The Cradle Will Rock

Marc Blitzstein rehearsing the cast of The Cradle Will Rock

At any rate, on the chance that we might never really open, Welles and Houseman invited to our final dress rehearsal the most elite New York audience imaginable. That rehearsal was the first and the last time the work has ever been fully performed exactly as I wrote it. It seemed a success.

— Marc Blitzstein in 1956, recalling the full-orchestra dress rehearsal at Maxine Elliott's Theatre on June 14, 1937[6]

Rehearsals for The Cradle Will Rock began March 8, 1937.[5]^: 223 The 32-member orchestra,[4]^: 173 conducted by music director Lehman Engel, started rehearsals in mid-April.[10]^: 138 Members of the large company would have two months or more of rehearsal time and employment as the show was prepared—a luxury that the Federal Theatre Project, as a New Deal work-relief program, was designed to afford.[4]^: 174 Everyone, including Blitzstein, was paid $23.86 a week.[10]^: 138

Having arranged for Howard da Silva to play labor organizer Larry Foreman, Welles cast Will Geer as capitalist boss Mr. Mister. For the role of Moll, the young woman who prostitutes herself to avoid starving, he found Olive Stanton, an actress who had appeared in the Federal Theatre Project production Class of '29 (1936). She was a daughter of Sanford E. Stanton, a political reporter and columnist for the New York Journal-American.[8]^: 386[18]

An ingenue in early Universal Pictures films, Peggy Coudray (Mrs. Mister) had earned praise for her comedy skills in soubrette roles in stage musicals and operettas.[10]^: 137 She had performed with Edward Arnold in vaudeville and led her own stock companies.[13]^: 14 The comic actor Hiram Sherman (Junior Mister) was a childhood friend of Welles and a veteran of his farce Horse Eats Hat. Other cast were selected for the clarity and strength of their voices, supplemented by an interracial chorus of 44 singers.[10]^: 137

The Cradle Will Rock was choreographed by Clarence Yates,[10]^: 138 an African-American dancer and choreographer who studied ballet with Michel Fokine. He was director of dance for the Federal Theatre Project's Negro Theatre Unit in New York City.[19] He and Asadata Dafora choreographed Welles's Voodoo Macbeth,[20] and Yates was in the cast of his Doctor Faustus.[21]

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  Clarence Yates (foreground) rehearsing cast members at Maxine Elliott's Theatre
• 
  Yates rehearsing the cast
• 
  Yates rehearsing the cast
• 
  From left: George Fairchild, Olive Stanton, Will Geer, Hiram Sherman, Peggy Coudray, Yates
• 
  Yates rehearsing the cast
• 
  Stanton rehearsing
• 
  Yates rehearsing Stanton
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  Stanton, Yates, Coudray
• 
  Stanton, Yates, Coudray

"It is not very fashionable these days to refer admiringly to the Federal Theatre Project, and yet it was responsible for a great number of today's writers, stars, directors and stage designers," Blitzstein said in a 1956 interview. "We had unlimited time to prepare the production and we had really quite extraordinary talents in every department at our disposal. Rehearsals moved toward a state of perfection rarely attained in our present‐day theater."[6]

Handbill announcing Project 891's tentative schedule at Maxine Elliott's Theatre, with The Cradle Will Rock in repertory with Doctor Faustus and a third production to be determined

Costume sketch for Scene 3, in which Mrs. Mister changes hats when the setting changes from 1915 ("Back in 1915 she was already a salad, with accent on the dressing") ... to 1916 ("She has changed her hat, to something pretty awful and 1916") ... to 1917 ("A new hat, all plumes—now she is violent, a harridan")

The production's costume and scenic designer was Edwin J. Schruers. "Of course it was really Orson," wrote Blitzstein.[5]^: 226 Welles talked Blitzstein into a flashy stage design "full of metal and glass and the horror of Steeltown":[3]^: 132

I told Marc he shouldn't do an opera for the ladies' garment workers and the communist union. Instead, he should do it for Vanity Fair, Vogue and Harper's audiences, and it should have no atmosphere of being a little labor opera. It should be a big Broadway show.[22]^: 159

