''The Cradle Will Rock'' is a 1937 play in music by Marc Blitzstein. Originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project, it was directed by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

and produced by John Houseman. A Brechtian allegory of corruption and corporate greed, it includes a panoply of social figures. Set in "Steeltown, USA", it follows the efforts of Larry Foreman to

unionize A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...

the town's workers and combat wicked, greedy businessman Mr. Mister, who controls the town's factory, press, church, and social organization. The piece is almost entirely

sung-through A sung-through (also through-sung) musical, musical film, opera, or other work of performance art is one in which songs entirely or almost entirely replace any spoken dialogue. Conversations, speeches, and musings are communicated musically, for e ...

, giving it many

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

tic qualities, although Blitzstein included popular song styles of the time. The

WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance An ...

temporarily shut down the project a few days before it was to open on Broadway. To avoid government and union restrictions, the show was performed on June 16, 1937 with Blitzstein playing piano onstage and the cast members singing their parts from the audience."Steel Strike Opera Is Put Off By WPA". ''The New York Times''. June 17, 1937, p. 1 The original cast consisted of John Adair, Guido Alexander, Marc Blitzstein, Peggy Coudray, Howard Da Silva, George Fairchild, Robert Fransworth, Edward Fuller, Will Geer, Maynard Holmes, Frank Marvel, Charles Niemeyer, Le Roi Operti, Jules Schmidt, George Smithfield, Olive Stanton, and Bert Weston. ''The Cradle Will Rock'' was reprised January–April 1938 as part of the first season of the

Mercury Theatre The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury als ...

, an independent repertory company founded by Welles and Houseman. An abridged version of the production was recorded and released in 1938, the first original cast recording ever made.

Synopsis

The story is set in Steeltown, U.S.A. It covers the struggle to organize the workers of Steeltown against the leading capitalist of the town, Mr. Mister. ''Act I'' Moll, a young prostitute, is thrown in jail when she refuses to accept money from a corrupt policeman. She is soon joined by the leaders of the Liberty Committee, an anti-union group mistakenly charged with pro-union activities. While the committee members call out for their patron, industrialist Mr. Mister, to free them, a vagrant named Harry Druggist befriends Moll and explains that he lost his business because of Mr. Mister. Harry then reveals how Mr. Mister came to dominate Steeltown: Years earlier, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Mr. Mister's wife pays the town priest, Reverend Salvation, to preach sermons supporting her husband's interests. Editor Daily, the head of the local newspaper, begins running articles attacking the steelworker's union and its leader, Larry Foreman, while also hiring the inept Junior Mister as a foreign correspondent. Gus Polack, a newly elected member of the union, is killed in a car bombing that also kills his wife and Harry's son Stevie. Harry is pressured to keep quiet and subsequently loses his business permit, falling into absolute despair. ''Act II'' Eventually, all of Steeltown's prominent citizens join the Liberty Committee, including Salvation, Daily, the painter Dauber, and the violinist Yasha. With their support, Mr. Mister's rule over the town is seemingly unshakeable. Later that night, Larry is arrested and beaten for distributing leaflets. He urges the others to join him and rise against Mr. Mister, saying that, in time, "the cradle will rock". A flashback shows Mr. Mister persuading President Prexy of Steeltown University to threaten students with expulsion if they do not join the army. Dr. Specialist, the chairman of the Liberty Committee, is told to cover up the death of a steelworker by writing it off as a drunken accident. He does so even when the worker's sister, Ella Hammer, confronts him knowing the truth. Later that evening, Mr. Mister arrives and bails out the committee members. He offers to pay off Foreman, but he refuses. As the committee jeers him, he defiantly declares that Mr. Mister's power over Steeltown will soon come to an end as the curtain falls.

List of musical numbers

Source: Guide To Musical Theatre and Internet Broadway Database Listing *"Moll's Song (I'm Checkin' Home Now)"Moll *"Moll and Gent"Moll, Gent *"Moll and Dick"Moll, Dick *"Moll and Druggist"Moll, Harry Druggist *"Oh, What a Filthy Night Court!"Editor Daily, President Prexy, Yasha, Dauber, Doctor Specialist, Reverend Salvation *"Mrs. Mister and Reverend Salvation"Mrs. Mister, Reverend Salvation *"Croon Spoon"Junior Mister, Sister Mister *"The Freedom of the Press"Editor Daily, Mr. Mister *"Let's Do Something"Junior Mister, Sister Mister *"Honolulu"Editor Daily, Junior Mister, Mr. Mister, Sister Mister *"Drugstore Scene"Druggist, Steve, Bugs *"Gus and Sadie Love Song"Gus Polock and Sadie Polock *"The Rich"Yasha, Dauber *"Ask Us Again"Yasha, Dauber, Mrs. Mister *"Art for Art's Sake"Yasha, Dauber *"Nickel Under the Foot"Moll *"Leaflets"Larry Foreman *"The Cradle Will Rock"Larry Foreman *"Faculty Room Scene"Mr. Mister, President Prexy, Professor Mamie, Professor Trixie, Professor Scoot *"Doctor and Ella"Ella Hammer *"Joe Worker"Ella Hammer *"Finale/The Cradle Will Rock (reprise)"Larry Foreman, Ensemble

