''The Grass Harp'' is a novel by
Truman Capote
Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...
published on October 1, 1951
[Clarke, Gerald. ''Capote: A Biography'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988), page 224.] It tells the story of an orphaned boy and two elderly ladies who observe life from a tree. They eventually leave their temporary retreat to make amends with each other and other members of society.
Conception
Not wanting to take up his incomplete first novel, ''
Summer Crossing'', Capote began writing ''The Grass Harp'' in June 1950 and completed it on May 27, 1951. The novel was inspired by memories of his childhood in
Monroeville, Alabama
Monroeville is the county seat of Monroe County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census its population was 5,951.
Monroeville is known as the hometown of two prominent writers of the post-World War II period, Truman Capote and Harper Lee, w ...
, particularly of a
treehouse constructed in the 1930s in a large
walnut tree
Walnut trees are any species of tree in the plant genus ''Juglans'', the type genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are referred to as walnuts. All species are deciduous trees, tall, with pinnate leaves , with 5–25 leaflets; ...
in his cousin Jenny's backyard. This large tree house, accessible by an antique
spiral staircase
Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...
, featured cypress wood construction and a tin roof, and was furnished with a rattan sofa. Capote spent time in this tree house with his cousin Sook or other childhood friends such as
Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926February 19, 2016) was an American novelist best known for her 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. It won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Lee has received numerou ...
. The novel was additionally inspired by his cousin Sook's
dropsy medicine, which she made yearly until the age of 62. She took the recipe for it to the grave, despite Jenny's wanting first to patent the recipe and then to sell it to a manufacturer.
Capote completed ''The Grass Harp'' while he was vacationing in
Taormina
Taormina ( , , also , ; scn, Taurmina) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on ...
, Sicily. The last section was airmailed to the publishers Random House just days after he finished writing it, but it was not published for four months because the editors, specifically Bob Linscott, did not care for the ending of the novel. Linscott thought that the ending was weak because, once the characters were up in the tree house, Capote "didn't know what to do with them." He asked Capote to rewrite the ending, and Capote made some changes in it, but he did not completely rewrite it.
[Rudisill, Marie & Simmons, James C. ''The Southern Haunting of Truman Capote'' (Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland House, 2000), page 86.]
Truman Capote initially wanted to title the novel ''Music of the Sawgrass''. It was Bob Linscott who gave it the title ''The Grass Harp.''
Synopsis
The story begins with Collin Fenwick losing his mother, and then his father, and moving into his aunts' (Dolly and Verena) house. Catherine, the servant, also lives in the house and gets along, for the most part, only with Dolly. Dolly is famous for her medicine, which she makes by going out into the woods with Catherine and Collin and randomly picking plants. They then go to an old treehouse, which is propped up in a
Chinaberry tree. One day, after Dolly has an argument with Verena (Verena wants to mass-produce Dolly's medicine), Dolly, Collin, and Catherine leave their home and start walking. They go to the treehouse in the Chinaberry tree, and decide to camp out there. Verena, meanwhile, informs the sheriff of her sister's disappearance; the Sheriff organizes a search party, and eventually arrests Catherine. During the course of the novel, others come to live in the treehouse, such as Judge Cool and Riley Henderson. In a climactic event, a confrontation among the search party and the residents of the tree house leads to Riley getting shot in the shoulder. After Judge Cool discusses the situation, everyone agrees that it was a pointless struggle, and old relationships are invigorated once again. Many people leave as friends. The story ends with how a "grass harp, gathering, telling, a harp of voices remembering a story."
Characters
* Collin Fenwick: An orphaned boy who takes up residence in a Chinaberry tree with Dolly. When the story opens he is 11 years old, but he is 16 years old for the majority of the narrative; he is small for his age. Collin serves as both the protagonist and narrator of the novel.
* Dolly Talbo: Aunt of Collin; she takes up residence in the Chinaberry tree. Her character is based on Truman's older cousin, Sook Faulk.
* Verena Talbo: Dolly's sister; she urges the Sheriff of the town to investigate the disappearance of her sister Dolly.
* Morris Ritz: A man who woos Verena, and is popularly believed to open a factory with her but soon runs away with her money.
* Catherine Creek: An African American servant who runs away with Dolly and Collin, and also takes up residence in the Chinaberry tree.