Houseman described "an extravagant scenic scheme that called for a triple row of three-dimensional velour portals between which narrow glass-bottomed fluorescent platforms, loaded with scenery and props, slid smoothly past each other as the scene shifted back and forth".[7]^: 248 The scene plot indicates four of these illuminated trucks, as well as screens, two travelers, a double-quarter revolve and an inventive aperture curtain.[9]^: 293 Accustomed to an open stage and the accompaniment of only Blitzstein's piano, the well-rehearsed cast was disconcerted when they began to work with the sliding scenery and a large orchestra.[8]^{: 386–387}

To plan the blocking and performances, Welles had to know the music. "He would start at ten in the morning and not leave the theatre," said conductor Lehman Engel. "He might dismiss his cast at four the next morning but when we would return at noon, we would find Orson sleeping in a theatre seat."[8]^: 387

Houseman and Welles would not commit to a schedule for some weeks, while Welles's Doctor Faustus continued to sell out at Maxine Elliott's Theatre.[8]^: 387 Faustus finally suspended performances on May 29.[3]^: 132 Public previews of The Cradle Will Rock were announced to begin June 16, with an official opening at the end of June.[4]^: 174 After a few weeks' run, the musical was to play in repertory with Faustus[8]^: 387 and another production to be announced.

"On June 10," Flanagan wrote, "after weeks of debate in Washington we received the definite order to cut the New York project by 30 percent, involving the dismissal of 1,701 workers."[11]^: 202 Flanagan received another memorandum June 12, stating that "no openings of new productions shall take place until after the beginning of the coming fiscal year" due to an expected cut in federal appropriations. Because The Cradle Will Rock was the only new production opening in the last two weeks of June,[23] Flanagan concluded that "this was obviously censorship under a different guise."[11]^{: 202–203}

Federal Theatre Project program for The Cradle Will Rock

Nineteen benefit performances had been scheduled for The Cradle Will Rock through July 24, with 18,000 tickets sold. The first public preview on June 16 was a sold-out benefit for the Downtown Music School.[5]^: 227

"As producers, Orson and I were not noted for our punctuality," Houseman wrote, adding that their Macbeth was postponed five times, Horse Eats Hat twice, and Faustus three times. "Normally, we would almost certainly have postponed the opening of The Cradle. But now, suddenly, we became demons of dependability, scrupulous to honor our public and artistic commitment. Hallie asked me how I felt about the delay. I told her we refused to accept it."[7]^: 255

The Federal Theatre Project 891 version of The Cradle Will Rock was publicly performed only once, at a full-orchestra dress rehearsal on June 14. The hastily invited audience of several hundred people included producer Arthur Hopkins, playwrights Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, and writer and editor V. J. Jerome.[7]^: 256[24]^: 41 Syndicated columnist Jay Franklin reported: "Those who saw the dress rehearsal say that it is a gay, fast-moving, exciting show—one which subjects the social scene to radical criticism and still retains a sense of humor and of proportion."[5]^: 225

On June 15, the WPA padlocked Maxine Elliott's Theatre. Uniformed guards prevented anyone from removing props or costumes, which were U.S. government property.[7]^: 256[25]

"The hammer fell in the form of considerable governmental budget cuts just as Cradle was to open," Welles said, "at the height of the CIO's efforts to organize steel. Another reason for closing us was that, unlike most WPA plays, we were going to be on Broadway, which opponents feared would attract considerable attention."[22]^: 160

So Jack Houseman and Orson Welles took the play down the street and opened it under private auspices as the first production of the Mercury Theatre. Probably it was worth a case of censorship to launch a group of our most brilliant directors and actors with a play for which the cast and rehearsal time had been provided, as well as an audience and a springboard for publicity.

