Manor of Speaking...

Rachel Peters
Kevin Townley

Manor of Speaking: Blythely Oratonio's Glam-Operetta Reenactment of Oscar Wilde's 1882 Tour across the Barely United States is an operatic glam rock fever dream with music by composer Rachel J. Peters and libretto by Kevin Thomas Townley, Jr.

When disembarking from the SS Arizona in 1882, customs asked Oscar Wilde, hitherto unknown in America, whether he had anything to declare. “Nothing…except my genius,” he replied. Thus began a hilarious 12-month lecture tour across a barely United States. A personality first and poet later, his flair for self-promotion inspired ads, fashion and music, amassing friends and foes alike. His greatest triumph was in Leadville, Colorado, where he won over an audience of miners by lecturing on home decor, proving that art can bridge any divide. In our show, the Manor of Speaking is a physical amalgam of Wilde’s lodging accommodations throughout the tour and a metaphorical holding space for his lecture about the decorative arts, which evolves parallel to the proliferation and eventual devolution of his image. Opera legend Stephanie Blythe steps into his iconic patent leather pumps via her tenor drag alter ego, Blythely Oratonio. Manor of Speaking works with Stephanie-as-Blythely-as-Wilde to obliterate unhelpful binaries of class, gender, and musical taste. Influences include: Gilbert and Sullivan; the era’s popular songs; Irish folk song; and Wilde’s glam rock heirs apparent, such as Queen, Meat Loaf, and David Bowie, all mainstays of Blythely Oratonio’s existing set lists.