‘Cradle’: A Musical With a Message

In 1937, amid the turbulent emergence of the labor movement, composer/lyricist Marc Blitzstein’s socialist musical parable about prostitution, “The Cradle Will Rock,” shook many a complacent bourgeois crib by broadening its thematic focus on the oldest profession from a traditional sexual context to moral harlotry at every level of society.

Combining the biting social commentary of his friend and mentor, Bertolt Brecht, a stirring score reminiscent of Aaron Copland’s elevated populism, and sophisticated, witty lyrics more akin to Stephen Sondheim musicals than the escapist fluff of his Broadway contemporaries, Blitzstein created a work of operatic complexity with a uniquely American voice.

And while the scaled-down revival by The Blank Theatre Company/Rose & Thistle Productions may come across more like an intimate chamber piece than full-blown opera, Daniel Henning’s insightful staging and inspired performances from his first-rate cast showcase the enduring brilliance in this underappreciated watershed musical.

On the eve of a massive worker’s strike in mythical Steeltown, a spunky streetwalker (engagingly sung by Sandra Terry) runs afoul of the law by refusing to trade sexual favors for protection. While facing arraignment in night court, she finds herself in the unlikely company of the anti-union Liberty Committee mistakenly arrested amid the unrest.

The Committee members represent generic facets of a corrupt status quo--preacher, doctor, newspaper editor, college president, painter and musician, all willing slaves to the town’s fat cat overlord, Mr. Mister (Peter Van Norden). Compared to the depths of pandering to which each of these upstanding citizens will descend to curry favor, the conventional hooker seems like a rank amateur.

In contrast to the cerebral detachment of Brechtian theater, Blitzstein sought to engage his audience with a full range of emotions, from vaudevillian comedy to tragic pathos, and in this the production succeeds handsomely. Only when the heroic union organizer Larry Foreman (Jeffrey Rockwell) resists a seductive bribe from Mr. Mister, signaling a triumphant uprising by the oppressed workers, does “Cradle” lapse into a naive idealism that feels hopelessly dated. The social problems Blitzstein framed so eloquently are as timely as ever, but we’re still waiting for a solution.

* “The Cradle Will Rock,” Off Ramp Theatre, 1953 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood . Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Oct. 23. $20. (213) 660-8557. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.

‘Feets!’ Takes a Tumble at Open Fist

Despite obvious ambitions to run the distance, “Feets! Don’t Fail Me Now” trips over its own dramturgical limitations in a premiere staging by Toe Action Productions.

Loosely adapted from novelist Ishmael Reed’s historical fantasy “Flight to Canada,” about a runaway slave (Mark Daniel Cade) at the close of the Civil War, David Trotman’s script retains and even builds on Reed’s quirky anachronisms--surrounding the 1886 characters with cellular phones, network news broadcasts, theme parks--for a jarring collision of period and contemporary sensibilities.

But Trotman’s unfocused sense of narrative development stumbles too often into unnecessary plot convolutions, despite intermittent scenes with genuine dramatic promise. Especially suggestive are the implied parallels between slavery and a plantation owner’s (Mark Voland’s) sadomasochistic session with an Indian dominatrix (Fallon)--although differences in the issue of choice are conveniently sidestepped. Erratic pacing undermines the intensity in Cheri Lynn Brown’s direction.

Without major revision, “Feets!” won’t gain much of a toehold in theatrical revival.

* “Feets! Don’t Fail Me Now,” Open Fist Theatre, 1625 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Oct. 16. $20. (213) 660-8557. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.