Queen of the Row
A Rocky Mountain Opera
“Queen of the Row” is a musical, set in Denver in the late 1800s, and is an extensivelyresearched
exploration of the lives (and rivalry) of Denver’s two most legendary madams
– Mattie Silks and Jennie Rogers. By 1888, Holladay Street (later named Market Street)
had 1,000 “working” women in the lower-end cribs and upper-end parlor houses. Silks
and Rogers schemed and connived to control the majority of them, and fought as
businesswomen for the title of Queen of the Row – becoming friends in the process.
Characters:
7 females and 7 males
Running time: Approx. 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Set and Costuming
This musical play can potentially be very large in scale, with multiple, and elaborate
period sets, switching between the parlor houses of Silks and Rogers, and with one scene
in the low-end, motel-like cribs. Scene changes could also easily be scaled back, with
simplistic, symbolic props to indicate changes in parlor houses.
Costuming is late 1800s, and unavoidably demanding. One scene requires all the
women on stage to be dressed in yellow from head to toe.
Cast size is large, although there are opportunities for doubling up.
Production History
Partial staged readings at The Edge Theater, Denver, April 16 & Sept. 24, 2011
No full productions to date.
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