The play had been commissioned for the Group Theatre by Harold Clurman and was directed by Elia Kazan.
Other cast included Morris Carnovsky, J. Edward Bromberg, Karl Malden, Martin Ritt, Ruth Nelson, Leif Erickson, Curt Conway and Roman Bohnen.
[2]: 59–60 Presented in April 1939,[3] the play was dropped after only three Sunday night performances at the Belasco Theatre in New York City.
"[2]: 60 Aaron Copland's incidental music for the play later became a well-known composition for trumpet, cor anglais, and string orchestra with the same title, Quiet City.
"The part was that of a kid wandering around New York, wanting to be a trumpet player like Bix Beiderbecke.