Reuben, Reuben is a 1955 "urban folk opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

" by 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...

. Set in New York's Little Italy

Little Italy, Manhattan

Little Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians. Today the neighborhood of Little Italy consists of Italian stores and restaurants.-Historical area:...

 and inspired by the Faust

Faust

Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...

 legend, it concerns Reuben, a suicidal

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 veteran

Veteran

A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...

 who has received a medical discharge

Military discharge

A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve.-United States:Discharge or separation should not be confused with retirement; career U.S...

 because he cannot speak

Aphonia

Aphonia is the inability to speak. It is considered more severe than dysphonia. A primary cause of aphonia is bilateral disruption of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, which supplies nearly all the muscles in the larynx...

. His disorder serves as an allegory of the difficulties of interpersonal communication in society, and of the eventual triumph of love over these difficulties and over the death wish.

The original cast included Eddie Albert

Eddie Albert

Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...

 as Reuben, Evelyn Lear

Evelyn Lear

Evelyn Lear is an American soprano and opera singer.During her career between 1959 and 1992, Evelyn Lear appeared in more than forty operatic roles, appeared with every major opera company in the US and won a Grammy Award in 1966...

 as Reuben's love interest Nina, Kaye Ballard

Kaye Ballard

Kaye Ballard is an American musical theatre and television actress, comedienne, and singer.-Life and career:Ballard was born as Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, to an Italian American family, the daughter of Lena and Vincent James Balotta.Ballard established herself as a musical...

 as the Countess, Enzo Stuarti

Enzo Stuarti

Enzo Stuarti was an Italian American tenor and musical theater performer. After a performing on Broadway under the stage names Larry Laurence and Larry Stuart, he changed his name again and began a recording career in which he released several successful albums...

 as Attilio, George Gaynes

George Gaynes

George Gaynes is a Finnish-born American actor of stage, screen and television.He may be best known as Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy series, and to television fans as the curmudgeonly Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster, in which his wife, Allyn Ann McLerie,...

 as Bart, Sondra Lee as Gisella, and Timmy Everett as Blazer. Other cast members included Lear's husband Thomas Stewart, Allen Case

Allen Case

Allen Case was an American television actor most noted for the lead role of Deputy Clay McCord in NBC's The Deputy opposite series regular Henry Fonda...

, Emile Renan

Emile Renan

Emile Renan was an American operatic bass-baritone and stage director who had a long association with the New York City Opera. He also performed as a guest artist with the other opera companies in North America throughout his career...

, William Pierson

William Pierson

William Pierson was an American television, motion picture and stage actor, best known for his raspy voice and his role as Marko the Mailman in the film Stalag 17.-Biographical Sketch:...

, and Anita Darian

Anita Darian

Anita Darian is an American singer and actress who has had an active career since the 1950s. Aa a soprano, Darian has performed roles with the New York City Opera and been a featured soloist with the New York Philharmonic. She has also performed and recorded several roles from musicals during her...

. Hanya Holm

Hanya Holm

Hanya Holm is known as one of the “Big Four” founders of American modern dance...

 choreographed, Robert Lewis stage directed, and Cheryl Crawford

Cheryl Crawford

Cheryl Crawford was an American theatre producer and director.Born in Akron, Ohio, Crawford majored in drama at Smith College. Following graduation, she moved to New York City and enrolled at the Theatre Guild's school...

 produced the show.

The opera's initial run, in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, was a failure: audience members left in the middle of the show, and critics panned it. Nevertheless, Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...

named his daughter Nina after the play's heroine.

Musical numbers include "Never Get Lost," "Monday Morning Blues," "Mystery of the Flesh," and "The Hills of Amalfi."