No for an Answer

{{about||the band “No For An Answer”|No For An Answer}}

{{Infobox musical

| name = No For An Answer

| image = No-for-an-answer cast recording.png

| caption = Original cast recording

| staged by = W. E. Watts

| lyrics = Marc Blitzstein

| music = Marc Blitzstein

}}

No For An Answer is a musical play by Marc Blitzstein.Mantle, Burns, Editor, "The Best Plays of 1940-1941", Dodd, Mead & Company, p. 430 It was staged by W. E. Watts at Mecca Temple, west 55th Street, New York, on Sunday, January 5, 1941.{{cite web|url=http://www.ovrtur.com/production/2881341|title=No for an Answer|publisher=|accessdate=21 October 2014}} Although it was supposed to have a limited engagement, it ran for two additional Sundays. There was no scenery and Marc Blitzstein was at the piano. It was an experiment under an agreement between the Dramatists Guild and Actors Equity. The cast included Olive Deering, Lloyd Gough, Martin Wolfson, Norma Green, and Curt Conway. It marked the New York debut of Broadway icon, Carol Channing.{{cite web|url=http://www.marcblitzstein.com/pages/music/intros/no_1.htm|title=The Marc Blitzstein Web Site|publisher=|accessdate=21 October 2014}}{{cite news |last1=Nemy |first1=Enid |title=Carol Channing Dies at 97; a Larger-Than-Life Broadway Star |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/15/obituaries/carol-channing-dead.html |access-date=18 June 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=15 January 2019}} It was much discussed prior to its opening and Random House accepted it for publication just before its production.New York Times, March 7, 1940, p. 26 Brooks Atkinson stated in his review of the work in The New York Times, "it is very exciting in performance, which is all that matters."New York Times, January 6, 1941, p. 10 Although Aaron Copland called it one of "the most original works in that form composed in this county,"Gordon, Eric A., "Mark the Music: The Life and Work of Marc Blitzstein," St. Martin's Press, NY, p. 287 the play was a failure.Shout, John D., "The Musical Theater of Marc Blitzstein", American Music, vol. 3, no. 4, p. 420

After the first Sunday night performance, New York City License Commissioner Paul Moss issued a ban on further performances because the Mecca Temple lacked a theater license and the auditorium had many building violations. He warned that if anyone tried to present the show the following week, they would be stopped by police and firemen.Gordon, Eric A., "Mark the Music: The Life and Work of Marc Blitzstein," St. Martin's Press, NY, pp. 202-203

The work was not in step with the times and no one would underwrite a full production. A later concert performance in 1960 (Blitzstein again at the piano) constitutes the entire performance history of the piece during Blitzstein's lifetime. Howard Taubman reviewing the 1960 production for The New York Times, said, "it bogs down in a swamp of pedestrian cliches."New York Times, April 19, 1960, p. 40 The show finally received a fully staged production at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco on October 22, 2001.