Finally, a pageant produced by Billy Rose, and directed by Moss Hart, titled, We Will Never Die, had two performances on March 9, 1943, in front of 40,000 spectators at Madison Square Garden.
As part of the performances, "hundreds of voices were raised in prayer and song", to remind people about what was then happening to Europe's Jewish population, writes author Steven Bach.
"[1]: 237 [3] Years later, in 1946, after the war ended, Hecht wrote the play A Flag Is Born, to help promote the establishment of Israel for Europe's remaining Jews.
Hollywood Bowl, July 21, 1943 Cast (in order of their appearance) Weill and Hart had recently scored a big Broadway success with the musical Lady in the Dark, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.
As a German emigrant, son of a cantor, student of Ferruccio Busoni, and a born theater composer, he had mastered techniques for the effective use of music in both pageants and radio.
This earlier pageant by Hecht and Charles MacArthur was staged at Madison Square Garden, and sponsored by Fight for Freedom, Inc., a group that supported total U.S. involvement in the European war.
He also wrote propaganda songs (some for broadcast in Germany); incidental music for Your Navy, a 1942 play, written by Maxwell Anderson and jointly commissioned by CBS Radio and NBC Radio; music for Salute to France, a 1945 U.S. propaganda film directed by Jean Renoir; and four patriotic melodramas for Helen Hayes, recorded by RCA Victor under the title Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory.
Weill brought composer and conductor Isaac van Grove to the project to lead a 50-piece NBC orchestra, prepare the choruses, and deal with musical logistics.
The second section, Jews in the War, features a sequence of national anthems and melodies, including "Tipperary" and the "Red Army Song" by Lev Knipper, which is also known as Cavalry of the Steppes.