Principal singing roles

*Mollmezzo-soprano *Ella Hammermezzo-soprano *Editor Dailytenor *Larry Foremanbaritone *Mr. Misterbass *Mrs. Mistermezzo-soprano *Rev. Salvation- bass/baritone

Original production

Federal Theatre Project

A production of the Federal Theatre Project, ''The Cradle Will Rock'' was to begin previews on Broadway June 16, 1937, at

Maxine Elliott's Theatre Maxine Elliott's Theatre was originally a Broadway theatre at 109 West 39th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built in 1908, it was designed by architect Benjamin Marshall of the Chicago-based firm Marshall and Fox, ...

with elaborate sets and a full orchestra.Leiter, Robert. "A New Look At The 'Cradle' That Rocked Broadway", ''The New York Times'', May 1, 1983, Section 2, p. 6 The production was shut down four days before its opening by the WPA, which stated that due to budget cuts, the WPA was reorganizing its arts projects, and all openings of WPA plays, musicals, concerts, and art galleries were to be delayed until after July 1; however, many asserted that the musical had been censored because the pro-union plot was "too radical".Green, Stanley and Green, Ka
"'The Cradle Will Rock' listing"
''Broadway Musicals, Show by Show'' (Ed.5), Hal Leonard Corporation, 1996, , p. 101 The theatre was padlocked and surrounded by security to prevent anyone from stealing props or costumes, which were U. S. Government property. 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. 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. 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 The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...

stated that its members could not perform onstage at the new theatre without approval of the original producer (the federal government). The show's creators thus planned for Blitzstein to perform the entire musical at the piano. Just after beginning the first number, Blitzstein was joined by

Olive Stanton The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' 'M ...

, the actress playing Moll, from the audience. During the rest of the performance, various actors joined in with Blitzstein and performed the entire musical from the house. According to ''The New York Timess 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." Houseman determined that there were no legal restrictions on performing the musical with a new financial backer, and beginning on June 18,

Helen Deutsch Helen Deutsch (21 March 1906 – 15 March 1992) was an American screenwriter, journalist, and songwriter. Biography Deutsch was born in New York City and graduated from Barnard College. She began her career by managing the Provincetown Player ...

, 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. Two days later, Houseman announced that, should the production prove successful, the two-week run would be continued indefinitely. 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". The success of the performance led Welles and Houseman to form the

Mercury Theatre

''The Cradle Will Rock'' was presented by the

as part of its inaugural season. On December 5, 1937, it opened in a reduced oratorio version on Sunday evenings at the

, using the set for ''

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

'' and two rows of chairs. The cast included Will Geer, Howard Da Silva,

Hiram Sherman Hiram Sherman (February 11, 1908 – April 11, 1989) was an American actor. Biography Hiram Sherman was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His father, Clifford Leon Sherman, worked in the art department of ''The Boston Globe''. He made his Bro ...

, a chorus of 12, and Marc Blitzstein at the piano. 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. File:Cradle-Mercury-1.jpg, Marc Blitzstein, Howard Da Silva and Olive Stanton in the

presentation of ''The Cradle Will Rock'' File:Cradle-Mercury-2.jpg, Entire cast of the Mercury Theatre presentation of ''The Cradle Will Rock'', with all the scenic effects used File:Mercury-Theatre-Poster-1938.jpg, Mercury Theatre poster (1938)

Later productions

Broadway and Off-Broadway

The musical was revived 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 Stree ...

on December 26, 1947, at the Mansfield (now Brooks Atkinson) Theater, then moving to The Broadway Theatre) with a cast that included

Alfred Drake Alfred Drake (October 7, 1914 – July 25, 1992) was an American actor and singer. Biography Born as Alfred Capurro in New York City, the son of parents emigrated from Recco, Genoa, Drake began his Broadway career while still a student at Broo ...

(Larry Foreman),

Vivian Vance Vivian Vance (born Vivian Roberta Jones; July 26, 1909 – August 17, 1979) was an American actress and singer best known for playing Ethel Mertz on the sitcom '' I Love Lucy'' (1951–1957), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Out ...

(Mrs. Mister),

Jack Albertson Harold Albertson (June 16, 1907 – November 25, 1981), known professionally as Jack Albertson, was an American actor, comedian, dancer and singer who also performed in variety. Albertson was a Tony, Oscar, and Emmy winning actor. For his perfo ...

(Yasha), and original cast member Will Geer (Mr. Mister). The production was directed by Howard Da Silva and played 34 performances. The show was revived Off-Broadway in 1964 in a production starring

Jerry Orbach Jerome Bernard Orbach (October 20, 1935 – December 28, 2004) was an American actor and singer, described at the time of his death as "one of the last'' bona fide'' leading men of the Broadway musical and global celebrity on television" and a " ...

(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.

The Acting Company The Acting Company is a professional theater company that tours the United States annually, staging and performing one or two plays in as many as fifty cities, often with runs of only one or two nights. Drama critic Mel Gussow has called it "the ma ...

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 Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theater. She has won three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of F ...

