WEILL, KURT. (1900‑1950). German‑born, American composer of The Threepenny Opera, Mahagonny and other stage works. TLS. (“Kurt Weill”). 1p. Narrow 4to. Suffern, October 7, 1940. To English actress GERTRUDE LAWRENCE (1898-1952).
“Thanks a lot for your letter. I am awfully sorry that this road tour is so strenuous for you and in reading your letter I realized that it would really be very difficult for you to start rehearsals on our play the same day you are closing Skylark. As you know I talked immediately to Sam Harris and Moss about this matter. We all had hoped that you could quit this road tour a bit earlier, but since that does not seem possible, we all agreed that we should make it possible for you to get a two weeks’ rest, and we decided therefore to postpone rehearsals, for your sake, until December 2nd, although you can imagine how tough that is for us. Your husband told me that you would like to have somebody to check up on your voice during your two weeks vacation in November. I am always somewhat afraid of singing teachers because I have seen them spoil the individual qualities of natural voices in many cases (and I think you have a wonderful natural voice). I think what you want is somebody who would help you to relax your voice after the hardships of this road tour. I got very good reports about Clarissa Bates (222 Central Park South) who has done just this kind of work with very good results. I hear that she has prepared Jane Pickens for the Ed Wynn show and that everybody was very satisfied. Do you want me to talk to her? In the meantime, I will ask some more people because I would like to find the best person for you. I am working on the orchestration of the score now and the show looks very good. In a few weeks Ira will come back because there is still some work to do. I hope to hear back from you. Please take care of yourself…”