As the U.S. enters World War II, Weill unreservedly joins the fight against Nazi Germany and continues to compose for Broadway and Hollywood. Between the end of the war and his untimely death, he is the driving force behind a series of innovative Broadway shows that re-envision the social role and artistic standing of the musical, and influence generations to come.
Read Text-Only Chronology1941
January
9 March
The interview was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice; Weill was one of several immigrants invited to participate in the series.
28 May
The house is very close to Maxwell Anderson’s residence. Weill and Lenya live there for the rest of their lives.
Weill and Lenya in front of their new home
Photo of Brook House from the back, taken in the late 1970s
Weill's study at Brook House
5 October
1942
January
Weill’s interest in Whitman as a quintessential American poet goes back to the 1920s.
14 February
Weill is not called to serve, but he finds other ways to support the war on Nazism.
20 April
Weill did not object to an all-Black cast (he had considered arranging such a performance as early as in 1939), but to the artists’ insistence on disregarding his score in favor of jazz improvisation based on his melodies.
22 June
Brooklyn, Todd Shipyards. A touring half-hour program of comedy, song, and dance that visited defense plants to entertain the workers. Some of Weill’s songs were used, but he worked intensively on the production side as well, traveling with the show to ensure it was set up correctly.
Organizers of "Lunchtime Follies," from left: Weill, Aline MacMahon, Harold Rome, Kermit Bloomgarden, Moss Hart, Sam Jaffe, James Proctor
Excerpt from demo recording of Weill's "Song of the Inventory" (lyrics by Lewis Allan), which was performed in "Lunchtime Follies"
Brochure cover
26 September
Casting Venus proves quite difficult, but the creative team finally settles on Mary Martin.
1943
9 March
New York, Madison Square Garden: Text by Ben Hecht; directed by Moss Hart; conducted by Isaac Van Grove. An attempt to document and publicize mass murder of European Jews by the Nazis. The show plays to sold-out crowds in New York and on tour.
3 April
May
27 August
7 October
New York, Imperial Theater, 567 performances. Book by S.J. Perelman and Ogden Nash; lyrics by Nash; directed by Elia Kazan; choreographed by Agnes De Mille; conducted by Maurice Abravanel; starring Mary Martin. Weill’s longest-running Broadway show.
Mary Martin as Venus
Opening excerpt sung by Mary Martin, 1943
Duet excerpt sung by Mary Martin and Kenny Baker, 1943
Mary Martin, John Boles, Paula Laurence, Kenny Baker, and Weill at the piano rehearsing One Touch of Venus
November
1944
10 February
Paramount Pictures; directed by Mitchell Leisen; starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland
March - April
Maxwell Anderson (script), Burgess Meredith (star), and Jean Renoir (director): Salute to France is shown to U.S. soldiers to educate them about French and British allies.
Still from Salute to France: Joe Doakes (Burgess Meredith) with his mess kit
Excerpt from letter to Ira Gershwin, 27 February 1944
17 March
United Artists; directed by Harry Joe Brown; starring Nelson Eddy, Constance Dowling, Charles Coburn
26 June
Weill relaxes by taking tennis lessons and swimming. Lenya joins him in September.
1945
22 March
New York, Alvin Theatre, 43 performances: book by Edwin Justus Mayer; lyrics by Ira Gershwin; directed by John Murray Anderson; conducted by Maurice Abravanel. Lenya has a prominent role as the Duchess of Florence, but the show is a flop anyway.
Cellini (Earl Wrightson), Angela (Beverly Tyler), Duke (Melville Cooper), Duchess (Lotte Lenya)
From left: Weill, Ira Gershwin, Edwin Justus Mayer, and choreographer Catherine Littlefield
Flyer from the Boston tryout (February 1945) when the show still bore its working title, Much Ado About Love
23 May
20th Century Fox: directed by Gregory Ratoff; lyrics by Ira Gershwin; starring Fred MacMurray, June Haver, Joan Leslie. A wartime comedy, the film’s release is delayed until after the end of the war in Europe, which damages its box-office prospects.