* Riley Henderson: A boy who becomes friends with Collin. He briefly takes up residence in the treehouse of the Chinaberry tree.
* Junius Candle: The town Sheriff; he is persistent in finding perpetrators and organizes a massive search party to find Collin and Dolly.
* Judge Cool: He is considered the free thinker of the town and helps Dolly and Verena come to terms with one another. He is the "wise man" of society, and in general, solves conflicts posed in the novella.
Reception and critical analysis
The ''
New York Herald Tribune
The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
'' lauded the novel as "Remarkable...infused with a tender laughter, charming human warmth,
nda feeling for the positive quality of life." ''
The Atlantic Monthly
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' commented that "''The Grass Harp'' charms you into sharing the author's feeling that there is a special poetry - a spontaneity and wonder and delight - in lives untarnished by conformity and common sense." Sales of ''The Grass Harp'' reached 13,500, more than double those of either ''A Tree of Night'' or ''Local Color'', two of Capote's prior works.
''The Grass Harp'' was Truman Capote's favorite personal work, despite its being criticized as overly sentimental.
Adaptations
Play
''The Grass Harp'' was favorably reviewed when it was published, and it attracted the interest of the Broadway producer
Saint Subber Arnold Saint-Subber (February 18, 1918 – April 19, 1994), usually known as Saint Subber, was an American theatrical producer.
Early life
Subber grew up in New York City, where both of his parents were theatre ticket brokers. He attended New York ...
, who traveled to Taormina to urge Capote to write a stage adaption of the work; his offer opened up new possibilities for income at a time when Capote was still struggling to make his way. Working with intense concentration, Capote managed to complete a draft of the play in a year's time. He was personally involved in the selection of a production team. Capote's stage adaptation of his novel, produced by
Saint Subber Arnold Saint-Subber (February 18, 1918 – April 19, 1994), usually known as Saint Subber, was an American theatrical producer.
Early life
Subber grew up in New York City, where both of his parents were theatre ticket brokers. He attended New York ...
, directed by
Robert Lewis, opened on March 27, 1952 at
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
's
Martin Beck Theatre
The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, originally the Martin Beck Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 302 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, it was designed by G. Albert Lansburgh in a Moorish an ...
, where it ran for 36 performances. The cast included
Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick (June 19, 1905 – October 25, 1994) was an American actress. She won a Primetime Emmy Award and was nominated for an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.
Early life
Natwick was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Mildre ...
as Dolly Talbo,
Ruth Nelson as Verena Talbo,
Jonathan Harris as Dr. Morris Ritz,
Sterling Holloway
Sterling Price Holloway Jr. (January 4, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American actor and voice actor who appeared in over 100 films and 40 television shows. He did voice acting for The Walt Disney Company, playing Mr. Stork in '' Dumbo'', A ...
as The Barber,
Gertrude Flynn
Gertrude Flynn (January 14, 1909 – October 16, 1996) was an American stage, film and television actress. She was married to Asa Bordages, a feature writer for the '' New York World-Telegram'' and playwright known for the 1941 play ''Brookly ...
as The Baker's Wife,
Val Dufour as The Sheriff,
Jane Lawrence
Jane Lawrence Smith (February 3, 1915 – August 5, 2005), born Jane Brotherton, was an American actress and opera singer who was part of the New York art scene beginning in the 1950s.
Life and work
Jane Brotherton was born in Bozeman, Mon ...
as The Choir Mistress,
Lenka Peterson as Maude Riordan, and
Alice Pearce
Alice Pearce (October 16, 1917 – March 3, 1966) was an American actress. She was brought to Hollywood by Gene Kelly to reprise her Broadway performance in the film version of '' On the Town'' (1949). Pearce played comedic supporting roles in s ...
as Miss Baby Love Dallas. Music was by
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclassi ...
and scenery and costumes were by
Cecil Beaton
Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the the ...
.
Musical
In October 1971, the Michigan University Professional Theatre Program presented ''The Grass Harp'' musical with the university's music and drama departments supplying musicians and performers. Initially as an evaluation by the Broadway producers
Richard Barr, Charles Woodward, Michael Harvey, and Associate Producer Michael Kasden.
Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm (April 29, 1917 – July 15, 2012) was an American stage, film and television actress.
Holm won an Academy Award for her performance in Elia Kazan's ''Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947), and was nominated for her roles in ''Come to t ...
