Essay on What is the federal theatre project

In 1811, the New York city planners began a massive building execution. In 1835, Mayor Cornelius Van Wyck invited people to Manhattan to “move up there and enjoy the clean air!” In the early nineteenth century, the Theatre District between 41st street and 53rd street, was mainly just farmland and land owned by families all over. Broadway holds over 40 theatres at the moment, but it really wasn’t until the 1920’s-1930’s that theatres’ started to be built down these streets. In the 1930s, Broadway experienced a major crisis mainly caused upon the invention of the films having sound.

The Works Progress Administration was passed in April 1935. The WPA put unemployed people to work in public works projects across the country. It contained a much wider variety of programs than earlier agencies: theatrical productions (the Federal Theatre Project) and writing projects (the Federal Writers' Project), as well as the construction of schools, playgrounds, and other public

By 1900, there were currently thirty-three legitimate Broadway theatres, and many more would be built over the next couple of decades to meet the demand of the growing audiences. The productions included those of drama, comedy and musicals, but legitimate theatre was not the only theatrical entertainment of this time. During this time a large group of entertainers travels from one small theater to the next, entertaining thousands with their simple song and dance, mini-comical skits, and different acts of entertainment. These people were known as Vaudevillians and their theatre circuit was known as Vaudeville.

Unemployment rates were overwhelmingly high and poverty was common in lower class families and locations. In order to solve some problems, FDR started many organizations such as the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the Civil Works Administration (CWA). The poor individuals in America were not being helped by the government and it could be argued that the government had been turning a blind eye to the sufferings (Doc A). The CWA have people jobs and turned out being very effective because it provided jobs but also improved conditions of cities when roads and buildings were improved upon. The CCC worked in much the same way, providing jobs that helped to maintain the

The nature of industrialisation changed in the 1930s. In the 1920s industrialisation had occurred because of free enterprise and big business. But with the onset of the Depression, industrial output fell dramatically. (statistics needed). To combat this, the federal government adopted a role of directly stimulating industrial growth. The Public Works Administration (PWA) instituted in began many large industrial projects with the aim of spurring the economy and providing many jobs. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was a federal project to energise the economy through a massive industrial scheme sponsored by the federal government. Twenty five dams were built to reshape the land and generate hydro-electricity, which could further contribute to industrial growth. Another example of government leadership of industry was the National Recovery Administration (NRA), which attempted to foster industrial growth through the creation of ‘codes’ for each industry. These federal programs fundamentally changed the nature of industrialisation. In the 1930s, the government’s approach to industrialisation was more akin to socialist-state-style industrialisation than it was to the American capitalism-style industrialisation of the 1920s. Further, the federal government’s

1935: Works Progress Administration (WPA): The Works Progress Administration was a part of the Second New Deal created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The purpose of the WPA was passed to try to gain relief among the American citizen who were affected by the Great Depression and unemployment. The WPA did multiple things such as found jobs for the elderly, employed people without competing with private industries, and funded the works of artists and writers. The Workers Progress Administration is significant because it helped bring jobs back into the lives that had suffered from the Great Depression and gave hope to Americans that the standard of living would begin to get better.

The New Deal was a set of federal programs with the principle of social-welfare liberalism. President Roosevelt was deeply compromised to help the most vulnerable in the ongoing crisis. In second inaugural address he outlines the progress of the New Deal “We have always known that heedless self-interest was bed morals…. Out of the collapse of a prosperity whose builders boasted their practicality has come to the conviction that in the long run economy morality pays.” At some extend President Roosevelt proudly tell the Nation that he was heading to the right direction to progress. Some of the New Deal successful programs that brought relief and dignify living to many Americans were Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) a direct governmental regulation of farm economy to resolve the overproduction problem. In the unemployment relief, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) that provided federal funds for state relief programs. Public Works Administration (PWA) a construction program that lead to Civil Works Administration (CWA) that provide work for more than 4 million Americans repairing, building, and constructing America's infrastructure. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) that mobilized young men to do reforestation and conservation work helping their family’s income and the country reservation. In 1935 in housing issues Works Progress Administration (WPA) Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) that help many Americans keep their

