[2] Containing spoken words as well as sung material, Martin Bookspan stated that "the opera is really a 20th-century American singspiel, with extensive stretches of dialogue alternating with the musical numbers.
Setting: 1840s Cross Corners, New Hampshire The farmer Jabez Stone has experienced great hardship and believes he is doomed to a future of bad luck.
Mr. Scratch selects a judge and jury for the trial made up of the ghosts of famous historical American figures who are now residents of Hell; including the pirate Blackbeard and the British loyalists Walter Butler and Simon Girty.
[2] Wishing to put an end to these unauthorized works and capitalize on the apparent demand for a dramatization of the story, Benét contacted composer Douglas Moore with the idea of creating an opera adaptation in 1937.
[2] While Benét was the credited librettist and primary author, Moore had considerable creative input into the libretto which was created through a collaborative process between the two men.
[1] In describing the mix of people that attended the premiere, Lucius Beebe wrote the following in Los Angeles Times, "Something more than a Broadway premiere, the occasion proved a synthesis of opera laced gloves, Murray Hill carriage trade, the curious werewolves of the belles-lettres and the regular swish and stamping of ballet loonies in beards, orange colored wigs, and platinum lamé gowns armed to the teeth with three-foot cigarette tubes and shepherds crook walking sticks.
[10][2] The Broadway production was funded by Eli Lilly and Company, directed by John Houseman, and utilized sets, costumes, and lights designed by Robert Edmond Jones.
[19] In 1959 it was mounted at the New York City Opera with a cast that included Joshua Hecht as Jabez Stone, Walter Cassel as Webster, Norman Kelley as Mr. Scratch, Emile Renan as Justice Hawthorne, and Arthur Newman as the Court Clerk.
[8] In 2000 the opera was performed at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Italy with Maurizio Lo Piccolo as Webster and Ugo Guagliardo as Jabez Stone.
[2] The aria “I’ve Got a Ram, Goliath” has been performed in concerts and recitals by several singers, including bass Richard Hale, bass-baritone James Pease, and baritones Mordecai Bauman, Alfred Drake, Clifford Harvuot, and Sherrill Milnes.