In 1930s movies Mickey Rooney said "C'mon kids, let's put on a show." And in real life, in 1937, Orson Welles did virtually the same thing, cobbling together a musical in a disconcertingly haphazard manner. Jason Sherman's new play, It's All True, recreates the tumultuous birth of that musical, The Cradle Will Rock, but he gives us so much more. There's a vivid picture of wunderkind director Orson Welles, a touching look at John Housman and his relationship with Welles, and the only human portrayal I've ever seen of composer Marc Blitzstein, far surpassing the caricature in the Tim Robbins film, "The Cradle Will Rock." Add vivid portrayals of actor Howard DeSylva and Welles' wife, Virginia, and a dramatic panorama of Depression politics, labor unions and social attitudes, plus some humor, and you get a wonderful evening of theater.
Blitzstein, a left-wing social activist, wrote The Cradle Will Rock about the trade union movement at a time when big steel companies were hiring thugs to beat up striking workers. Orson Welles and John Housman, running a federal theater project to utilize unemployed actors, decided to produce Blitzstein's musical. Then the government shut down the play on the eve of the first preview, and the actors' and the musicians' unions refused to permit a performance in any other theater. So the cast and patrons walked 20 blocks up Broadway to a vacant theater where Blitzstein played his score on an upright piano and cast members sang their parts from the audience section because they weren't allowed to use the stage. It was magic, and it's all true. The play's title reflects this and also is a pun on the title of a later, unfinished Welles film.
Even more meaning is attached to the title when Mrs. Welles demands that Orson tell her the truth about his feelings for her. The story unfolds with suspense and humor, and the playwright develops each of the characters beautifully.
Skipping among places and time, the script creates production challenges, and director Seth Rozin has done a marvelous job meeting them. Scott Greer is towering as Welles, David Bardeen is properly diffident as Housman, David Ingram creates a complex and appealing Blitzstein, and Anthony Lawton is a vivid Howard DeSylva. The rest of the cast are versatile and excellent too.
