Pins and Needles
Encyclopedia
Pins and Needles is a musical
revue
with a book by Arthur Arent, Marc Blitzstein
, Emmanuel Eisenberg, Charles Friedman, David Gregory, Joseph Schrank, Arnold B. Horwitt, John Latouche, and Harold Rome and music and lyrics by Rome. The title "Pins and Needles" was created by Max Danish, long-time editor of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU)'s newspaper "Justice".
as a meeting hall. The union sponsored an inexpensive revue with LGWU workers as the cast and two pianos. Because of their factory jobs, participants could rehearse only at night and on weekends, and initial performances were presented only on Friday and Saturday nights. The original cast was made up of cutters, basters, and sewing machine operators.
Pins and Needles looked at current events from a pro-union standpoint. It was "lighthearted look at young workers in a changing society in the middle of America's most politically engaged city." Skits spoofed everything from Fascist Europe
an dictators to bigots
in the DAR
. Word-of-mouth was so enthusiastically positive that the cast abandoned their day jobs and the production expanded to a full performance schedule of eight shows per week. New songs and skits were introduced every few months to keep the show topical.
According to John Kenrick
, Pins and Needles "is the only hit ever produced by a labor union, and the only time when a group of unknown non-professionals brought a successful musical to Broadway."
and then transferred to the Windsor Theatre on January 1, 1939, finally closing on June 22, 1940 after 1108 performances. The cast included Harry Clark, who continued his acting career with roles in The Skin of Our Teeth
, One Touch of Venus
, Call Me Mister
, Kiss Me, Kate
, and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
.
The Roundabout Theatre Company
produced a revival Off-Broadway
at the Roundabout Stage 1 Theatre in 1978, which ran for 225 performances.
The Jewish Repertory Theatre presented a concert in 2003, to include songs and sketches from all versions of the show.
Pins and Needles was presented in the UK for the first time at the Cock Tavern Theater in Kilburn
, London in November and December 2010. The production was directed by Rachel Grunwald and received positive reviews from the theatre press.
Act II
released a studio recording of the score featuring then-newcomer Barbra Streisand
. Columbia president Goddard Lieberson
didn't approve Barbra's involvement with this record until pressured by Harold Rome. She remained unsigned to Columbia until October 1, 1962.
The recording was digitally restored & remastered for CD release.
Barbra Streisand
vocals feature on tracks 2 (Solo), 5 (Solo), 7 (Solo), 9 (Solo), 12 & 14.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
with a book by Arthur Arent, Marc Blitzstein
Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein, better known as Marc Blitzstein , was an American composer. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration...
, Emmanuel Eisenberg, Charles Friedman, David Gregory, Joseph Schrank, Arnold B. Horwitt, John Latouche, and Harold Rome and music and lyrics by Rome. The title "Pins and Needles" was created by Max Danish, long-time editor of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU)'s newspaper "Justice".
Background
The International Ladies Garment Workers Union used the Princess Theatre in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as a meeting hall. The union sponsored an inexpensive revue with LGWU workers as the cast and two pianos. Because of their factory jobs, participants could rehearse only at night and on weekends, and initial performances were presented only on Friday and Saturday nights. The original cast was made up of cutters, basters, and sewing machine operators.
Pins and Needles looked at current events from a pro-union standpoint. It was "lighthearted look at young workers in a changing society in the middle of America's most politically engaged city." Skits spoofed everything from Fascist Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an dictators to bigots
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
in the DAR
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
. Word-of-mouth was so enthusiastically positive that the cast abandoned their day jobs and the production expanded to a full performance schedule of eight shows per week. New songs and skits were introduced every few months to keep the show topical.
According to John Kenrick
John Kenrick
John Kenrick was an English classical historian.-Life:He was born on 4 February 1788 at Exeter, the eldest son of Timothy Kenrick, Unitarian minister, and his first wife, Mary, daughter of John Waymouth of Exeter. He was educated at the local grammar school run by the Rev. Charles Lloyd and later...
, Pins and Needles "is the only hit ever produced by a labor union, and the only time when a group of unknown non-professionals brought a successful musical to Broadway."
Productions
Originally written for a small theatrical production, the first production of "Pins and Needles" was directed by Samuel Roland. After a two week professional run, it was adapted for performances by members of the then-striking International Garment Workers' Union as an entertainment for its members. Because Roland was associated with left-wing causes, he was asked by ILGWU president David Dubinsky to withdraw. The better-known ILGWU production was directed by Charles Friedman and choreographed by Benjamin Zemach. It opened on November 27, 1937 at the Labor Stage TheatrePrincess Theatre
The Princess Theatre was a joint venture between the Shubert Brothers , producer Ray Comstock, theatrical agent Elisabeth Marbury and actor-director Holbrook Blinn...
and then transferred to the Windsor Theatre on January 1, 1939, finally closing on June 22, 1940 after 1108 performances. The cast included Harry Clark, who continued his acting career with roles in The Skin of Our Teeth
The Skin of Our Teeth
The Skin of Our Teeth is a play by Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It opened on October 15, 1942 at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway on November 18, 1942...
