Broadway (play) explained

Broadway
Genre:Drama
Setting:The private party room of the Paradise Night Club, New York City
Place:Broadhurst Theatre,
New York City, New York
Orig Lang:English

Broadway is a 1926 Broadway play produced by Jed Harris and written and directed by George Abbott and Philip Dunning. It was Abbott's first big hit on his way to becoming "the most famous play doctor of all time" after he "rejiggered" Dunning's play.[1] The crime drama used "contemporary street slang and a hard-boiled, realistic atmosphere"[2] to depict the New York City underworld during Prohibition. It opened on September 16, 1926, at the Broadhurst Theatre and was one of the venue's greatest hits,[3] running for 603 performances.

Production

Written and directed by Philip Dunning and George Abbott, and produced by Jed Harris, Broadway opened September 16, 1926, at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City. The cast is listed in order of appearance:[4]

Broadway was a smash hit, running for 603 performances. In addition to having his first prominent stage role, cast member Joseph Calleia acted as the company's stage manager and, working for producer Jed Harris, he supervised some ten duplicate productions of Broadway in the United States and abroad.[5] [6]

Adaptations

Film

See main article: Broadway (1929 film). Carl Laemmle paid $225,000 for the film rights[7] in 1927, a sum that set a record.[8] Universal Pictures released Broadway on September 15, 1929.[9]

Television

A one-hour adaptation of Broadway starring Joseph Cotten and Piper Laurie aired May 4, 1955, on the CBS TV series The Best of Broadway.[10]

Revivals

A 1978 Broadway-bound revival of Broadway, directed by Robert Allan Ackerman and musical staging by Dennis Grimaldi closed during its Boston tryout.[11] A production directed by Abbott at the Great Lakes Theater Festival transferred to Broadway in 1987; it closed after three previews and four performances.[12] [13]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Theater: Director/Writer George Abbott, 1887-1995 . . February 13, 1995 . July 17, 2009.
  2. Book: Burt, Daniel S. . The chronology of American literature: America's literary achievements from the colonial era to modern times . 2004 . Houghton Mifflin . Boston . 0-618-16821-4 . pp. 377-378
  3. Web site: Broadhurst Theatre (Broadway) . playbill.com . July 16, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090501212035/http://www.playbill.com/reference/theatre_info/2156.html# . 2009-05-01 . dead .
  4. Web site: Broadway . Playbill Vault . 2018-04-25 .
  5. News: March 22, 1927 . Plan 10 Companies to Act 'Broadway' . The New York Times . 2018-04-25 .
  6. News: . Across from Malta. . October 21, 1934 . 2018-04-25 .
  7. Book: Barrios, Richard . A song in the dark: the birth of the musical film . 1995 . Oxford University Press . New York . 0-19-508811-5 . p. 95
  8. News: July 22, 1968 . Philip Dunning, Playwright, 76, Co-Author of 'Broadway,' Dies. . 2018-04-25 .
  9. Web site: Broadway . . . 2018-04-25 .
  10. Web site: Best of Broadway . The Classic TV Archive . August 30, 2019.
  11. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/30/archives/broadway.html?_r=0 Corry, John. "Broadway." The New York Times, June 30, 1978.
  12. News: Gussow . Mel . The Stage: George Abbott's 'Broadway' . 29 June 2023 . New York Times . 26 June 1987.
  13. Web site: Broadway – Broadway Play – 1987 Revival – IBDB . Internet Broadway Database . The Broadway League . 29 June 2023.

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