Marc Blitzstein
The late Marc Blitzstein, who collaborated with Orson Welles on the controversial stage production The Cradle Will Rock, was honored in his hometown of Philadelphia on June 12.
A marker was placed in front of the 419 Pine St. address where Blitzstein was born in 1905, (The actual house where he was born was demolished long ago and another stands in its place today.)
“An influential American composer, lyricist, and translator who brought vernacular to musical theater was born here,” states the marker, put up in recognition of Blitzstein’s impact on “music, social progress and politics,” said Nancy Moses, chairman of the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, to a crowd of about three dozen. “His work is quintessentially America.”
Although his career took him away from his hometown, Blitzstein has numerous ties to Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Curtis Institute of Music, played a Liszt concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and was married at Philadelphia’s City Hall. He was buried at Chelton Hills Cemetery in Philadelphia.
He gained fame with the pro-labor The Cradle Will Rock, which was shut down by the Works Progress Administration. Blitzstein is also known for his Off-Broadway translation/adaptation of The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. His works also include the opera Regina, an adaptation of Lillian Hellman’s play The Little Foxes; the Broadway musical Juno, based on Seán O’Casey’s play Juno and the Paycock; and No for an Answer.
Blitzstein also composed and conducted the music for Welles’ final U.S. stage production, King Lear at the New York City Center in 1956.
He was killed as a Martinque bar in 1964.
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