No For An Answer is a musical play by Marc Blitzstein.[1] It was staged by W. E. Watts at Mecca Temple, west 55th Street, New York, on Sunday, January 5, 1941.[2] Although it was supposed to have a limited engagement, it ran for two additional Sundays. There was no scenery and Marc Blitzstein was at the piano. It was an experiment under an agreement between the Dramatists Guild and Actors Equity. The cast included Olive Deering, Lloyd Gough, Martin Wolfson, Norma Green, and Curt Conway.[1] It marked the New York debut of Broadway icon, Carol Channing.[3][4] It was much discussed prior to its opening and Random House accepted it for publication just before its production.[5]Brooks Atkinson stated in his review of the work in The New York Times, "it is very exciting in performance, which is all that matters."[6] Although Aaron Copland called it one of "the most original works in that form composed in this county,"[7] the play was a failure.[8]
After the first Sunday night performance, New York City License Commissioner Paul Moss issued a ban on further performances because the Mecca Temple lacked a theater license and the auditorium had many building violations. He warned that if anyone tried to present the show the following week, they would be stopped by police and firemen.[9]
The work was not in step with the times and no one would underwrite a full production. A later concert performance in 1960 (Blitzstein again at the piano) constitutes the entire performance history of the piece during Blitzstein's lifetime. Howard Taubman reviewing the 1960 production for The New York Times, said, "it bogs down in a swamp of pedestrian cliches."[10] The show finally received a fully staged production at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco on October 22, 2001.[3]
The plot of No For An Answer is the life and fate of the Diogenes Club, a social club of Greek-American waiters, hotel-workers, restaurant-workers, chefs, laundresses, chambermaids, taxi-drivers, who are out-of-work.[3]
