What is The Filthy Habit?

A comic intermezzo in the spirit of Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona, The Filthy Habit updates the story of Wolf-Ferarri's Il Segreto di Susanna for modern times. Set in Manhattan in the summer of 2003, Habit tells the story of a newlywed couple's struggle with Mayor Bloomberg's new smoking ban.

Like its companion piece Trouble in Tahiti, the music of The Filthy Habit is heavily infused with elements of American Jazz and Blues. There is also an element of 1940s noir film scoring that permeates the harmonic language of the piece. The trio sings close harmony reminiscent of the Hi-Los and similar groups from the 1950s. The role of Susan requires a classically trained voice with the diction and acting ability of a musical theatre performer, and the role of Gil is similarly challenging to the singing actor. The Filthy Habit is an audience pleaser that is also musically sophisticated and multi-layered.