This is a rare signed letter sent from ROBERT BREEN, director and co-producer of the 1954 American National Tour of the
GEORGE GERSHWIN, IRA GERSHWIN and DU BOSE HEYWARD American Folk Opera “PORGY AND BESS” regarding Vocal Coach Madame MADY METZGER ZIEGLER who had been employed to work with certain members of the touring cast. (This ambitious revival was produced for the first European tour of the musical which opened October 9th, 1952 at London’s Stoll Theatre. After five months of performances throughout Europe, the production settled into New York’s Ziegfeld Theatre on March 10th, 1953 for 305 performances before returning to the road.) ….. The cast included LEONTYNE PRICE as “Bess”, LeVERN HUTCHERSON as “Porgy” and CAB CALLOWAY as “Sportin’ Life”, the role that was conceived with him in mind. Additional cast members included HELEN DOWDY, GEORGIA BURKE, HELEN COLBERT, JERRY LAWS, HELEN THIGPEN, JOSEPH JAMES, HOWARD ROBERTS, SHERMAN SNEED, HUGH DILWORTH, MERRITT SMITH, LESLIE SCOTT, IRVING BARNES, JOHN McCURRY, CATHERINE AYERS, ELIZABETH FOSTER, IRENE WILLIAMS, SAM KASAKOFF, WALTER RIEMER, WILLIAM VEASEY, MOSES LaMARR, RAY YEATES, CECIL RUTHERFORD, JEBOB IV and LILLIAN HAYMAN ….. CREDITS: Book by DU BOSE HEYWARD founded on the play “Porgy” by DU BOSE and DOROTHY HEYWARD; Music by GEORGE GERSHWIN (“Girl Crazy”, “Lady, Be Good!”, “Oh, Kay!”, “Funny Face”, “Rosalie”, “Of Thee I Sing”, “Porgy and Bess”, “George White’s Scandals”); Lyrics by DU BOSE HEYWARD and IRA GERSHWIN; Sets designed by WOLFGANG ROTH; Costumes designed by JED MACE; Choral Direction by EVA JESSYE; Orchestra Conducted by ALEXANDER SMALLENS; Directed by ROBERT BREEN; Produced by BLEVINS DAVIS and ROBERT BREEN
….. DETAILS: This rare letter was dated September 7, 1954 and signed by ROBERT BREEN, Vice-President of EVERYMAN OPERA, INC., 139 West 44th Street, New York City. The letter measures 8 1/2″ X 11″ inches ….. CONDITION: (Please Note!) The top right corner is torn with some paper loss and the remaining three corners have tape residue on the front side. There is also creasing from having been folded. Despite these flaws, this rare signed correspondence will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective, carded sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.