[2] His friend, the composer Hershy Kay, completed the orchestrations for the last scenes of the opera based on ideas for instrumentation that Kurka had written into the piano score with red pen.
[5] The original production was directed by Carmen Capalbo, whose staging included the use of comedic projected film and utilization of movement idioms from American musical comedy.
[3] The production featured costumes by Ruth Morley, sets by Andreas Nomikos, and choreography by Robert Joffrey.
[4][3] The opera's title hero was portrayed by Norman Kelley, who later reprised the role when the work was performed again at The Town Hall in 1961 with the Symphony of the Air and conductor Robert De Cormier.
[6] The European premiere of the opera was given at the Komische Oper Berlin in a production staged by Joachim Herz in 1958 with conductor Harold Byrns leading the musical forces.