ABSTRACT
The Me Nobody Knows (Off-Broadway 1969; Broadway 1970) transformed an anthology of student writings from New York City ghettos into a modular, revue-format musical. This essay examines the racial and educational politics behind the anthology and musical. It explores the adaptation process as the creative team reconciles the utopian conventions of musical theater and the real-world effects of racism, urbanization, and poverty. Ultimately, the essay demonstrates how commercial musical theater—a genre that typically provides audience pleasure through emotional music and uplifting or at least compelling stories—deals with authentic child experience and the guilt of socially produced trauma.