15 August
Late-August
Autumn
Intended to inaugurate a series of radio dramas, the work does not attract a sponsor.
1946
10 May
31 July
5 September
New York, Alvin Theatre: Text by Ben Hecht; directed by Luther Adler; conducted by Isaac Van Grove; starring Marlon Brando. An attempt to encourage the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. The show plays to sold-out crowds in New York and on tour.
Broadway marquee for A Flag Is Born
From left: Marlon Brando (who replaced Sidney Lumet) as David, Celia Adler as Zelda, and Paul Muni (who replaced Luther Adler) as Tevya
Program cover
8 September
1947
9 January
New York, Adelphi Theatre, 148 performances: book by Elmer Rice; lyrics by Langston Hughes and Elmer Rice; directed by Charles Friedman; conducted by Maurice Abravanel. Early and influential contribution to a movement to introduce opera to Broadway theaters that flourished for the next ten years or so.
Brian Sullivan (Sam) and Anne Jeffreys (Rose), center, with the full cast, 1947
Flyer for Broadway production
Orchestral excerpt from original cast recording conducted by Maurice Abravanel
Mae (Sheila Bond) and Dick (Danny Daniels) during "Moon-Faced, Starry-Eyed"
1 March
6 April
6 May
August
25 November
New York, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel: Boston Symphony conducted by Serge Koussevitzky. Chaim Weizmann, who has asked Weill to orchestrate the song, is in attendance.
1948
2 March
15 July
Indiana University: libretto by Arnold Sundgaard; directed by Hans Busch; conducted by Ernst Hoffmann; starring Marion Bell. Expanded version of the radio opera composed in 1945. Within two years, both RCA and Decca issue complete recordings. Down in the Valley is produced thousands of times in American high schools and colleges over the next decade.
Original poster
Opening excerpt, probably from radio broadcast of performance at University of Michigan shortly after the world premiere
Marion Bell, Weill, and Hans Busch
7 August
7 October
New York, Forty-Sixth Street Theatre, 252 performances: Book by Alan Jay Lerner; music and lyrics by Weill and Lerner; directed by Elia Kazan; conducted by Joseph Littau; starring Nanette Fabray and Ray Middleton. The daring show explores a number of formal innovations, particularly in contrasting conventional book scenes with vaudeville acts that comment on the plot. Now considered the primary ancestor of the concept musical popularized by Stephen Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Harold Prince, and others.
A satirical ballet scene in commedia dell'arte style depicts the main characters getting a divorce
Broadway poster
Nanette Fabray on The Ed Sullivan Show, December 12, 1948
Weill plays piano on The Swift Show in 1949 as host Lanny Ross and Martha Wright sing “Here I’ll Stay”
November
1949
17 January
31 March
Weill plays piano as Lanny Ross and Martha Wright sing “Here I’ll Stay” from Love Life.
30 July
21 August
30 October
New York, Music Box Theatre, 281 performances: book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson; directed by Rouben Mamoulian; conducted by Maurice Levine; adapted from Alan Paton’s novel, Cry, the Beloved Country. One of the first Broadway shows with a cast roughly evenly divided between Black and white actors.
Broadway poster
Scene from the production: Reverend Stephen Kumalo (Todd Duncan) marries his imprisoned son (Julian Mayfield) to Irina (Inez Matthews)
Excerpt sung by Inez Matthews from the original cast recording
From left: Maxwell Anderson, Rouben Mamoulian, Weill at piano
1950
14 January
Weill supervises the production, one of the first attempts to produce an opera for television. He notes that the technique is “quite primitive,” but the broadcast is “impressive.”
13 February
The song was “Come in, Mornin’.” Altogether Weill drafts five songs for the show but does not complete any.
17 March
3 April
5 April