Dreaming America
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DREAMING AMERICA Popular Front Ideals and Aesthetics in Children’s Plays of the Federal Theatre Project LESLIE ElAINE FROST THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS | COLUMBUS Copyright © 2013 by The Ohio State University. All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Frost, Leslie Elaine. Dreaming America : popular front ideals and aesthetics in children’s plays of the Federal Theatre Project / Leslie Elaine Frost. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8142-1213-4 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-8142-1213-1 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8142-9314-0 (cd-rom) 1. Federal Theatre Project (U.S.) 2. American drama—20th century—History and criticism. 3. Children’s plays, American—History and criticism. I. Title. PS351.F76 2013 812'.5099282—dc23 2012032475 Cover design by Laurence J. Nozik Type set in Adobe Minion Pro and Poppl-Laudatio Printed by Thomson-Shore, Inc. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American Na- tional Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI Z39.48–1992. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CONTENTS List of Illustrations v Acknowledgments vii INTRODuctION Children’s Theatre of a People’s Theatre 1 CHAPTER 1 Federal Theatre Project Dreams: Raising an Educated Audience for a Permanent American National Theatre 23 CHAPTER 2 “We Should Have Called It Rumpelstiltskin”: A Labor Fairy Tale Gets Real in The Revolt of the Beavers 43 CHAPTER 3 “I Looked Him Right Square in the Eye”: Being African American in The Story of Little Black Sambo 71 CHAPTER 4 “Shadows of Your Thoughts Are Marching”: Anti-Fascism and Home-front Patriotism in Federal Theatre’s A Letter to Santa Claus and Hollywood’s The Little Princess 108 CHAPTER 5 Wishing on a Star: Pinocchio’s Journey from the Federal Stage to Disney’s World 128 CONCLusION Death of a Dream 140 Notes 149 Works Cited 177 Index 188 ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 1. Boy Sweeper, Lincoln Cotton Mills, Evansville, Ind. Carding Machines: Floor Slippery. (See report for conditions.) Location: Evansville, Indiana 29 FIGURE 2. A typical spinner. Mamie --------- Lancaster Cotton Mills, S.C. Location: Lancaster, South Carolina 33 FIGURE 3. Gastonia, N.C. Boy from Loray Mill. “Been at it right smart two years.” Location: Gastonia, North Carolina 39 FIGURE 4. The Revolt of the Beavers (New York City, New York): Paul, Mary, and Windy 44 FIGURE 5. The Revolt of the Beavers (New York City, New York): Paul, Professor Beaver, and Mary lean their heads together 51 FIGURE 6. The Revolt of the Beavers (New York City, New York): Professor Beaver tells a story 61 FIGURE 7. Little Black Sambo (Washington, DC) 72 FIGURE 8. Little Black Sambo (Chicago, Ilinois) 82 FIGURE 9. Little Black Sambo (Newark, New Jersey) 96 FIGURE 10. Pinocchio (New York City, New York): Gepetto leads Pinocchio from the mouth of the Whale 130 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book has been one long labor of love, and for the help I’ve received both personally and professionally I am deeply grateful. For my brief moment in the footlights that made my love of theatre personal, I am grateful for Saman- tha Cheek Swan’s intercession on my behalf. When she was cast as a chorus girl in a local production of Tom Stoppard’s Rough Crossing, and I said, “I’m writing my thesis on Tom Stoppard! I want to be a chorus girl too!” she got me an audition. My dancing and singing under the lights may not have lit up the local reviews, but it still makes me smile to remember. And it set the trajectory of my scholarship. I am indebted to many colleagues and friends for their advice and support. This project would never have come to be without Joy Kasson’s early encour- agement and advice. Bob Cantwell’s insights helped shape early versions of The Revolt of the Beavers chapter. Derek Goldman helped me to see issues of staging. Kimball King gave me scholarly opportunities to work with theatrical productions. Beverly Taylor provided key signatures and kind words. Barbara Thaden read an early chapter, and the late Freddie Jones not only encouraged me to persevere, but was a mentor who modeled how to be a gracious friend and colleague. Jim Ryan, Kelly Reames, Neil Watson, Katie Drowne, Mary Floyd-Wilson, Maude Hines, Brad Hammer, Jim Pearce, and Paul Hanson have all listened to me think through ideas and have given thoughtful, deeply meaningful support. Edee Dalke provided a writing haven. Thank you all. I would like to thank the National Endowment for the Humanities for funding study of African American theatre. I’d like to thank Richard Flynn vii viii · ACKNOWLEDGMENTS and the editors of the Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, where an earlier version of Chapter 4 appeared. I would like to thank the U.S. and Cyprus Fulbright