A Message from Arnold Mittelman After a career in not-for-profit and commercial theater spanning more than 40 years I was honored in 2007 to found the National Jewish Theater / Foundation and in 2010 to assume leadership of its Holocaust Theater International...
I Am a Camera
Author(s): John Van Druten
Sally Bowles struggles with her enormously theatrical personality as German life changes during the Nazis’ rise to power. Mr. Isherwood acts as narrator for her story and a “camera” for Sally’s life.
Format: Full-length drama
Cast Size:3M/4F
Character breakdown:
Christopher Isherwood
Fraulein Schneider
Fritz Wendel
Sally Bowles
Natalia Landauer
Clive Mortimer
Mrs. Watson-Courtneidge
Snapshot
Original or Prominent Production:
The original production was staged by John Van Druten, with scenic and lighting design by Boris Aronsonand costumes by Ellen Goldsborough. It opened at the Empire Theatre in New York City on November 28, 1951 and ran for 214 performances before closing on July 12, 1952. The production was a critically acclaimed success for both Julie Harris as the insouciant Sally Bowles, winning her the first of four Tony Awards of her career for Best Leading Actress in a play, and for Marian Winters, who won both the Theatre World Award and Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Play. The play also won for John Van Druten the New York Drama Critics' Circle for Best American Play (1952). However it also earned the famous review by Walter Kerr, "Me no Leica".
The original production was staged by John Van Druten, with scenic and lighting design by Boris Aronsonand costumes by Ellen Goldsborough. It opened at the Empire Theatre in New York City on November 28, 1951 and ran for 214 performances before closing on July 12, 1952. The production was a critically acclaimed success for both Julie Harris as the insouciant Sally Bowles, winning her the first of four Tony Awards of her career for Best Leading Actress in a play, and for Marian Winters, who won both the Theatre World Award and Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Play. The play also won for John Van Druten the New York Drama Critics' Circle for Best American Play (1952). However it also earned the famous review by Walter Kerr, "Me no Leica".
Original Source Material: Adapted from Christopher Isherwood's novel Goodbye to Berlin, which is part of The Berlin Stories. The title is a quote taken from the novel's first page: "I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking."
Nationality of Author: English
Original Language: English
Publisher:
Production Rights Holder:
HTC Insights
Views, reference and research of interest.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The National Jewish Theater Foundation presented its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award to Alfred Uhry. The presentation took place as part of the Lincoln Center Library event on January 27th 2025 in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the 80th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz
Lifetime Achievement Award
On September 30, 2024, French playwright, Mr. Jean Claude Grumberg received the Lifetime Achievement Award. It was presented by NJTF HTII President, Arnold Mittelman with Dominique Trimbur, PhD-Manager for the History of Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, Teaching of the Holocaust of Fondation Pour La Memoir de la Shoah Project.