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MESMERIZED SYNOPSIS
ACT I
At the height of Europe’s Enlightenment and the Age of Reason, Vienna is aflame with new ideas (“THE TALK OF THE TOWN”). At her high-class soiree, the Countess introduces Maria Theresa Paradies, a charming 18-year-old who despite her blindness since age 3 has a lilting voice and natural gift at the pianoforte, playing the music Mozart composes for her with ease and beauty (“IN MY WORLD”). Meanwhile, the fashionable Doctor Franz Anton Mesmer, possessed of an unusual power and using séance, trance and “crisis” to heal rich and poor based on his theory of “animal magnetism,” waits nearby, questioning his agreement to demonstrate his extraordinary techniques for the party crowd (“WHY AM I HERE?”). After Mesmer’s demonstration on the Countess, he is ridiculed by Dutch physician Jan Ingenhousz, who has come to Vienna to convince Anton Von Stoerck, Mesmer’s mentor and head of the Vienna Faculty of Medicine, to inoculate Vienna’s children against the smallpox. Mesmer’s wife Anna proclaims that Mesmer can heal anyone, even the blind Theresa. Mesmer gives in to the entreaties of Theresa’s father Herr Paradies, personal secretary to the Queen Empress, and agrees to treat Theresa, sending the room into a speculative frenzy (“THE TALK OF THE TOWN” Reprise). At Mesmer’s clinic the next morning, Anna persuades an abusive Frau Paradies to let Theresa reside at the clinic during her treatments. Theresa resists, but Mesmer overcomes her fears, convincing her to work with him to restore her body’s natural balance (“HARMONY”). While duck hunting, Ingenhousz rants against Mesmer as Stoerck defends him, much to the keen interest of visiting French physician Charles D’Eslon, who declares he must work with Mesmer. Over the next two months, Mesmer, assisted by Anna and D’Eslon, uses animal magnetism to restore Theresa’s eyesight, while D’Eslon quietly develops his own theories (“THE INVISIBLE FIRE”). News of Theresa’s cure spreads like wildfire, the facts turning to fiction as they pass from gossip to gossip (“HAVE YOU HEARD?”). Mesmer works with Theresa to strengthen her weak sight. Theresa is disheartened, but Mesmer bolsters her resolve (“A LITTLE PRACTICE”). A reinvigorated Theresa is enchanted by the starry nighttime sky. Witnessing her joyous innocence, Mesmer realizes anew how his work can change lives on a deep personal level. They each see the world in magical and inspiring new ways (“THROUGH YOUR EYES”). While awaiting a visit from Herr Paradies, Stoerck and Ingenhousz to confirm the cure, D’Eslon reveals his attraction to a startled but appreciative Anna. Anna and Theresa calm themselves by making fun of the doctors’ noses. Stoerck is impressed by the cure; Herr Paradies is elated. But when Mesmer is called away to another patient, Ingenhousz unravels a defenseless Theresa, creating doubt in the minds of Stoerck and Herr Paradies that Theresa can indeed see. A recklessly confident Mesmer forces Theresa to attend a May Day celebration at Court, despite D’Eslon and Anna’s urgings that she is not ready. Guests dance as Mesmer presents Theresa to the Queen (“MAY DAY DANCE”). Impressed, the Queen asks Theresa to play the pianoforte in celebration of the achievement. Theresa cannot coordinate her vision and fingers, her playing deteriorates and she collapses. Aghast, the Paradies fear they will lose Theresa’s royal pension. Act I ends, as Mesmer, Anna and D’Eslon return Theresa to the clinic, Ingenhousz proclaims Mesmer a fraud and accusations fly (“YOU CALL THIS A CURE?”).
ACT II
“The Paradies Affair” becomes the scandal of Vienna (“ENTR’ACTE”/“SCANDALOUS PART 1”). The Paradies unsuccessfully storm the clinic to take Theresa home, prompting the highest levels of State and Church to action (“SCANDALOUS PART 2”). Stoerck declares that a Commission will investigate Mesmer’s work and behavior. In response to D’Eslon’s suggestion that they escape to Paris, Anna reaffirms her devotion to Mesmer (“IN THE SHADOWS”). Theresa awakens to her feelings for Mesmer, maturing from child to woman (“MESMERIZED”). A rejected D’Eslon happens upon a bawdy play in the park ridiculing them all (“L’HISTOIRE COMIQUE DU DOCTOR MESMER”). When Mesmer tells Theresa she is fully cured, Theresa reveals her love to Mesmer and he gives himself over to his desires. But Anna catches them in each others’ arms and is shattered, insisting that Theresa return home immediately. D’Eslon counsels Mesmer to ask the Commission for more time to prove the theory of animal magnetism, arguing that perhaps suggestion and not animal magnetism leads to the cures (“THE POWER OF SUGGESTION”). Mesmer feels betrayed and severs their relationship. At the Commission hearing, chaired by Benjamin Franklin, a panel of narrow-minded doctors refuses to embrace an unverifiable theory, despite Mesmer’s emotional plea (“AN ACT OF FAITH”). Pressed by the panel, D’Eslon admits his doubts about animal magnetism, asserting that the cures themselves are proof enough that Mesmer’s techniques should be endorsed. In the absence of scientific proof, the Commission decrees that Mesmer never actually cured anyone and forbids him to practice medicine in Vienna. Mesmer returns home defeated, and has a final falling out with Anna (“IN THE SHADOWS” Reprise). In a letter, Theresa reveals that she has reverted to blindness and will not try to recover. She thanks Mesmer profusely, but forbids their future contact, acknowledging that she hasn’t the strength to fight society’s disapproval and her illness at the same time (“EMBRACED BY THE DARKNESS”). Mesmer sinks, his powers deserting him (“THE POWER OF SUGGESTION” Reprise). 7 years pass. Mesmer is still unacknowledged (“HAVE YOU HEARD” Reprise). A despairing Mesmer crosses paths with Theresa outside a Paris concert hall where she is performing. Theresa pleads with Mesmer to return to Lake Constance where he grew up, open a small clinic and simply heal the sick (“FINALE”). Mesmer agrees. As they part for the last time, Theresa urges Mesmer to have faith in the hidden forces at work in the grand scheme of the universe. In the final moment, Mesmer feels the power of the universe flow through him once more.
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