Commissions for the opportunity to teach the Federal Theatre Project in Cyprus. My year as a Fulbright professor in Cyprus placed me in a dynamic schol- arly community where my work benefited from the rich intellectual life cen- tered at the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research. I would like to thank the members of the Brew Crew, especially Marios Epaminondas, Yiannis Papadakis, Kyriakos Pachoulides, and Lisa Davis for their friendship and support. For our conversations about theatre and for introducing me to the writing collective of Rooftop Theatre, I would like to thank Ellada Evan- gelou. Thanks to Evi Haggipavlu for reading chapters while cooking fabulous meals in a home by the sea. To two friends, I owe a particular and immeasurable debt of gratitude. Karen Emmerich read the entire manuscript and offered invaluable feedback sprinkled with generous encouragement. And Katie Rose Guest Pryal, who encouraged me over and over to do the structural revisions that brought the project into its current form, pushed neither too little nor too much, but just right. Thank you. My parents raised three self-confident kids to adulthood. Thanks to my mother, Elaine Frost, whose strength of character and belief in us helped us to be who we are today and without whom this first book would not be. Thanks to my father, a Marine fighter pilot who taught me to have faith in the courage of my convictions. Thanks to my brothers Rob and Bert for being the bright, interesting, funny men who you are and for so often showing me how to do it right; thanks to my sisters-in-law Ladona and Dana for being amazing, won- derful women. And thanks to Alan and M. A., whose adventurous academic life inspired me. In working with a project for a long time, one can forget the initial enthu- siasm with which one begins. My students at the University of Cyprus, with their profoundly moving engagement with the Federal Theatre Project, reminded me of why I began this project. Thanks to Theodora, Rafaela, Des- pina, Savvas, Jasmin, Andria, Styliana, Eleni, Xanthi, Monika, and Aurelija for their amazing performances. Thanks to Andrew Power for tech support. And thank you to my English 105 fall 2012 students at UNC, whose regular expressions of support and interest in their teacher’s work connected teaching and research meaningfully. In working with various collections over time, I have the highest regard for the staff of George Mason University’s Special Collections and Archives. I would particularly like to thank Leah Richardson and Yvonne Carignan. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS · ix UNC’s Department of English and Comparative Literature generously funded a research trip to the Library of Congress and George Mason Uni- versity’s archival collections. The University Research Council generously funded publication work. Thank you. I would also like to thank Eric Meckley for his attentive editing assistance and Paula Durbin-Westby for her indexing expertise. The team of editors at The Ohio State University Press has been superla- tive. I’m very grateful to Sandy Crooms for her amazing stewardship of this project. Eugene O’Connor’s expertise is also greatly appreciated. I thank Kris- ten Ebert-Wagner for her careful editing and her helpful correspondence. One person has been present for every step of this long journey from project to book. I have been lucky as a scholar to have grown up under her mentorship. For her generosity and commitment to me and to this project I will be forever in awe and ever grateful. For this reason, this book is very affectionately dedicated to Linda Wagner-Martin. INTRODUCTION CHILDREn’s THEATRE OF A PEOple’s THEATRE The 1999 film Cradle Will Rock celebrates the triumph of the eponymous 1937 Federal Theatre Project production over government censorship. But director Tim Robbins offers no illusion that the triumph is larger than one night’s heroism in an unused theatre. Crosscuts juxtapose shots of Rock- efeller’s workmen swinging axes to destroy Diego Rivera’s mural Man at the Crossroads with shots of actors on WPA relief standing up in the audience to defiantly sing Marc Blitzstein’s labor opera. Both play and mural were grounded in artistic support of newly emerging labor solidarity and strength. Blitzstein’s opera, under the direction of Orson Welles, allegorizes labor rela- tions as it chronicles the efforts of Larry Foreman to unionize the corrupt steel mill of the powerful Mr. Mister. Similarly, Rivera’s mural depicts labor facing a crossroads of socialism and capitalism. The contrapuntal rhythm of soaring voices and swinging axe scores a scathing indictment of capitalist power’s ruthless suppression of both the American working class and leftist artistic expression. The allegorical opposition of the people to power underscores the Popu- lar Front political ideals and working-class affiliation of both play and film.