Disguise, Containment and the Porgy and Bess Revival of 1952–1956

Journal of American Studies

Volumn 35, Issue 2, 2001, Pages 275-312

  Monod, David ^a  

^a WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 85012473961     PISSN: 00218758     EISSN: 14695154     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0021875801006624     Document Type: Article

References (53)

1. B. Witham, “Appropriately Wistful : Blacklisting and the American Theatre,” Exchange (winter, 1978), 11-17; Leonard Bernstein to Irving Fine, 19 Sept. 1952, cited in H. Burton, Leonard Bernstein (New York: 1994), 229, J. Elsom makes the same point in Cold War Theatre (London: 1992), Ch.2.
2. Thomas Pynchon, “ Is it OK to be a Luddite?” New York Times Review of Books (28 Oct. 1984), 40; N. Podhoretz, Doings and Undoings : the Fifties and After in American Writing (New York: 1964), 23.
3. A. Ross, No Respect (New York: 1989), 43 and 62.
4. F. K. Pohl, Ben Shahn: New Deal Artist in a Cold War Climate, 1947-1954 (Austin: 1989). Shahn's work, which was initially refused funding, was ultimately also exhibited abroad in 1954 using State Department Funds.
5. F. Jameson, “Metacommentary,” PMLA 86:1 (Jan. 1971), 31-42; see also Jameson's The Political Unconscious : Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act (Ithaca : 1981).
6. For High Noon: J. Lenihan, Showdown: Confronting Modern America in the Western Film (Chicago: 1980), 117-22 and Whitfield, Culture of the Cold War, 146-49; J. Peterson offers a similar argument in her reassessment of one of the most controversial films of the period: “The Competing Tunes of Johnny Guitar: Liberalism, Sexuality, Masquerade,” Cinema Journal 35:3 (spring, 1996) 3-18.
7. A powerful statement of this theme can be found in George Lipsitz “The possessive Investment in Whiteness: Racialized Social Democracy and the ‘ white’ problem in American studies,” American Quarterly (Sept. 1995), 369-87, for a similar critique of fifties art, J. Panish, The Color of Jazz: Race and Representation in Postwar American Culture (Jackson: 1997).
8. H. Flanagan, Arena: The History of the Federal Theater (New York: 1940), 135; Lawrence and Lee Theater Research Institute, Ohio State University (OSU), Robert Breen Collection (BC), f44a, Vienna and Berlin Programs, Biography of Robert Breen for Vienna and Berlin Programs.
9. R. Potterfield and R. Breen, “Towards a National Theater,” Theater Arts (Oct. 1945), 602.
10. Hallie Ferguson cited in M. Goldstein, The Political Stage : American Drama and Theater in the Great Depression (New York: 1974), 251.
11. For Breen's assumptions regarding German taste : OSU, BC, f106, Negotiations: Germany, 1952, draft of letter, Breen to M. Stuart French, 11 Sept. 1951; on the negotiations for rights : H. Alpert, The Life and Times of Porgy and Bess (New York: 1990) 146-50; State Department opinions are communicated in OSU, BC, f44a, Vienna and Berlin, R. Schnitzer to M. French 30 June 1952.
12. Breen assured the estate that because Porgy would be going under “ the direct management of ANTA” which was using “ special funds” from the State Department, there would be little financial risk. OSU, BC, f261, Bookings: Heller, R. Breen to A. Heller 23 Oct. 1951; f104, European Tour: Heller, R. Breen to H. Pollack, 4 June 1951; f44a, Berlin Festival, Final Agreement between Porgy and Bess Company and Department of State, 21 Aug. 1952.
13. On the Department's support for the production, Taylor, “Ambassadors of the Arts,” 100. To Taylor's figures should be added the 1952 subsidy. An example of an additional contribution is Ambassador Strong's personal underwriting of the engagement in Oslo; EL, White House Office, National Security Council Staff: Operations Coordination Board Central File (OCB), Box 16, 007.3 (8) R. Breen to E. Allan Lightner, 31 May 1956. For evidence of continuing governmental enthusiasm for the show: idem, Box 15, 007.2 (6), Staff Study, “Proposed tour of Porgy and Bess in the Soviet Union and the European satellite countries,” 20 Sept. 1955.