, a close friend of
Claibe Richardson, appeared in the Michigan University Professional Program's production as "Miss Baby Love". She was replaced with
Karen Morrow for the Broadway production.
[Dietz, Dan]
"1971-1972 Season. ''The Grass Harp''"
''The Complete Book of 1970s Broadway Musicals'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2015, , pp. 82-84
The musical adaptation opened on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
at the
Martin Beck Theatre
The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, originally the Martin Beck Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 302 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, it was designed by G. Albert Lansburgh in a Moorish an ...
on November 2, 1971, after previews from
October 26, 1971, and closed on November 6, 1971. The book and lyrics were by
Kenward Elmslie
Kenward Gray Elmslie (April 27, 1929 – June 29, 2022) was an American author, performer, editor and publisher associated with the New York School of poetry.
Life and career
Kenward Gray Elmslie was born to William and Constance Pulitzer in M ...
and the music by
Claibe Richardson.
[''The Grass Harp'']
ibdb.com, accessed May 17, 2016 Directed by
Ellis Rabb
Ellis W. Rabb (June 20, 1930 – January 11, 1998) was an American actor and director who in 1959 formed the Association of Producing Artists, a theatre company that brought new works and noteworthy revivals to Broadway and to regional theatres. ...
, the choreography was by
Rhoda Levine, Scenic Design and lighting by James Tilton, and costumes by Nancy Potts. Orchestrations were by
Jonathan Tunick Jonathan Tunick (born April 19, 1938, New York City) is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer, and one of seventeen " EGOTs" - people to have won all four major American showbusiness awards: the Tony Awards, Academy Awards, Emmy ...
and
Robert Russell Bennett
Robert Russell Bennett (June 15, 1894 – August 18, 1981) was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, J ...
, Theodore Saidenberg was musical director, musical arrangements were by J (Billy) Van Planck, and dance and incidental music was by John Berkman.
[
The cast featured ]Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook (October 25, 1927 – August 8, 2017) was an American actress and singer who first came to prominence in the 1950s as the lead in the original Broadway musicals ''Plain and Fancy'' (1955), ''Candide'' (1956) and ''The Music Man'' (19 ...
as Dolly Talbo, Carol Brice as Catherine Creek, Karen Morrow as evangelist Miss Baby Love, Ruth Ford as Verena Talbo, Russ Thacker as Colin Talbo, Max Showalter
Max Gordon Showalter (June 2, 1917 – July 30, 2000), sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One ...
as Dr. Morris Ritz, John Baragrey as Judge Cool, Kelley Boa, Trudy Bordoff, Colin Duffy, Eva Grant, and David Craig Moskin as Miss Baby Love's orphans, known as the "Heavenly Pride and Joy", Christine Stabile as Maude Riordan, and Harvey Vernon as Sheriff Amos Legrand.
The musical previewed and opened during a major New York City newspaper strike preventing advertising and reviews, with no advance theater party ticket sales guarantee.
Richard Barr, Charles Woodward, Michael Harvey, and Michael Kasden gave the company the option of maintaining three more weeks for the productions' performance schedule, or closing after only seven performances, using the show's banked funds to produce a Broadway cast album. The musical orchestration was recorded in Cologne, Germany
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...
, with the Cologne Symphonic Orchestra ensemble. Returning to the States, the original cast was recorded in New York City, with the Painted Smiles ''Grass Harp'' vinyl album released a year after the musical's closing date. Because of timing, one musical number was forced off the vinyl, but added when the Painted Smiles ''Grass Harp'' audio CD was released. The ''Grass Harp'' album cover art was designed by Kenward Elmslie's fine artist-painter friend Joe Brainard
Joe Brainard (March 11, 1942 – May 25, 1994) was an American artist and writer associated with the New York School. His prodigious and innovative body of work included assemblages, collages, drawing, and painting, as well as designs for book ...
. Claibe Richardson's Advertising Agency Art director-designer friend Jim Pearsal designed the Chappell Music Publishing's sheet music design-cover art work. Pearsal's twisted chinaberry tree house design, the Chappell Music Publishing sheet music cover art, replaced the original Brainard vinyl record "Grass Harp" cover art work when the Painted Smiles audio CD was issued. Initially, criticism of the show's sound system caused problems, with Truman Capote
Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...
declaring "mike it". The producers could not afford to "mike" each member of the ensemble. The Grass Harp production was the last musical presented on Broadway without mikes for the cast.
