was unconventional in its very simplicity. Eva Jessye, a black music pioneer in New York, directed the singers and her choir in the production. The production was directed by John Houseman, who was 31 and who had only recently turned his attention to theater after a career as a speculator in the international grain market. The sets of the first production, designed by artist Florine Stettheimer, included innovative cellophane backdrops and brilliant pure white lighting, and the costumes (also Stettheimer's) were of colorful lace, silk and taffeta. Frederick Ashton provided the choreography (after George Balanchine turned down the job). Also considered unusual was the portrayal of the European saints by an all-black cast, for which there was no precedent in American history. These unconventional elements led to a successful and well-received first production. While critics were divided, audiences accepted the fantasy world created by the singers, who vividly conveyed the words and melodies given to their saintly characters. The opera would be performed later as a concert oratorio, as in the 1942 and 1947 radio broadcasts. In addition, a production at Town Hall was conducted by Alexander Smallens in which John Serry Sr. collaborated as the orchestral accordionist and Leonard De Paur as the choir director. Stage performances were produced in 1952 and 1973. In 1981, a New York concert version was performed for Thomson's eighty-fifth birthday celebration. For this performance, Betty Allen, Gwendolyn Bradley, William Brown, Clamma Dale, Benjamin Matthews, Florence Quivar and Arthur Thompson sang the principal parts. There have also been stagings by Robert Wilson and the choreographer Mark Morris, who created a dance piece for it. The involvement of photographers including Lee Miller, Carl Van Vechten, and George Platt Lynes in documenting and representing the opera and its original performances in 1934 is explored in Allmer and Sears' book 4 Saints in 3 Acts: A Snapshot of the American Avant-garde in the 1930s (2017, Manchester University Press) which accompanied an exhibition of photographs and ephemera at The Photographers' Gallery in London in October 2017. In 2022, a Doxsee Theater production featuring David Greenspan staged Stein's text as a spoken one man show. It ran from September 15th to October 9th, and it received positive reviews from The New York Times, The New York Stage Review, and The New Yorker. References Southern, Eileen. 1997. The Music of Black Americans: A History. 3rd edition. New York: W. W.