— Hallie Flanagan, national director of the Federal Theatre Project[11]^: 203

Welles, Houseman and Blitzstein, seeking a way to privately produce the show, rented the much larger Venice Theatre and a piano just in time for the scheduled preview on June 16, 1937.[26] The 600 audience members, who had gathered outside the Maxine Elliot Theatre for the preview, travelled 21 blocks north to the Venice Theatre; many were on foot.[1][25] The sold-out house grew even larger when the show's creators invited people off the street to attend for free. The musicians' union refused to play for the show unless Houseman could provide their full salaries, and Actors' Equity Association stated that its members could not perform onstage at the new theatre without approval of the original producer (the federal government).[25] The show's creators thus planned for Blitzstein to perform the entire musical at the piano.[25] Just after beginning the first number, Blitzstein was joined by Olive Stanton, the actress playing Moll, from the audience.[25] During the rest of the performance, various actors joined in with Blitzstein and performed the entire musical from the house.[27] According to The New York Times's description of the original production, "Persons who heard the opera's score and extracts last night carried no clear impression except that its theme was that steel workers should join a union." Poet Archibald MacLeish, who was in the audience, "praised the 'vitality' of the Federal Theatre Project."[1]

Houseman determined that there were no legal restrictions on performing the musical with a new financial backer, and beginning on June 18, Helen Deutsch, press agent for the Theatre Guild, agreed to serve as the financial backer for The Cradle Will Rock; the actors received a two-week leave of absence from the WPA, and, in an agreement with Actors' Equity, Deutsch paid the 19 cast members $1500 for the two weeks' performances.[26] Two days later, Houseman announced that, should the production prove successful, the two-week run would be continued indefinitely.[28] Houseman also announced that the musical would continue to be performed with Blitzstein playing piano onstage and the cast members singing from the audience. He asserted that this made the audience feel like part of the show, stating, "There has always been the question of how to produce a labor show so the audience feels like it is a part of the performance. This technique seems to solve that problem and is exactly the right one for this particular piece".[28] The success of the performance led Welles and Houseman to form the Mercury Theatre.[29]

The Cradle Will Rock was presented by the Mercury Theatre as part of its inaugural season. On December 5, 1937, it opened in a reduced oratorio version on Sunday evenings at the Mercury Theatre, using the set for Caesar and two rows of chairs. The cast included Will Geer, Howard da Silva, Hiram Sherman, a chorus of 12, and Marc Blitzstein at the piano.[30]^: 340

Presented by the Mercury Theatre and Sam H. Grisman, the oratorio version of The Cradle Will Rock moved to the Windsor Theatre January 4, 1938. In mid-February it returned to the Mercury Theatre and completed its 13-week run April 2, 1938.[30]^: 340[7]^{: 341–342}

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  Marc Blitzstein, Howard da Silva and Olive Stanton in the Mercury Theatre presentation of The Cradle Will Rock
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  Entire cast of the Mercury Theatre presentation of The Cradle Will Rock, with all the scenic effects used
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  Mercury Theatre poster (1938)
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  Blitzstein (with Stanton leaning on the piano, January 1938)
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  Da Silva and Stanton (January 1938)

The musical was revived on Broadway on December 26, 1947,[31] at the Mansfield Theatre, then moving to the Broadway Theatre, with a cast that included Alfred Drake (Larry Foreman), Vivian Vance (Mrs. Mister), Jack Albertson (Yasha), and original cast member Will Geer (Mr. Mister). The production was directed by Howard da Silva[32] and played 34 performances.[33] The UK premiere took place in London at the Unity Theatre, King's Cross, in 1951.[34]

Blitzstein's rarely heard orchestrations were used in a February 1960 production by the New York City Opera at New York City Center, featuring Tammy Grimes and David Atkinson.[35]

The show was revived Off-Broadway in 1964 in a production starring Jerry Orbach (Larry Foreman), Nancy Andrews (Mrs. Mister), and Lauri Peters (Moll), directed by Howard da Silva. Leonard Bernstein acted as music supervisor to music director Gershon Kingsley. The production ran at Theatre Four for 82 performances. This production won the Obie Award as Best Musical Production and Dean Dittman (who played Editor Daily) won the Obie for Distinguished Performance.[36][37][38]

The Acting Company presented an Off-Broadway production at the American Place Theater from May 9, 1983 to May 29, 1983, directed by John Houseman and featuring a spoken introduction by Houseman, and starring Patti LuPone.[25][39] This production was done "on a dark stage, decorated only with chairs and Dennis Parichy's poetic lighting. At dead center is the upright piano, whose expert player, Michael Barrett, delivers the Brechtian scene-setting announcements as Blitzstein once did."[40] The production was recorded for television and aired on PBS in 1986.[41]

The show was revived in 1985 at The Old Vic (near Waterloo Station) featuring alumni members of The Acting Company.[42] In this production Patti LuPone reprised her role as Moll and was honored with an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.[43]

Splinter Group Theatre's Chicago production in 1994 was named one of the Ten Best plays of the year by the Chicago Tribune.[44] Directed by Matt O'Brien, with musical direction by Jim Collins, the production style recreated the bare bones approach necessitated by the 1937 production's opening night, and later transferred from Splinter Group's space in Wicker Park to the larger Theatre Building in Chicago, running a total of three months in the two locations.

