The Passion of Miss de Marco, Unemployed Stenographer

The Passion of Miss de Marco, Unemployed Stenographer is a lesbian noir/true crime musical. Or, if you’re feeling spicy, it’s an interdisciplinary theater work, incorporating elements from opera, musical theater, oratorio and dance to tell the story of a young, queer woman in 1930s New York and her brush with fame. Along with an original book and score by Dr. Felix Graham, the show also features an original art piece from Randy Polumbo and paintings from Chris Shen.

The story is based on the actual news coverage of Miss Norma de Marco’s role in thwarting an armed robbery of a queer club in the Village. With a modern Greek chorus, reading actual headlines and news articles about the events as they unfolded, the story intersperses scenes from the last three months of Norma’s life with narration from a passionate academic seeking to redeem her from the tabloid sensationalism following her plunge from an apartment window.

Structured as a queer lives-of-the-saints style play, …Miss de Marco is a reflection on how well we can ever truly know a historical figure from outside sources, questioning what we actually know about historic queer icons and their lives.