14. John Gassner called these dramatists “ theatricalists,” Directions in Modern Theater and Drama (New York: 1966), 138; see also, T. P. Adler, “Tennessee William's ‘Personal Lyricism': Towards an Androgynous Form,” in W. W. Demastes, ed., Realism and the American Dramatic Tradition (Tuscaloosa, 1996), 172-86 and B. Murphy, “Arthur Miller : Revising Realism,” in the same volume, 189-202.
15. D. Trilling, “An interview with Virgil Thomson,” in V. Thomson, ed., A Virgil Thomson Reader (New York: 1981) “, 553; for cast comments as well as the idea of “neorealism.
16. OSU, BC, f27, Public Relations : Italy, Copy: “Interview with Robert Breen,” La Fiera Letteraria (translation), 8 May 1955; W. Warfield with A. Miller, My Music & My Life (Champaign: 1991), 131.
17. By contrast, directors like Quintero encouraged actors to improvise their stage action and insisted “ I have never blocked a play in the usual sense,” J. Quintero, If You Don't Dance They Beat You (Boston: 1974), 226.
18. EL, OCB, Box 15, 007.3 (6), U. Kovalyev, “Porgy and Bess,” Smena, 29 Dec. 1955 (translation) E. Ziegler, “The Black Manon,” Nowa Kultura, 5 Feb. 1956; Morschikhin, “American Opera in Leningrad,” Leningrad Pravda, 5 Jan. 1956 (translation) OSU, BC, f109, Reviews: US Tour, 1954, T. Donnelly, “Porgy and Bess,” Washington Daily News, 22 Dec. 1953.
19. In his notes to actors, he continually emphasized “ vigor,” “ spirit,” “punch.” “Your entrances,” he told one performer, “need more pile-driving - [a] juggernaut impetus.” Not surprisingly, Breen was prone to rate appearance over ability. Al Hoosman, who he hired to understudy Crown, was a tone deaf retired boxer with little acting experience. He had, however, startling size and physical energy. Remarkably, Breen even conceived Hamlet to be a menacing, virile figure; no “ dull as dishwater” indecision for him, only “ real dynamics.” In addition to himself, he thought John Garfield and Marlon Brando the two actors best suited to realizing his vision. “ I may be immodest,” he wrote, “but no one can turn out a more exciting production of Hamlet than yours truly. ” OSU, BC, f5: Russian Tour, R. Breen to H. and S. Jaffe, 16 Nov. 1955; the quote regarding applause is from OSU, BC, interview with Wilva Breen, 22 Oct. 1988.
20. EL, OCB, Box 15, 007-3 (6), E. Ziegler, “The Black Manon,” Nowa Kultura, 5 Feb. 1956 (translation). OSU, BC, f109, Review Book, 1954. Philadelphia Enquirer, 2 Dec. 1952; f109 (2), Review Book 1955. Carriere Lombardi (translation), 23 Feb. 1955; Il Mattino, 16 Feb. 1955; f109, Review Book 1954. The Denver Post, 2 June 1954; Chicago Sun Times, 3 Mar. 1954; Chicago American, 3 Mar. 1954; The Los Angeles Times, 14 July 1954; The Minneapolis Star, 25 Mar. 1954.
21. For words as pigment quote see M. Orvell, The Real Thing: Imitation and Authenticity in American Culture (Chapel Hill : 1989), 243; “ fugitive” words are described in Schaub, American Fiction in the Cold War, 80.
22. L. Trilling, The Liberal Imagination (Harmondsworth: 1970), 17-34 and 221-23; T. Siebens, Cold War Criticism and the Politics of Scepticism (New York: 1983), Ch. 2.
23. OSU, BC, f116, Public Relations : Press Releases, “Porgy and Bess: The passionate Tale of a Girl and Three Men.”
24. These and subsequent citations from the score are from Breen's libretto with stage directions, in OSU, BC, f106, Production Book, Apr. 1956.
