Sing for Your Supper
One of the Federal Theatre Project’s most ambitious musical productions, Sing for Your Supper, satirized congressional critics of the New Deal and stirringly dramatized the joy of a father finding work and the shock of Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass). The subject of congressional concern for its high cost and integrated cast, the revue abruptly closed when Congress halted funding for the project. The show’s finale, “Ballad for Uncle Sam,” however, achieved later renown as “Ballad for Americans” when Paul Robeson (1898–1976) sang it over national airwaves.
One of the Federal Theatre Project’s most ambitious musical productions, <em>Sing for Your Supper</em>, satirized congressional critics of the New Deal and stirringly dramatized the joy of a father finding work and the shock of <em>Kristallnacht</em> (The Night of Broken Glass). The subject of congressional concern for its high cost and integrated cast, the revue abruptly closed when Congress halted funding for the project. The show’s finale, “Ballad for Uncle Sam,” however, achieved later renown as “Ballad for Americans” when Paul Robeson (1898–1976) sang it over national airwaves.