The scenic designer had incorporated "burlap fabric" in the production's wing and border designs, causing the deadening of the performer's vocal projections. This poor choice of stage material in the set's design with the absence of microphones for each cast member, especially the children, was the one major technical problem for the producers.
Barbara Cook and the cast appeared on a CBS television Sunday morning talk-interview show, presenting several of the musical numbers with Richardson at the grand piano, during the musical's preview week and opening night performances.
The initial 1967 tryout of the musical was performed by Trinity Square Repertory Company at the Rhode Island School of Design
The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...
auditorium, in Providence, Rhode Island. Directed and staged by Adrian Hall, the cast included Barbara Baxley
Barbara Angie Rose Baxley (January 1, 1923 – June 7, 1990) was an American actress and singer.
Early life
Barbara Baxley was born on January 1, 1923, in Porterville, California, the daughter of Emma (née Tyler) and Bert Baxley and sister to H ...
as Dolly Heart Talbo, Carol Brice as the black maid Catherine Creek, Carol Bruce
Carol Bruce (born Shirley Levy; November 15, 1919 – October 9, 2007) was an American band singer, Broadway star, and film and television actress.
Early years
Bruce was born Shirley Levy in a Jewish family, in Manhattan, to Beatrice and Harr ...
as Verena Talbo, Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, best known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films ...
as the evangelist Baby Love. After the Providence tryout, Larry Fineberg optioned the property for Broadway, casting Mama Cass as the evangelist Miss Baby Love. However, Fineberg was unable to raise capital funds, and the producing rights were optioned by Richard Barr.
[Filichia, Peters]
"Remembering Claibe Richardson and 'The Grass Harp'"
theatermania.com, January 12, 2003
Film
In 1995, Stirling Silliphant
Stirling Dale Silliphant (January 16, 1918 – April 26, 1996) was an American screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his screenplay for '' In the Heat of the Night'', for which he won an Academy Award in 1967, and for creating ...
and Kirk Ellis adapted the novel for a feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
directed by Charles Matthau
Charles Marcus Matthau (born December 10, 1962) is an American actor, director, producer, and writer. He is the son of actor Walter Matthau and actress/author Carol Grace. Matthau gained recognition for his directorial work encapsulating humanit ...
. The cast included Matthau's father Walter, Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie (born Rosetta Jacobs; January 22, 1932) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the films ''The Hustler'' (1961), '' Carrie'' (1976), and '' Children of a Lesser God'' (1986), all of which brought her Academy Award no ...
, Sissy Spacek
Mary Elizabeth Spacek (; born December 25, 1949) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for four Briti ...
, Edward Furlong
Edward Walter Furlong (born August 2, 1977) is an American actor. He won Saturn and MTV Movie Awards for his breakthrough performance at age 13 as John Connor in James Cameron's '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day''; which was followed by a mini-se ...
, Nell Carter
Nell Carter (born Nell Ruth Hardy; September 13, 1948 – January 23, 2003) was an American singer and actress.
Carter began her career in 1970, singing in the theater, and later crossed over to television. She was best known for her role as Ne ...
, Jack Lemmon
John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leading ...
, Mary Steenburgen
Mary Nell Steenburgen (; born February 8, 1953) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter. After studying at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, she made her professional acting debut in 1978 Western comedy film '' Goi ...
, Sean Patrick Flanery
Sean Patrick Flanery (born October 11, 1965) is an American actor, author, and martial artist. He is known for playing Connor MacManus in ''The Boondock Saints'' (1999) and its sequel '' The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day'' (2009), Greg Sti ...
, Joe Don Baker
Joe Don Baker (born February 12, 1936) is an American character actor and a life member of the Actors Studio. He established himself as an action star with supporting roles as a mysterious cowboy drifter in ''Guns of the Magnificent Seven'' (196 ...
, Bonnie Bartlett and Charles Durning
Charles Edward Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays.Schudel, Matt (December 26, 2012) "''In real life and on the screen, he played countless role ...
.
References
Notes
;Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grass Harp, The
1951 American novels
Books by Truman Capote
Novels by Truman Capote
American novellas
Random House books
Novels about orphans
American novels adapted into plays
American novels adapted into films