25. OSU, BC, f109, Russia/ Europe: Review Book, 1955-56, Muenchener Merkur, 3-4 Dec. 1955. Ironically, while no American reviewer commented on the play's and anti- McCarthyite overtones, the Russians were more disturbed and dismissed the scenes as “melodrama” resting on “an abundance of the customary details regarding criminal investigation. EL, OCB, Box 15, 007.3 (6) V. Bogdanoff-Berezowski, “Porgy and Bess” Evening Leningrad (translation), 29 Dec. 1955.
26. OSU, BC, f27, Public Relations : Russia (8), Article by Robert Breen for Neva, 4 Jan. 1956; Breen called it a “ morality play ” in OSC, BC, f22, Censorship, R. Breen to D. X. Marks, 17 July 1954, emphasis in original.
27. OSU, BC, USIA videotape of Vienna and Soviet-made videotape of Moscow performances. One wonders if the rocking child - which may have been borrowed from the rocking idiot at the close of Boris Godunov - might not have been included as a familiar symbol for the Russian audience. Certainly Breen knew Boris and told an interviewer that it was his dream to direct it ! See OSU, BC, f27, Public Relations : Italy, “Revolution in Lyric Theatre - An Interview with Robert Breen,” La Fiera Letteraria (translation), 8 May 1955. In any case, in moving grief from the women to the child, Breen had shifted the focus from experience to innocence. The positive tone of the ending is noted in EL, OCB, Box 15, 007.3 (6), U. Kovalyev, “Porgy and Bess,” Smema, 29 Dec. 1955.
28. On Gershwin's empathies and research : OSU, BC, f27: Public Relations, Russia (8), Article by Robert Breen for Neva, 4 Jan. 1956; f27, Public Relations, Italy, “Revolution in the Theatre: An Interview with Robert Breen,” La Fiera Letteraria (translation), 8 May 1955.
29. OSU, BC, Interview with Wilva Breen, 22 Oct. 1988: f5 Pt.1: Robert Breen, 1952 (2), Wilva Breen to Bill Doll, 14 Feb. 1953.
30. EL, OCB, Box 15, 007.2 (6), Staff Study: “Proposed Tour of Porgy and Bess in the Soviet Union and the European satellite countries,” 20 Sept. 1955.
31. On Gershwin's ambition: Alpert, Porgy and Bess, 89. For critical reaction : A. Woll, Black Musical Theatre : From Coontown to Dreamgirls (Baton Rouge: 1989), Ch. 10; For Gershwin's “ retreat ” : New York Times, 20 Oct. 1935.
32. P. Gay, The Education of the Senses (New York: 1984), 391; OSU, BC, f44a, Vienna and Berlin, “For October 26 Broadcast over Red-White-Red Network” f27, Public Relations : Russia (8), Article by Robert Breen for Neva, 4 Jan. 1956.
33. Chicago Defender, 28 June 1952 and 27 Feb. 1954; Washington Afro-American, 9 Aug. 1952; Chicago Defender, 7 June 1952; Pittsburgh Courier, 27 Feb. 1954.
34. OSU, BC, f5 Pt.1: “Europe 1954-55, A. Heller to R. Breen, 1 May 1953; Breen quoted in A. Woods, “ ‘Those Hot Hands': Porgy and Bess: Los Angeles 1954: Containing Disruptive Black Sexuality on Stage,” paper read to the American Society for Theater Research Conference, 1992.
35. OSU, BC, Box 22}2, clipping file : LA controversy, Valley Times, 15 July 1954; The Mirror, 14 July 1954; Los Angeles Herald and Express, 14 July 1954.
36. OSU, BC, Interview with Alice Webb amd Marilyn Putnam, 14 Dec. 1987; Interview with Martha Flowers, 17 June 1988.
37. OSU, BC, N}A: Feb.-Apr. 1955, Reviews, La Lanterne, 18-19 June 1955; f109: US Cities 1954, Review Book, The Denver Post, 2 June 1954; Los Angeles Times, 14 July 1954; Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph, 26 Jan. 1954.
38. Chicago Defender, 28 June 1952 and 6 March 1954; The Afro-American (Baltimore), 11 Apr. 1953; Richmond Afro-American, 17 May 1952.
39. EL, OCB, Box 15, 007.2 (6), Department of State Staff Study: “Proposed Tour of Porgy and Bess in the Soviet Union,” 20 Sept. 1955.
