The Cradle Will Rock

The Cradle Will Rock is a 1937 musical by Marc Blitzstein. Originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project, it was directed by Orson Welles, and produced by John Houseman. The musical is a Brechtian allegory of corruption and corporate greed and includes a panoply of societal figures. Set in "Steeltown, USA", it follows the efforts of Larry Foreman to unionize the town's workers and combat wicked, greedy businessman Mr. Mister, who controls the town's factory, press, church and social organization. The piece is almost entirely sung-through, giving it many operatic qualities, although Blitzstein included popular song styles of the time.

The WPA temporarily shut down the project a few days before it was to open on Broadway; so to avoid government and union restrictions, the show was performed with Blitzstein playing piano onstage and the cast members singing their parts from the audience.

The original cast consisted of John Adair, Guido Alexander, Marc Blitzstein, Peggy Coudray, Howard Da Silva, George Fairchild, Robert Fransworth, Edward Fuller, Will Geer, Maynard Holmes, Frank Marvel, Charles Niemeyer, Le Roi Operti, Jules Schmidt, George Smithfield, Olive Stanton, and Bert Weston.

Cradle Will Rock

Cradle Will Rock is a 1999 American historical drama film written, produced and directed by Tim Robbins. The story fictionalizes the true events that surrounded the development of the 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein; it adapts history to create an account of the original production, bringing in other stories of the time to produce a social commentary on the role of art and power in the 1930s, particularly amidst the struggles of the labor movement at the time and the corresponding appeal of socialism and communism among many intellectuals, artists and working-class people in the same period.

The film is not based on Orson Welles's script The Cradle Will Rock, which was to be an autobiographical account of the play's production. It went into pre-production in 1983 with Rupert Everett on board to play Welles before the backers pulled out and the production collapsed. The film lost an estimated $33,000,000 dollars.

Plot

The film begins with a long tracking shot focusing on a destitute young woman named Olive Stanton (Emily Watson). She is sleeping illegally in a theater, being awakened and kicked out. The shot continues as she slowly walks down the street following the sound of the song Nickel Under My Foot. When she arrives at the source of the music, the camera pans up the side of the building and moves inside where we are introduced to the playwright Marc Blitzstein (Hank Azaria), who is attempting to write the songs and put together the musical The Cradle Will Rock. Acting as Blitzstein’s conscience/mentors are a vision of his deceased wife and, later, an imaginary Bertolt Brecht. Brecht was a radical playwright who stressed the importance of breaking down the wall between the audience and actors.

Will Rock

Will Rock is a first-person shooter released in North America on June 9 and Europe on June 13, 2003. This first game, developed on the Saber 3D engine, by Saber Interactive and published by Ubisoft, did not receive huge media attention, but did polarize reviewers who ran the gamut with scores of 90s down to 20s, and some likened the title to a poorer version of Serious Sam.

In Rock, the player takes on the persona of the title character Willford Rockwell, an archeology student, who is faced with the aftermath of a fanatical group called the Olympian Restoration Army (ORA), who somehow have managed to bring back to life a host of mythological creatures from Ancient Greece, including Zeus, king of the Gods, who has abducted Will's girlfriend Emma. Will is recruited by Prometheus, the Greek Titan of fire and craft, to destroy Zeus and his minions—and rescue his girlfriend.

There are ten levels in the single player and coop versions. Many reviewers noted the massive numbers of enemies, prompting IGN to remark that it "elevates the experience to a kind of inspired lunacy." At some points in the game it is possible to be attacked by dozens of different types of enemies simultaneously, and some creatures, such as axe-throwing minotaurs, split into two more attackers when "killed". Balancing this is the player's arsenal; among the weapons at his disposal are acid, atomic and "Medusa" guns, and the more standard pistol, shotgun, crossbow, fireball thrower, minigun and grenades. A shovel is also included as a melee weapon.