Americans, during the 1930s, clearly needed help. Too many were unemployed, struggling, starving, and/or homeless. One of the biggest legacies of the New Deal is that it combated unemployment with jobs in infrastructure. Many agencies and programs were set up to help increase America’s infrastructure and provide many needy people with jobs. One of those organizations was the Works Progress Administration. Incredibly, the WPA employed an average of 2.1 million people annually for a total of almost 8 million people. It had become largest New Deal program and required almost 11 billion dollars to fund it (Friedrich). The WPA was made with one goal in mind: to get people back to work so they can get money in their pockets to survive. The WPA built highways, airfields, public buildings, and did rural rehabilitation such as planting trees. In total, it had built around 110,000 public buildings, 600 airports, 500,000 miles of roads, and 100,000 bridges (“New Deal”). Like the WPA, the Civilian Conservation Corps, had been created to provide jobs, but it was mainly for younger Americans. This program had employed and put 3

Unemployment skyrocketed up to its peak of nearly twenty five percent of the population. Added to this was the series of dust storms terrorizing the mid-west. These storms destroyed most crops and left farmers destitute and homeless. This resulted in a mass migration of mid-western farmers moving west to areas such as California to find work. These farmers became to be known derogatorily as "Okies." Newly elected President Roosevelt began immediately to put programs into affect, which would halt the effects of the depression and aid those who were suffering. These programs became known as the New Deal. The purpose of the New Deal was to provide jobs for the unemployed and offer relief to the distressed. Programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) put millions of people to work building roads, dams, and other public works. One of these government programs was called the Farm Security Administration (FSA). The FSA was an agency intended to fight rural poverty during a period when the poor agricultural climate and plunging national economy was causing many rural farmers to leave their farms and homes to find work. The FSA also hired photographers as part of a public relations campaign. These photographers documented the lives and conditions of many of these stricken peoples.

The case titled The Theatre Budget was a short journal about a frustrated Vice-President of a performing

Nevertheless, with the help of Eleanor Roosevelt, women benefited with the increasing of employment opportunities that were create with the New Deal and Second New Deal policies. Women were employed on FERA, “Federal Emergency Relief Administration” projects, which were run by state funds (Woolner). One of the agencies of this administration that was created through the New Deal programs and directly assisted women was the Work Progress Administration. The WPA was created in 1935 and hired single women, widows, or women with disabled or absent husbands (Kennedy 625). While the WAP employed men in unskilled manual labor job, women were assigned sewing projects. They were in charge of making clothing, blankets, and other necessities that were given to charities and hospitals (Ware 43). Women were also hired in the school lunch programs created by the WPA and in its Federal Art project, which gave 162 women a job painting murals and creating statues for the newly built post office buildings and court houses (Ware 47). The New Deal policies, while their main target was employing and benefitting the male population, with the help of Eleanor Roosevelt, employment for women also increased and provided a foundation for Women’s Rights Movement (Woolner).

1920’s Broadway was booming! Due to the changes in song formatting, the modernization of plot line, and with a variety of dance style, The Jazz Age catapulted Broadway to a higher dimension than ever before. Like most hits, the Jazz Age fizzled out due to unforeseen circumstances. The Jazz Age ended with the 1929 stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression. The country suffered, investments dropped, banks failed, and crashing companies caused massive unemployment rates. Along with the rest of the country, Broadway was negatively impacted by The Great Depression. However, despite the loss of jobs and struggling venues, the decade of the thirties proved to be an enlightening and rich experience for Broadway. Through research, we will open the curtain with the negative effects that The Great Depression had on Broadway during the 1930’s, then venture into the rising action where we will be begin to see the turning point, and finally end the show in the final act with the light at the end of the tunnel.

Moreover, another method in which Roosevelt used to revitalize the labor market was through the Civil Works Administration also known as the CWA. Similar to the Works Progress Administration, the CWA was introduced in 1933. This relief program also allowed for the construction of bridges, roads, but mostly focused on inner city projects. Nonetheless like the WPA, the CWA only “ employed up to 4 million people per week through March 1934.” This goes to show that there was only a number amount of people to get jobs, this was determined by the “Household budget deficit principle of the CWA.” Furthermore, to put this in simpler terms, the CWA was given certain amount of money in order to have unemployed people working, therefore

Two great writers of American musical theatre, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, had one idea in common. They wanted to present to the American public a new and revolutionary musical that would stand out above the rest. They wanted to make an impact on the societies of the era. They wanted to be creative and do something that was considered rebellious. When they finally combined their ideas together they created an American masterpiece in musical theatre: Oklahoma!. It was the first Rodgers and Hammerstein collaboration, starting the most successful creative partnership in the history of American musical theatre.

3. So that more people could have jobs during the Depression, the WPA made jobs for people to work in buildings, hospitals, and parks. It also hired artists and photographers.