40. OSU, BC, f109 (2), Review Book 3, Schwaebische Post, 8 Mar. 1956.
41. M. Torgovnick, Gone Primitive : Savage Intellects, Modern Lives (Chicago: 1990). The repressed sexual fantasies of whites could, when challenged, result in horrific ritual violence as T. Harris demonstrates in Exorcising Blackness : Historical and Literary Lynching and Burning Rituals (Bloomington: 1984), Ch.1
42. Reaction to “Jungle rhythm” comment is recorded in OSU, BC, Interview with Ella Gerber, 12 Nov. 1987; OSU, BC, f26: Blevins Davis Correspondence 1953-55, R. Breen to B. Davis, 23 June 1953; f44a: card game is referred to by Lilian Hayman in Alpert, Porgy and Bess, 167; for comparisons to other operas see, Vienna and Berlin, “For October 26 broadcast of tape recording of Porgy and Bess over Red-White-Red Network.”
43. Interview with Ella Gerber, 12 Nov. 1987. An equally tasteless plan was to have the journalist Art Buchwald accompany the show on its tour of Yugoslavia and write his Herald Tribune reports “ in jive ” f5 Pt.1: Europe 1954-55, R. Tobias to R. Breen, 19 Nov. 1954.
44. OSU, BC, f27: Public Relations, Russia (8), Article by Robert Breen for Neva, 4 Jan. 1956; f109 (2), Review Book 3, Swaebische Post, 8 Mar. 1956; Afro-American, cited in Taylor, “Ambassadors of the Arts,” 94. Maya Angelou, Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas (New York: 1976), 250, suggests that the actors did “ live ” their roles, experiencing the injustice and oppression on stage as a condensation of the brutality and discrimination they confronted on the street.
45. f109: Russia/ Europe Review Book, 1955-56, Berliner Telegraf, 11 Dec. 1955; f109 (2) : Italy Review Book, Milano (translation), 23 Feb. 1955; Musical America, 15 Apr. 1953; N}A: Munich, Muenchener Abendzeitung, 2 Dec. 1955; f109: USA Tour, 1953, Reviews, Philadelphia Enquirer, 3 Dec. 1953.
46. Washington Afro-American, 11 Apr. 1953; Pittsburgh Courier, 26 July 1952; Afro- American (Baltimore), 9 Aug. 1952.
47. Washington Afro-American, 12 Dec. 1953.
48. EL, OCB, Box 15, 007.3 (6), U. Kovalyev, “Porgy and Bess,” Smema, 29 Dec. 1955.
49. OSU, BC, f134, ANTA-State Correspondence, May 1955, M. French to W. Breen, n. d., rec'd 25 Oct. 1955.
50. OSU, BC, f27; Public Relations, Italy, “Revolution in the Lyric Theatre - Interview with Robert Breen,” La Fiera Letteraria (translation), 8 May 1955. Warfield, My Music My Life, 142-45.
51. Angelou, Singin’ and Swingin’, 251 and 127.
52. For perception of risks, EL, OCB, 007.1 (4), Box 15, “ discussion of Soviet Invitation to the Porgy and Bess Troupe,” 31 Mar. 1955. Post reports : EL, White House Office, Administrative Series, Box 37, USIA (2), Riddleberger to Secretary of State, 17 Dec. 1954. EL, OCB, 007.2 (6), Box 15, Department of State Staff Study: “Proposed Tour of Porgy and Bess in the Soviet Union,” 20 Sept. 1955, appendix: from despatch to Department of State from USIS Barcelona, Feb. 1955. EL, White House Central Files, General File, 137-a-2(2), On cast deportment: R. Breen to Rabb, 6 June 1956. EL, OCB, 007.2 (6), Box 15, Department of State Staff Study: “Proposed Tour of Porgy and Bess in the Soviet Union,” 20 Sept. 1955. According to Blevins Davis, Porgy “has been a direct answer to the communists and destroys their charge that the Negroes [are] enslaved. ” OSU, BC, f5 Pt.1: Porgy and Bess, 1952-53, B. Davis to W. Breen, 6 Feb. 1953.
53. A. Fleche, Mimetic Disillusion : Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams and Dramatic Realism (Tuscaloosa: 1997), 43.