Kitty Genovese, A Musical Drama, Brings to Life 36-Year-Old Queens Murder

Thirty six years ago on a tree-lined street in Kew Gardens a 28-year-old woman returning to her home on Austin Street was repeatedly stabbed in full view of 38 neighbors in an adjoining apartment house. Her tragic death abetted by apathetic witnesses grew into a national scandal that depicted Kew Gardens in particular and New York City in general as a cold and forbidding community.
The violence in Kew Gardens was the Queens "Crime of the Century." A police officer in 1964 had this to say about the case:
"They were good people. They looked on, unwilling to get involved, they barricaded their houses, or went back to bed. One man did yell at the murderer, telling him to go away and leave the girl alone. But no one telephoned the police while the attack continued, and no one went out in the street until just before dawn when an ambulance arrived."
Now nearly four decades later, a musical, "The Screams of Kitty Genovese," has been produced at the famed Eugene ONeill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. This "work in progress," has three more performances to run from Aug. 10-12.
This unlikely subject for a musical sent shivers through a packed house on Aug. 5 as it put under a microscope the motivation of Kittys killer, Winston Moseley; his young victim and many of the 38 witnesses playing their real-life counterparts. These "neighbors" looked out of their windows in an Austin Street apartment house as Moseley relentlessly stalked his screaming victim. She died from multiple stab wounds while running down the street adjoining the Kew Gardens station of the Long Island Railroad.
If librettist David Simpatico and composer Will Todd have their way the production will open one day on Broadway, once again turning a spotlight on the Kew Gardens community which has tried to push it from their collective consciousness ever since the tragedy struck on March 12 at 9:38 p.m. on Austin Street, a quiet, residential neighborhood.
Simpatico first heard of the murder from his parents as a youngster growing up in New Jersey and then two years ago he saw a painting, "The Screams of Kitty Genovese," by a Queens artist, Jerome Witkin. It shows a naked woman smoking a cigarette nonchalantly while looking out of her window as the crime scene unfolds beneath her.
"I knew I had to do something with that striking painting," Simpatico said. "Then I met Will Todd at a theater conference in Kent, England, and for two years we worked on this play."
The production turns a spotlight on the neighbors who ignore Kittys cries. Each of them has his or her own song depicting the stresses in their lives that serve as alibis for failing to call the police.
There is Marty who hears Kittys screams and curses her, concluding that the victim deserves to be beat up by her boyfriend. His curses grow in intensity as he expresses his hatred of women who always seem to make demands of him.
"Its Marty take out the garbage; Marty mop the floors," and then he turns away from the window in disgust.
"Mommy and Baby" are lovers who decide not to call the police for fear that Mommys husband will learn he is having an affair.
Another "neighbor," Betty, laments that her boyfriend has stood her up and is too distraught to listen to the screams of Kitty Genovese.
Then there is Mac, a physical culturist who compulsively does push-ups and seems oblivious to Kittys screams until, in desperation, she attempts to enter his apartment. He calls the police but it is too late.
"Were attempting to use the power of music to get into that terrible private zone," Todd said. "The play runs the gamut from hope to despair."
The play, according to Simpatico, is influenced by Hitchcock’s "Rear Window" and Thornton Wilders "The Bridge of San Luis Rey."
He said "Rear Window" gives the sense of seeing into the lives that happen inside the apartment window and in The Bridge of San Luis Rey," five completely unconnected people come together on a day when the rope bridge collapses.
"There is nothing trivial about the treatment of the story," Todd said. "Its a very sincere approach as an historical event, as a syndrome and as an act of violence, both the actual violence by the murderer and this kind of passive violence by the neighbors who dont do anything."
The production seats the "neighbors" in rows while the leads Juliet Lambert as Kitty and Craig Lubano as Winston  sit upstage. As Winstons rage grows and he lunges at Kitty with a knife, the neighbors, functioning as a Greek chorus, keep repeating:
"We never heard the screams of Kitty Genovese. We never heard the screams of Kitty Genovese…" The play ends with the cautionary note from the spirit of Kitty, who looks at the audience, and says, "what will you do when it is your turn?"
Moseley was quickly caught by police and sentenced to life in prison. An occasional appeal for release has so far been denied by the state.
The librettist and composer said they were stunned last week to receive a call from the brother and sister of Kitty Genovese who will be in the audience on the weekend.
"As far as the witnesses are concerned," Simpatico said, "we try not to be judgmental. But if you asked me Id guess they would act the same if faced with similar choices."
Simpatico said that audiences are "moved by the performance and you can feel the tension in the air."
The murder was the subject of a book, "38 Witnesses," written in the 60s by former New York Times editor, A.M. Rosenthal, now a columnist for The New York Post.
The Queens Courier contacted Jeff Rosenstock, executive director of the Queens Theatre in the Park, to determine if it would be interested in producing "The Screams of Kitty Genovese."
He expressed enthusiasm for the project and said he planned to contact the shows director, Eleanor Reissa.
For more information and reservations at the ONeill Theater, call 860-443-5378.
The National Music Theater Conference at the Eugene ONeill Theater Center was formed in 1978 under artistic director Paulette Haupt. The Conference was born to provide a forum for musical theater and to encourage and support the talents of the visionaries and creators of new work.