The Bald Soprano
In 1954 Brooks returned to the United States to portray Tim Cavanaugh in Earl Robinson and Waldo Salt's original musical "Sandhog". After the show closed in January 1955, Brooks helped found the theater production company Rooftop Productions. With the company he helped produce the U.S. premieres of Beckett's "Endgame", Ionesco's "The Bald Soprano" and Joyce's "Ulysses in Nighttown", all Off-Broadway. He was also active as a director for Off-Broadway productions, and worked with Leonard Bernstein on his 1955 opera "Trouble in Tahiti".