, Ruth proposes that Adelaide get her employer to stage a “Suffragette Burlesque” (“Use What You’ve Got”). Ruth is envious of June, but does not want to derail Adelaide’s budding career.
The next day Adelaide notices a strange man paying closer attention than usual to her act. The man turns out to be Moe “The Gimp” Snyder... gangster, entrepreneur and sometime-bodyguard to the stars. Moe is taken with the beautiful Adelaide, and offers her top billing at his venue Marigold Gardens ("You Could Be A Star"). When Adelaide returns home that night she unleashes her excitement, hopes and dreams into her hairbrush (“Dear Aunt Rose, I’m a Good Girl Again”).
It is April 1918, and Adelaide is in the middle of her rendition of (“Let The Flag Fly”) when one of Moe’s lackeys arrives with devastating news: America is at war. In the heat of the moment Moe confronts Adelaide with an ultimatum as she tumbles offstage (“Marry Me, Or Else!”) Adelaide is terrified, but accepts nine-tenths out of fear and one-tenth out of pity. When she rushes home to partake of Ruth’s solace, she finds their room empty… Ruth is occupied with yet another National Woman’s Party meeting. Moe is impatiently waiting outside, so Adelaide decides to leave a simple note on their shared bureau.
Ruth returns home and finds the note. While she is not shocked, she is hurt that Adelaide didn’t even say goodbye. She doesn't realize that Adelaide was hustled away under duress. Remembering that Emmeline has recently told her that more bodies are needed by Alice Paul's picketers in Washington DC, she finds Emmeline and persuades her that the Silent Sentinels are their true calling. While Ruth packs, she sings to Adelaide’s now completely empty bureau (“You’ve Already Said Goodbye”). She doesn’t bother to find Adelaide herself, as she knows she is where she always is these days … onstage.
An unlikely bond forms between the Nebraska farm girl and the daughter of Eastern European Jews… both are somewhat adrift in Chicago, a city whose fierce pioneer gaiety enlivens the senses, yet throbs with masculine loneliness (“Square Peg / Round Hole”). On their day off Adelaide allows Ruth to take her to her first Vaudeville theatre to see "proper actresses" Fola LaFollette perform in a play called "How the Vote Was Won". Her eyes are opened to the cause, and she quickly becomes indoctrinated into suffragette society in Chicago… a secret she keeps from her Grandfather back in David City (“Yes, Things Here Are Just Fine”). Adelaide sees new possibilities for herself, and sings that the profession of the activist performer is the greatest in the world. (“Harriot Says”).
When the elderly Swedish mistress of Adelaide’s boarding house passes away, Ruth invites Adelaide to rent a small room with her. Adelaide accepts. Ruth and her friend and fellow suffragette Emmeline help Adelaide move her meagre belongings to their new neighborhood (“What Could Be Better Than This?”). The pair then try to draft Adelaide - by now a fairly recognizable figure in Chicago suffragette society - to use her melodious speaking voice to deliver a speech at the Convention of Women Voters at Chicago's Blackstone Theatre (“You Can, Too!”). When Adelaide demurs, Ruth realizes that her true calling really is in show business, and delves into her savings to buy Adelaide a copy of the 1913 book “How To Enter Vaudeville”.
After the Chicago Womens' Suffrage parade, Adelaide pulls an about-face and decides she hates the crowds, rain, infighting, and is tired of the constant harassment by the police. In a fit of frustration she screws up her courage, lowers her standards, and auditions for the Gem Theatre Burlesque (“Why Did They Have To Be Right?”). She is immediately hired, and befriends fellow performer June Conrad. They keep each other laughing through the advances of the owner, even as he regrets the way he treats the girls (“It’s Only Business, After All”). Adelaide finds it difficult to change her suffragette habits, however, and opens June’s eyes to the role female performers have in furthering the fight for women’s rights (“Melinda and Her Sisters”). When June and Adelaide meet up with Ruth and Emmeline one Sunday for tea, Ruth proposes that Adelaide get her employer to stage a “Suffragette Burlesque” (“Use What You’ve Got”). Ruth is envious of June, but does not want to derail Adelaide’s budding career.
The next day Adelaide notices a strange man paying closer attention than usual to her act. The man turns out to be Moe “The Gimp” Snyder... gangster, entrepreneur and sometime-bodyguard to the stars. Moe is taken with the beautiful Adelaide, and offers her top billing at his venue Marigold Gardens ("You Could Be A Star"). When Adelaide returns home that night she unleashes her excitement, hopes and dreams into her hairbrush (“Dear Aunt Rose, I’m a Good Girl Again”).
It is April 1918, and Adelaide is in the middle of her rendition of (“Let The Flag Fly”) when one of Moe’s lackeys arrives with devastating news: America is at war. In the heat of the moment Moe confronts Adelaide with an ultimatum as she tumbles offstage (“Marry Me, Or Else!”) Adelaide is terrified, but accepts nine-tenths out of fear and one-tenth out of pity. When she rushes home to partake of Ruth’s solace, she finds their room empty… Ruth is occupied with yet another National Woman’s Party meeting. Moe is impatiently waiting outside, so Adelaide decides to leave a simple note on their shared bureau.
