musicals ever staged in the U.S. It is
the production being presented at
Stratford.
Influenced by Brecht, Weill and oth-
ers, the Philadelphia-born Blitzstein
(1905-1964) turned from composing
opera to musical theater. The most
successful of his anti-capitalist musical
dramas was his 1937 political opera,
The Cradle Will Rock.
In 1938, Leonard Bernstein saw a
production of The Cradle Will Rock on
Broadway and decided to present it at
Harvard, the beginning ofia personal
and professional relationship that
would have far-reaching consequences
for American musical theater.
It has been said that without
Blitzstein and The Cradle Will Rock,
there would have been no Candide or
West Side Story, and that without
Bernstein's contributions, no Pacific
Overtures or Assassins from composer
Stephen Sondheim.
The line of descent from Weill to
Blitzstein to Bernstein to Sondheim,
all Jewish composers who have used
their music to make social statements,
is clearly evident.
The Threepenny Opera was first pro-
duced at Stratford in 1972; the 2002
staging is its second festival presentation.

In The Chorus

This is Sam Strasfeld's second season
at Stratford. The 21-year-old musical
stage actor is appearing in both My
Fair Lady and The Threepenny Opera as
part of the chorus.
Born in Toronto and raised in
Winnepeg, Strasfeld attended a Jewish
day school until the fifth grade, when
he switched to public school.
For four years, until he was 12,
Strasfeld trained as a classical dancer with
the Royal Winnepeg Ballet, after which
he stopped dancing to pursue sports.
But a high school production of the
George Gershwin musical Crazy For
You turned Strasfeld on to tap danc-
ing, and he has been tripping the light
fantastic ever since.
Strasfeld, who makes his home in
Toronto, is one of only a handful of
Jewish actors and staff among the
Stratford Festival family. The town of
Stratford does not have a synagogue,
he notes.
Despite the small number of Jews
within the acting company and in the
town itself, Strasfeld says he feels total-
ly accepted, and has not been the vic-
tim of any discrimination.
Two years ago, during the run of
Fiddler on the Roof in which Strasfeld
STRATFORD on page 78

•

•••';',Z •

funs y and seductive! "
dynamite new musical... The band all but burns
down the house-Michael

—Liz Smith, syndicated columnist

Summers, The Star Ledger

m

-

"

I

3 , )

Tickets at the Fox Theatre & Fisher Theatre box offices & all toctcermaster outlets • 248-433-1515
www.ticketmaster.com • Marshall Field's, Harmony House & Repeat the Beat

Groups (20 or more) 313-471-3099 • www.nederlanderdetroit.com • olympiaentertainment.com

Standard Federal
Wealth Management

www.SwingTour.com Original Cast album available on

5/3
2002

75