About

The World Still Needs You,

Boris Yeltsin!

A One Act, Ninety (90) minute musical comedy with no intermission.

Synopsis

In 1989, then-Soviet leader Boris Yeltsin visited the United States. He was shown The United Nations, Trump Tower, The Johnson Space Center — all of which left him unimpressed. An unscheduled stop at a grocery store outside Houston changed the course of history. Gobsmacked by the bounty of an average American supermarket, Boris Yeltsin resolved to return to the USSR to end Communism in his homeland.

Setting

A supermarket in Houston,TX. 1989. A single set for the entire opera reflects a typical American grocery store. Some suggestions: overhead fluorescent lights, a checkout counter, aisles of groceries, 25¢ machines, and a backdrop showing the vast size of the store.

Characters (8)

Boris Yeltsin: [Comedic Bass] A Soviet official touring the United States, who has remained consistently unimpressed by the capitalist glitz he has been shown. His unscheduled stop at the supermarket will lead him to renounce Communism, and become the first president of a free Russia.

The Clerk: [Baritone] An ambitious but unfocused guy in his 20’s, who is ravenous for a purpose in life. He’s frustrated with working in the supermarket, and dreams of becoming a rock star instead.

The Manager: [Lyric Soprano] A farm girl fresh out of community college. She has highly original ideas for the supermarket, but gets buried in the tiny tasks piled on her by misogynistic corporate bosses.

The Rent-a-Cop: [Character Tenor] A gay man closeted by his strict religious upbringing. He keeps temptation at bay by hiding his true self under a faux-macho exterior, convinced that his surveillance of supermarket subversives is key to winning the Cold War.

Vladimir: [Bass-Baritone] Yeltsin’s feckless bodyguard. Unlike Yeltsin, Vladimir is rigid in his commitment to orthodox Soviet ideals. He must mask his interest in his apparent American counterpart, the Rent-A-Cop.

Chorus: [SATB OLD WOMAN, COWBOY ASTROPHYSICIST, BAND NEMESIS, PREGNANT SHOPPER MOM (with twins in stroller), FRANK (with arm in cast), THE CORPORATE SUITS and VARIOUS SHOPPERS