Ruth returns home and finds the note. While she is not shocked, she is hurt that Adelaide didn’t even say goodbye. She doesn't realize that Adelaide was hustled away under duress. Remembering that Emmeline has recently told her that more bodies are needed by Alice Paul's picketers in Washington DC, she finds Emmeline and persuades her that the Silent Sentinels are their true calling. While Ruth packs, she sings to Adelaide’s now completely empty bureau (“You’ve Already Said Goodbye”). She doesn’t bother to find Adelaide herself, as she knows she is where she always is these days … onstage.
Act Two
On October 15th, 1918 a policeman bangs at the door of Bismarck Gardens (recently renamed Marigold Gardens in solidarity against the Germans): the Spanish Flu has taken over Chicago, and all public locations - theatres, libraries, churches - are to be closed immediately. Adelaide, unhappy in her marriage, decides to use the contagion as an excuse to leave Mo, even if it means she has to go back into Burlesque (“Why?”). She approaches Moe’s former employer Eddie Cantor to help her escape, and he ferries her to the train in the middle of the night, promising to get her an audition for Florry Ziegfeld as soon as he can. She tucks some of Moe’s ill-gotten stash of cash into her traveling dress and goes to New York alone, where Eddie has arranged a room for her at the Greenwich Settlement House. She remembers Grandfather, Aunt Rose and the happy Thanksgivings they used to have back in David City (“Family”).
The next morning Adelaide’s relief is palpable when receives a telegram from Eddie: Put on a happy face, because Ziegfeld doesn’t hire sad girls (“Thin Ankles”). Adelaide gets the job and is quickly swept up into a whirlwind of unpaid 12-hour rehearsal days under taskmaster Ned Wayburn, lured forward only by the promise of a big payday when the show opens in June.
Meanwhile Ruth, still in Washington DC, is remembering happier times. Most of her fellow the picketers have gone home and given up the fight, having become discouraged by obstructionist senators from the southern and eastern states who are still delaying the passage of the 19th Amendment. Alice, however, will not quit, and she starts a “fire watch”, burning Wilson’s words and image in effigy. This fiery behavior fans the embers that have been smoldering unackowleged in Ruth’s heart, and she transfers her feelings for Adelaide onto Alice (“Could She Do?”). Meanwhile it’s been a banner year for Salome revivals in popular culture, and some of the Occoquan Workhouse prisoners, who are on a cross-country speaking tour aboard a train named “Democracy Limited”, fight with Salome dancers for space on the Vaudeville circuit (“Suffragette Salome”). Ruth has not been invited on the tour, and the only bright spot for her is the news that women have gained full suffrage in the Netherlands. Her funk is quickly turned on its head when the 19th Amendment is unexpectedly passed on June 4, 1919. A giant celebration ensues at the NWP headquarters in Washington DC, where Ruth again attempts to gain the attention of her longtime hero Alice. Alice brushes her off in favor of another protester, Lucy Burns.
Back in New York, Adelaide is happy at the news at the passage of the 19th Amendment but her impending destitution has displaced all other concerns. The Follies is not all she dreamed it would be, and she’s been forced to write to Grandfather for money to cover the cost of her costume. She is living on soda water crackers, and finally reaches a breaking point when Ned makes the girls rehearse on a rooftop in the 100-degree heat. Several of them collapse from heat exhaustion and Adelaide’s temper - long buried under years of contortion for the sake of societal acceptance - flares up to its full height and magnitude. She takes Ned to task, and he concedes them a water break. (“All The Things I Give You / She's Burning Up!”)
When Adelaide regains her reason she knows what she must do. Gathering up a few other chorus girls, she goes to the White Rats to request membership. The Rats laugh the girls out of the restaurant in which they are meeting, hiding the fact that most of them - despite being part of the lenient world of showbiz - are deeply threatened and unsettled by the fact that women will now be voting on equal footing with them (“Man’s World”). While discussing the situation, the girls decide they should start their own union, and the idea for the Chorus Equity Association is born (“We Can Do It Too”). Adelaide starts dreaming about Ruth and the fire and clarity she would surely bring to the cause (“If Only She Were Here”).
The next morning Adelaide goes alone to see the leader of the Rats, intending to channel Ruth’s spirit. While she speaks eloquently about the plight of the showgirls, the President sees only her body (“Look At You Looking At Me / Sweet Meat”). However, Adelaide has been forged into a new woman by her experiences of the past eight years, and she summons the temper she showed Ned. Soon after, the Rats decide to cede their AFL contract to the much larger and inclusive AEA --- uniting all the performers in their efforts to gain fair pay. A strike is planned, which will be further publicized by a parade and a benefit show. Adelaide decides to write a letter to Ruth asking her to come to NYC to help organize, but receives no reply… the NWP party headquarters is to be sold, and Ruth has been turned out with nowhere to go.
