Tracy's Tiger

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Tracy's Tiger is a short novel by William Saroyan. It was first published in 1951 by Doubleday and illustrated by Henry Koerner. The story also appears in The William Saroyan Reader, first edition 1958, published by George Braziller, Inc.

In 2007, the tale was turned into an original two-act musical for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The world-premiere production featured books and lyrics by Linda Alper, Douglas Langworthy, and Penny Metropulos, with music and additional lyrics by Sterling Tinsley. Penny Metropolus directed the show. It was staged in the New Theatre, the smallest OSF venue, and critics and audiences gave it a warm reception with sold-out performances for the season.

For the musical, the setting was moved from New York to 1950s San Francisco. Tracy, a twenty-something whose “jivey” tiger is invisible to everyone but him (and the audience), falls for Laura, who has her own invisible and very seductive tigress. On Tracy’s first visit to Laura’s home, he makes a possibly irremediable mistake. The tiger becomes visible and is chased through the streets of San Francisco by a compassionate police officer, acting on orders from a bumbling chief. The finale brings redemption and reincarnation for characters who hadn’t appeared since Act 1.

Sterling Tinsley also played piano in the production and worked across many musical styles to suit each character.