, One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus is a musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the novella The Tinted Venus by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmalion myth. The show satirizes contemporary American suburban values,...
, Call Me Mister
Call Me Mister
Call Me Mister is a revue with sketches by Arnold Auerbach and words and music by Harold Rome. The title refers to returning soldiers who expected to be addressed as civilians instead of by their military rank....
, Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
, and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? is a 1957 American satiric comedy film starring Jayne Mansfield and Tony Randall, with Betsy Drake, Joan Blondell, John Williams, Henry Jones, Lili Gentle, Mickey Hargitay, and a cameo by Groucho Marx...
.
The Roundabout Theatre Company
Roundabout Theatre Company
The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in New York City.-History:The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist and Elizabeth Owens and now operates five theatres, all in Manhattan: the American Airlines Theatre ; Studio 54 ; the Stephen Sondheim Theatre The...
produced a revival Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
at the Roundabout Stage 1 Theatre in 1978, which ran for 225 performances.
The Jewish Repertory Theatre presented a concert in 2003, to include songs and sketches from all versions of the show.
Pins and Needles was presented in the UK for the first time at the Cock Tavern Theater in Kilburn
Kilburn
Kilburn is an area of north west London, England, which is divided between three London Boroughs, Brent, Camden, and a small part in Westminster. The main thoroughfare running northwest-southeast is Kilburn High Road, part of the modern A5 road which forms the boundary between the boroughs of Brent...
, London in November and December 2010. The production was directed by Rachel Grunwald and received positive reviews from the theatre press.
Songs
Act I- First Impression - Entire Company
- Why sing of Skies Above? - Boys and Girls
- Public Enemy No. 1 - Sung by Jean Nicita
- The General is Unveiled - General, Speaker, Secretary and Invited Guests
- Sunday in the Park - Papa, Mama, Boy, Girl, Cop, Balloon Man, Vendor, Couple, Man with Carriage, Lonesome Guy, Park Attendant, Radical, Man on Bench and Passersby
- Dear Beatrice Fairfax - Sung by Millie Weitz
- Britannia Waives the Rules (Sketch and Lyrics by: John La Touche and Arnold B. Horwitt, Music By Bernece Kazounoff - The Prime Minister, The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, The Secretary of State for War, The First Lord of the Admiralty, The German Envoy, The Japanese Envoy and Miss Beamish
- Men Awake - Singers and Dance Group
Act II
- Lorelei On the Rocks (Lyrics By John La Touche, Music By Bernece Kazounoff) - Die Lorelei and A Storm Trooper
- Lesson In Etiquette - The Expert
- What Good is Love? - Sung by Grace Quatropani
- One Big Union for Two - Girls and Boys
- Vassar Girl Finds a Job - Sung by Millie Weitz
- Four Little Angels of Peace - Chamberlain, Mussolini, Japanese and Hitler
- Slumming Party - Mrs. Dalyrymple III, Mrs. Dalyrymple's Protege, Mrs. Dalyrymple's Nephew, Mrs. Dalyrymple's Aunt, Mrs. Dalyrymple's Uncle and Mrs. Dalyrymple's Chauffeur
- We've Just Begun (Lyrics By Charles Friedman and Harold J. Rome) - Entire Company
25th Anniversary of the Hit Musical Revue
In commemoration of the show's 25th Anniversary in 1962, Columbia RecordsColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
released a studio recording of the score featuring then-newcomer Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
. Columbia president Goddard Lieberson
Goddard Lieberson
Goddard Lieberson was the president of Columbia Records from 1956 to 1971, and from 1973 to 1975. He was also a composer, and studied with George Frederick McKay, at the University of Washington, Seattle....
didn't approve Barbra's involvement with this record until pressured by Harold Rome. She remained unsigned to Columbia until October 1, 1962.
The recording was digitally restored & remastered for CD release.
Tracklisting
- Sing Me A Song With Social Significance [2:52]
- Doing The Reactionary [2:01]
- One Big Union For Two [2:57]
- It's Better With A Union Man [3:03]
- Nobody Makes A Pass At Me [4:17]
- I've Got The Nerve To Be In Love [4:46]
- Not Cricket To Picket [2:29]
- Back To Work [2:13]
- Status Quo [4:27]
- When I Grow Up (The G-Man Song) [2:49]
- Chain Store Daisy [3:50]
- Four Little Angels Of Peace [4:36]
- Sunday In The Park [3:31]
- What Good Is Love [3:38]
- Mene, Mene, Tekel [3:51]
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
vocals feature on tracks 2 (Solo), 5 (Solo), 7 (Solo), 9 (Solo), 12 & 14.