Drawing on her emotional reserves a third and final time, Adelaide writes a letter to showbiz doyenne and former chorus girl Lillian Russell, asking for assistance in the chorus girls' plight. Lillian's reply contains the best news possible... she will make a $100,000 donation toward the founding of the Chorus Equity Association.
Meanwhile, Ruth has come to the conclusion that Alice can only ever be devoted to her beloved National Woman’s Party, and that it’s time for her to return to the only person she’s ever really cared about. She purchases a ticket to New York (“Finding Home”). Arriving in the middle of the AEA parade, she questions her eyes when she sees the cars driving by - is that Adelaide in the lead vehicle?
The next morning Adelaide’s relief is palpable when receives a telegram from Eddie: Put on a happy face, because Ziegfeld doesn’t hire sad girls (“Thin Ankles”). Adelaide gets the job and is quickly swept up into a whirlwind of unpaid 12-hour rehearsal days under taskmaster Ned Wayburn, lured forward only by the promise of a big payday when the show opens in June.
Meanwhile Ruth, still in Washington DC, is remembering happier times. Most of her fellow the picketers have gone home and given up the fight, having become discouraged by obstructionist senators from the southern and eastern states who are still delaying the passage of the 19th Amendment. Alice, however, will not quit, and she starts a “fire watch”, burning Wilson’s words and image in effigy. This fiery behavior fans the embers that have been smoldering unackowleged in Ruth’s heart, and she transfers her feelings for Adelaide onto Alice (“Could She Do?”). Meanwhile it’s been a banner year for Salome revivals in popular culture, and some of the Occoquan Workhouse prisoners, who are on a cross-country speaking tour aboard a train named “Democracy Limited”, fight with Salome dancers for space on the Vaudeville circuit (“Suffragette Salome”). Ruth has not been invited on the tour, and the only bright spot for her is the news that women have gained full suffrage in the Netherlands. Her funk is quickly turned on its head when the 19th Amendment is unexpectedly passed on June 4, 1919. A giant celebration ensues at the NWP headquarters in Washington DC, where Ruth again attempts to gain the attention of her longtime hero Alice. Alice brushes her off in favor of another protester, Lucy Burns.
Back in New York, Adelaide is happy at the news at the passage of the 19th Amendment but her impending destitution has displaced all other concerns. The Follies is not all she dreamed it would be, and she’s been forced to write to Grandfather for money to cover the cost of her costume. She is living on soda water crackers, and finally reaches a breaking point when Ned makes the girls rehearse on a rooftop in the 100-degree heat. Several of them collapse from heat exhaustion and Adelaide’s temper - long buried under years of contortion for the sake of societal acceptance - flares up to its full height and magnitude. She takes Ned to task, and he concedes them a water break. (“All The Things I Give You / She's Burning Up!”)
When Adelaide regains her reason she knows what she must do. Gathering up a few other chorus girls, she goes to the White Rats to request membership. The Rats laugh the girls out of the restaurant in which they are meeting, hiding the fact that most of them - despite being part of the lenient world of showbiz - are deeply threatened and unsettled by the fact that women will now be voting on equal footing with them (“Man’s World”). While discussing the situation, the girls decide they should start their own union, and the idea for the Chorus Equity Association is born (“We Can Do It Too”). Adelaide starts dreaming about Ruth and the fire and clarity she would surely bring to the cause (“If Only She Were Here”).
The next morning Adelaide goes alone to see the leader of the Rats, intending to channel Ruth’s spirit. While she speaks eloquently about the plight of the showgirls, the President sees only her body (“Look At You Looking At Me / Sweet Meat”). However, Adelaide has been forged into a new woman by her experiences of the past eight years, and she summons the temper she showed Ned. Soon after, the Rats decide to cede their AFL contract to the much larger and inclusive AEA --- uniting all the performers in their efforts to gain fair pay. A strike is planned, which will be further publicized by a parade and a benefit show. Adelaide decides to write a letter to Ruth asking her to come to NYC to help organize, but receives no reply… the NWP party headquarters is to be sold, and Ruth has been turned out with nowhere to go.
Drawing on her emotional reserves a third and final time, Adelaide writes a letter to showbiz doyenne and former chorus girl Lillian Russell, asking for assistance in the chorus girls' plight. Lillian's reply contains the best news possible... she will make a $100,000 donation toward the founding of the Chorus Equity Association.
Meanwhile, Ruth has come to the conclusion that Alice can only ever be devoted to her beloved National Woman’s Party, and that it’s time for her to return to the only person she’s ever really cared about. She purchases a ticket to New York (“Finding Home”). Arriving in the middle of the AEA parade, she questions her eyes when she sees the cars driving by - is that Adelaide in the lead vehicle?
Epilogue
Chorus Equity Association was founded on August 12, 1919 with a $100,000 donation from former dancer Lillian Russell; they would go on to merge with Actors’ Equity in 1955. Adelaide went on to a successful recording career, and eventually had a child with her pianist before moving home to care for her aging Aunt Rose in David City. Ruth, ever faithful to her cause, took a position playing piano for one of the David City Churches, and helped Adelaide raise her daughter. Every November, the makeshift family turns out to vote.