Mehmet Ergen directed a production in London for the Arcola Theatre's 10th Anniversary in 2010 starring Alicia Davies, Stuart Matthew Price, Morgan Deare, Chris Jenkins and Josie Benson. It was the last show at the Arcola Street location, before the company moved to its new space, opposite the Dalston Junction station.[45]

The Oberlin Summer Theater Festival staged a summer stock production in 2012.[46] Directed by Joey Rizzolo, one of the New York Neo-Futurists (who are known for their Brechtian approach to theater), the production opened to critical acclaim.[47]

Front cover of the 1994 book publication of the screenplay for The Cradle Will Rock, an unrealized film by Orson Welles

In 1984, Orson Welles wrote the screenplay for a film he planned to direct—The Cradle Will Rock, an autobiographical drama about the 1937 staging of Blitzstein's play.[22]^{: 157–159} Rupert Everett was cast to portray the 21-year-old Welles[48]^: 117 in the black-and-white feature film. Welles's first wife Virginia Nicolson is a sympathetically written key character in the unproduced screenplay, one of Welles's last important pieces of writing.[8]^: 384 She read and approved the screenplay during preproduction. John Houseman read it after Welles's death and remarked on the screenplay's accuracy and fairness.[49]

Although the budget was reduced to $3 million,[49] Welles was unable to secure funding and the project was not realized.[22]^{: 215–220}

"A couple of studio reports that I've read on the Cradle script seem characteristic," wrote film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum. "Both readers complain that the script assumes an interest in Welles's early life that they didn't happen to share."[49] The unproduced screenplay was published in 1994.[48]

In 1999 writer/director Tim Robbins wrote a semi-fictional film recounting the original production of The Cradle Will Rock. The film, entitled Cradle Will Rock (without "The") blended the true history of Blitzstein's show with the creation (and subsequent destruction) of the original Diego Rivera mural Man at the Crossroads in the lobby of Rockefeller Center (the Rivera mural was actually destroyed in 1934). Several of the original actors from the 1937 production were included as characters in the film, notably Olive Stanton, John Adair, and Will Geer, while others were replaced by fictional characters. Leading man Howard da Silva was replaced by the fictional "Aldo Silvano" (John Turturro). Although Will Geer played Mr. Mister in the 1937 production, for the movie he was recast in the smaller role of the Druggist. The name of the actor who played Doctor Specialist in the original production is given to the fictional character "Frank Marvel" (Barnard Hughes), who plays Mr. Mister.

The film's climax recreates scenes from the original, legendary performance of the show, performed by veteran Broadway performers Victoria Clark, Gregg Edelman, Audra McDonald, Daniel Jenkins, Erin Hill, and Chris McKinney.

Robbins wrote a book, Cradle Will Rock: The Movie and the Moment, as a companion to the movie; it discusses the original show, his adaptation, and the filming of the motion picture.[50]

key to casts: Moll/Ella Hammer/Editor Daily/Larry Foreman/Mr. Mister

• 1938 – label: Musicraft – conductor: Blitzstein – cast: Stanton/Collins/Weston/da Silva/MacBane
• 1964 – label: MGM – conductor: Kingsley – cast: Peters-L/Grant/Dittmann/Orbach/Clarke
• 1985 – label: TER – conductor: Barrett – cast: LuPone/Woods-MD/Matthews-A/Mell/Schramm
• 1994 – label: Lockett-Palmer – conductor: Bates – cast: Dawn?/Green-MP?/Lund?/Baratta?/van Norden?
• 1999 – label: RCA Victor – conductor: Campbell – cast: Harvey/McDonald/unknown/unknown/unknown (soundtrack of Robbins movie; music is abridged)