The Old Maid and the Thief

"The time is the present, and the place a small town, any small town, in the United States. There are only four characters- Miss Todd, the first old maid; Laetita, the maid; Miss Pinkerton, the other old maid, and Bob, the thief. These singers are, respectively, contralto, soprano, soprano, and baritone.

The opera was commissioned by the National Broadcasting Company, and had its world premiere by broadcast April 22, 1939. The first stage performance was given by the Philadelphia Opera Company February 11, 1941.

There are fourteen scenes in the piece, all very short. The composer wrote his own libretto.

As Miss Todd and Miss Pinkerton admit to each other that years ago a man wrecked the life of each, a knock is heard at the back door, and a man, a trap, but a handsome tramp, stands at the door. He is so attractive that he is invited to stay for a week, under the pretext that he is Miss Todd's cousin. Bob agrees to stay, but, since he hates women, warns that no romance shall be involved.

Miss Pinkerton brings the news that a desperado has escaped from jail in a neighboring town, and has been seen hereabouts. Miss Todd and Laetitia decide that Bob must be the criminal, but they are so infatuated that they let him stay. But in order to supply him with money they decide to rob the neighbor's houses, and, finally, though Miss Todd is the upholder of temperance, the liquor store.

The town is aroused over the robberies, and each house is to be searched. The two women rouse Bob from a drunken stupor to warn him that the police are closing in, and though he in reality is not the criminal, the situation is too much to cope with, so flight is the only recourse. Spurning Miss Todd's offer to take him to France, Bob yields to Laetitia's project in her own bald and they flee together in Miss Todd's cae. They plunder the house of its valueables, and the pera ends with a glimpse of Miss Todd's dismay over her empty house and the flight of the handsome youth."

Description by E. Clyde Whitlock, the Music Editor for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (1947)