. 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." The production was recorded for television and aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

in 1986.

Other productions

Blitzstein's rarely heard orchestrations were used in a February 21, 1960, broadcast by the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

featuring

Tammy Grimes Tammy Lee Grimes (January 30, 1934 – October 30, 2016) was an American film and stage actress. Grimes won two Tony Awards in her career, the first for originating the role of Molly Tobin in the musical '' The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' and the ...

and David Atkinson. The show was revived in 1985 at

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

(near Waterloo Station) featuring alumni members of

. In this production Patti LuPone reprised her role as Moll and was honored with an

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

for Best Actress in a Musical. Splinter Group Theatre's Chicago production in 1994 was named one of the Ten Best plays of the year by the Chicago Tribune. 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. The Oberlin Summer Theater Festival staged a summer stock production in 2012. Directed by Joey Rizzolo, one of the New York

Neo-Futurists The Neo-Futurists are an experimental theater troupe founded by Greg Allen in 1988, based on an aesthetics of honesty, speed and brevity. Neo-Futurists in theatre were inspired by the Italian Futurist movement from the early 20th century. Origin ...

(who are known for their Brechtian approach to theater), the production opened to critical acclaim.

Response

Cultural references

''The Cradle Will Rock''

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.

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor, director and producer. Everett first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupi ...

was cast to portray the 21-year-old Welles in the black-and-white feature film. Although the budget was reduced to $3 million, Welles was unable to secure funding and the project was not realized. "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." The unproduced screenplay was published in 1994.

''Cradle Will Rock''

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 ''Cradle Will Rock'' is a 1999 American historical drama film written, produced and directed by Tim Robbins. The story fictionalizes the true events that surrounded the development of the 1937 musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'' by Marc Blitzstein; ...

'' (without "The") blended the true history of Blitzstein's show with the creation (and subsequent destruction) of the original

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

mural ''

Man at the Crossroads ''Man at the Crossroads'' (1934) was a fresco by Diego Rivera in New York City's Rockefeller Center. It was originally slated to be installed in the lobby of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the main building of the center. ''Man at the Crossroads'' showe ...

'' in the lobby of

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...

(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

, 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 John Michael Turturro (; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his contributions to the independent film movement. He has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, ...

). Although Will Geer played Mr. Mister in the 1937 production, for the movie he was recast in the smaller role of the Druggist and a fictional actor named "Frank Marvel" ( Barnard Hughes) portrayed Mr. Mister. The film's climax recreates scenes from the original, legendary performance of the show, performed by veteran Broadway performers

Victoria Clark Victoria Clark (born October 10, 1959) is an American actress, musical theatre singer and director. Clark has performed in numerous Broadway musicals and in other theatre, film and television works. Her soprano voice can also be heard on innu ...

, Gregg Edelman, Audra McDonald,

Daniel Jenkins Daniel H. Jenkins (born January 17, 1963) is an American actor, best known for his stage work on Broadway, including his 1985 role as Huckleberry Finn in Roger Miller's '' Big River'', for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Personal life ...

, 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.

Recordings

A slightly abridged version of Welles's 1937 Mercury Theatre production with narration by Blitzstein was recorded in April 1938 and released on the Musicraft label (number 18). It was the first original cast recording ever made and a digital version is now available through the Internet Archive. In December 1964 the recording was re-released in a limited-edition LP on the American Legacy Records label (T1001). Welles, Orson, and

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on ...

, edited by Jonathan Rosenbaum, ''

This is Orson Welles ''This is Orson Welles'' is a 1992 book by Orson Welles (1915–1985) and Peter Bogdanovich that comprises conversations between the two filmmakers recorded over several years, beginning in 1969.Welles, Orson, and Peter Bogdanovich, edited by Jon ...

''. New York:

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

Publishers 1992 Lehrman, Leonard, ''Marc Blitzstein: A Bio-bibliography''. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2005.

Discography

''key to casts: Moll/Ella Hammer/Editor Daily/Larry Foreman/Mr. Mister'' *1938label: Musicraftconductor: Blitzsteincast: Stanton/Collins/Weston/da Silva/MacBane *1964label: MGMconductor: Kingsleycast: Peters-L/Grant/Dittmann/Orbach/Clarke *1985label: TERconductor: Barrettcast: LuPone/Woods-MD/Matthews-A/Mell/Schramm *1994label: Lockett-Palmerconductor: Batescast: Dawn?/Green-MP?/Lund?/Baratta?/van Norden? *1999label: RCA Victorconductor: Campbellcast: Harvey/McDonald/unknown/unknown/unknown (soundtrack of Robbins movie; music is abridged)

References

*Bordman, Gerald (2001). ''American Musical Theater: A Chronicle''. 3rd ed. New York:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. *Robbins, Tim (1999). ''Cradle Will Rock: The Movie and the Moment''. Newmarket Press.

External links

''The Cradle Will Rock'' information on marc-blitzstein.org
Includes scoring, cast, publication info, synopsis, press clippings and commentary.

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cradle Will Rock, The 1937 musicals Broadway musicals Original musicals Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Operas by Marc Blitzstein United States National Recording Registry recordings Federal Theatre Project