on society and how it affects the lives of humans and the way they live their lives. He also shows how values can become blurred and perceptions can change with experience. Characters Myron Berger the father of the family Bessie Berger his wife Hennie Berger their daughter, age 26 Ralph Berger their son, age 21 Uncle Morty Bessie's brother, a successful businessman Jacob father of Bessie and Morty; a Marxist; he lives with the Bergers Moe Axelrod a friend of the family who eventually boards with the Bergers Sam Feinschreiber an immigrant who courts Hennie Schlosser the janitor in the Bergers' apartment building Productions The play premiered on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre on February 19, 1935, running for 184 performances before closing on July 27, 1935; it returned two months later on September 9 for an additional 24 performances through September 28, 1935. Directed by Harold Clurman, the cast starred Luther Adler (Moe Axelrod), Stella Adler (Bessie Berger), Morris Carnovsky (Jacob), John Garfield (Ralph Berger) and Sanford Meisner (Sam Feinschreiber). It was revived in 1961 at the Teatro Oficina, São Paulo, Brazil. It was revived off-Broadway in 1970, 1979, 1993 and 1995. It was revived on Broadway in 1938, 1939, 1984 and 2006. A Lincoln Center Theater production on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre, opening on April 17, 2006, and closing on June 25, 2006 after 80 performances and 27 previews, won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. Directed by Bartlett Sher, the cast featured Ben Gazzara (Jacob), Zoë Wanamaker (Bessie), Mark Ruffalo (Moe), Pablo Schreiber (Ralph), and Lauren Ambrose (Hennie). Gazzara and Ruffalo repeated their roles (with Sher directing) in a 2010 L.A. Theatre Works recording of the play that also starred Jane Kaczmarek. Directed by Robert Hopkins and Norman Lloyd, Awake and Sing premiered on PBS March 6, 1972. This film production of the play featured Walter Matthau (Moe), Ruth Storey (Bessie), Felicia Farr (Hennie), Robert Lipton (Ralph), Leo Fuchs (Jacob), Milton Selzer (Myron), Martin Ritt (Uncle Morty), Ron Rifkin (Sam), and John Myhers (Schlosser). It was produced at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, in 1996. In 2006, Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. produced the show with the director (and Arena's founding artistic director) Zelda Fichandler in a production featuring Robert Prosky as Jacob, and featuring the adoption of Yiddish in the script that conforms to Odets's earlier version of the play,