Writer Eleanor Hammond stumbled upon the compelling 1916 portrait of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney by Robert Henri on a trip to the Whitney Museum in New York. Witnessing Gertrude’s commanding pose as she laid on a couch in a Venus-like position and stared directly into the viewer’s eyes, Eleanor was captivated. The work’s caption stated that her husband refused to allow Gertrude to hang her portrait in their home because she was wearing pants. This striking fact inspired Eleanor to write a song called “Walls” which takes place during the climax of the show, after Gertrude’s husband takes down her painting, leaving her alone on stage. In the song, Gertrude expresses her sudden decision to put an end to her husband’s oppression over her identity as an artist and pioneering woman by leaving him and opening the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
A couple years later, Eleanor decided she wanted to turn Gertrude’s story into a full-length production titled Walls: The Musical. As a freshman in college, her proposal to write and produce Walls won the Musical Theatre Award from UC Berkeley. That following summer, Eleanor wrote the 125-page script and 21 songs that would make the musical and gathered her complete production team. She recently found her talented and driven cast that are excited to bring this story and its characters to life.
With your generous support, we aim to put on six performances this spring of Walls.