Pins & Needles’ mass appeal

Eighty five years ago today, the pro-labor musical revue “Pins & Needles” opened on Broadway with a cast of members of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. “Pins & Needles” became a big hit, with over a thousand performances. It was performed at the White House for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor, and was revived on Broadway in 1978 and in London in 2010.

On today’s show, Michigan State University College of Music Professor Maria Cristina Fava explains the relationship of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and the Theatre Guild in the production of "Pins and Needles". Fava describes how the production evolved from a variety show with a cast of unionized garment workers in their off time to the cast giving up their jobs to become full time actors with the success of the show. She provides reviews by theater critics and describes how the cast navigated the politics of the day.
Fava’s talk. originally given in October 2012, was part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series sponsored by the Michigan State University School of Human Resources and Labor Relations and the MSU Museum. The series is organized by MSU professor John Beck.

On this week’s Labor History in Two:  Death Trap in Newark.

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