 The play opened for tryouts in New Haven , Connecticut on March 22 , 1945 . The first act was well @-@ received ; the second act was not . Casto recalled that the second act finished about 1 : 30 a.m. The staff immediately sat down for a two @-@ hour conference . Five scenes , half the ballet , and two songs were cut from the show as the result . John Fearnley commented , " Now I see why these people have hits . I never witnessed anything so brisk and brave in my life . " De Mille said of this conference , " not three minutes had been wasted pleading for something cherished . Nor was there any idle joking . ... We cut and cut and cut and then we went to bed . " By the time the company left New Haven , de Mille 's ballet was down to forty minutes . 
