My Life With Albertine

My Life With Albertine
Original Cast Album Cover
Music	Ricky Ian Gordon
Lyrics	Ricky Ian Gordon and Richard Nelson
Book	Richard Nelson
Basis	Albertine disparue by Marcel Proust
Productions	2003 Off-Broadway

My Life with Albertine is a musical with music and lyrics by Ricky Ian Gordon and book and lyrics Richard Nelson. The story was adapted from parts of In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. It ran Off-Broadway in 2003.

The musical is set in a salle du théâtre (private theatre in a home) in Paris, 1919. For much of the story, the Narrator stands beside a piano and speaks to the audience, as the curtain opens to reveal scenes from his life.

The musical opened Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons on February 18, 2003 (previews) officially on March 13, and closed on March 30. The cast starred Kelli O'Hara as Albertine, Brent Carver as older Marcel and the Narrator, and Chad Kimball as young Marcel. The cast featured Donna Lynne Champlin as the grandmother, Emily Skinner as Mlle. Lea, a lesbian cabaret singer, and Brooke Sunny Moriber. Directed by Richard Nelson and choreographed by Sean Curran, scenery was by Thomas Lynch, costumes by Susan Hilferty, lighting by James F. Ingalls, and sound by Scott Lehrer.

The musical received a 2003 nomination for the Drama League Award as Distinguished Production of a Musical. It received two 2003 Lucille Lortel Award nominations: Costume Design (Susan Hilferty) and Lighting Design (James F. Ingalls).

A young woman, Albertine, emerges through the curtain holding a letter, which she shares with the audience ("Is It Too Late?"). At its conclusion, the Narrator reveals, "That is the end. I will begin at the beginning — of my life with Albertine."

Marcel first met Albertine in a seaside village during the summer of 1898 ("Balbec-by-the-Sea"). He was only seventeen years old and immediately bewitched by her. Albertine is unlike anyone Marcel has ever encountered. With a black polo-cap pulled down over her forehead, she pushes along a bicycle and swinging her hips confidently. That night, unable to sleep, Marcel begs his Grandmother, with whom he is especially close, to sing him to sleep as she did when he was a child ("Lullaby"). A friend later tells him more about Albertine. She is an orphaned, middle-class girl who lives with her aunt. Intrigued, Marcel follows her down a path to the woods. At first spying on her, he eventually comes out and joins Albertine and her girlfriends in a game ("Ferret Song"). At the end of the summer, Albertine invites him to her hotel room, where he finds her alone and in her nightclothes. She shares with him a passionate poem she has been reading ("My Soul Weeps"), but when he tries to kiss her, she has him thrown out.