Marc Blitzstein won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration.
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10 Facts About Marc Blitzstein
2.
Marc Blitzstein's works include the opera Regina, an adaptation of Lillian Hellman's play The Little Foxes; the Broadway musical Juno, based on Sean O'Casey's play Juno and the Paycock; and No for an Answer.
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3.
Marc Blitzstein went on to study piano with Alexander Siloti, and made his professional concerto debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Liszt's E-flat Piano Concerto when he was 21.
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4.
Marc Blitzstein was vociferous in denouncing composers—in particular Respighi, Ravel, and Kurt Weill—who, he felt, debased their standards to reach a wider public.
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5.
Marc Blitzstein attended the performance, after which he and Bernstein became close friends; Bernstein would later say that Marc Blitzstein's contribution to the American musical theatre was "incalculable".
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6.
In 1958, Marc Blitzstein was subpoenaed to appear before the US House Committee on Un-American Activities.
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7.
Marc Blitzstein was recalled for a further public session, but after a day sitting anxiously in a waiting room he was not called to testify.
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9.
Marc Blitzstein's mother-in-law was Berlin-born musical star and opera singer Lina Abarbanell.
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10.
Marc Blitzstein died of anorexia in 1936, and his grief prompted him to throw himself into the work of creating The Cradle Will Rock.
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