Jeanne/Jean/Jennie
Rebecca Burkhardt
Cynthia Goatley
Jeanne/Jean/Jennie is based on the life of Jeanne/Jean/Jennie Bonnet.
Jeanne/Jean/Jennie Bonnet (1849-1876) was born in Paris, France, and emigrated with her family, who belonged to a troupe of actors, to San Francisco in 1852. Soon after arriving, her mother died, and her sister was consigned to an asylum. After her father moved to Oakland, Jeanne chose to stay in San Francisco, making her living as a frog-catcher for the many French restaurants in the city. Jeanne identified as Jean and was arrested many times for frequenting saloons, which was illegal for women, and wearing men’s clothing, also illegal. At a court appearance after one of her arrests, she was heard to say, “you may send me to jail as often as you please, but you can never make me wear women’s clothes again.” The accounts of Jean’s life are varied, and their veracity impossible to determine. What appears most often in newspaper accounts is her “wayward” activities, befriending prostitutes and encouraging them to leave their maques (pimps) to form an all-female shoplifiting gang. One evening, Jean met her lover (?), Blanche Beunon, at McNamara’s Saloon, and as they were preparing for bed, a shot was fired through the window, killing Jean. The police believed the shot was meant for Blanche. Four years later, the person who may have killed Jean was located in Quebec. It is unclear whether he was hired to kill Blanche or did it of his own accord. He was captured and taken to Montreal but hung himself in his cell before he could be extradited.
This musical drama will be a ninety-minute-or-less sung-through work for 4-6 performers. Our focus is Bonnet’s life as a young woman living as a man and being legally and socially punished, bullied, beaten, and ultimately killed for her choice. It’s a question of power: forcing a “woman” to wear certain clothing and behave certain ways, leaving “her” little opportunity to freely express desires.
Is this work an opera or a musical? We are wrestling with that question, intending that the musical language of this work will sit between those two worlds.