Play It Again Sam; the Noble Life of Sam Massel
| Play It Once more, Sam | |
|---|---|
 Meirav Shirom and Guri Alfi in Play It Again, Sam, 2010 | |
| Written by | Woody Allen |
| Date premiered | Feb 12, 1969 |
| Place premiered | Broadhurst Theatre New York City |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Romantic one-act |
| Setting | New York City, present |
Play It Again, Sam is a 1969 Broadway play written by and starring Woody Allen. A substantial hit, it ran for more than a year and helped build Allen's reputation every bit a performer who could portray a comedic romantic pb too as the neurotic persona for which he was all-time known at the time. The play became the basis for a 1972 film of the same proper name, starring Allen and directed by Herbert Ross.
Plot [edit]
The play is about a recently divorced film mag writer, Allan Felix, who is trying to restart his romantic life. Eventually he falls in beloved (and has a brief matter) with Linda, the wife of his all-time friend, Dick. During the course of the play, he repeatedly seeks communication from the ghost of his idol, Humphrey Bogart, but somewhen decides that he needs to exist himself rather than imitating Bogart. Telling Linda that the correct thing for her to exercise is to return to her husband, Felix quotes the famous lines that Bogart delivers to Ingrid Bergman in the last scene of Casablanca.
Cast [edit]
- Woody Allen as Allan Felix
- Sheila Sullivan as Nancy
- Jerry Lacy as Bogart
- Tony Roberts as Dick Christie
- Diane Keaton as Linda Christie
- Barbara Brownell every bit Dream Sharon/Barbara
- Diana Walker as Sharon Lake
- Jean Fowler equally Gina
- Cynthia Dalbey as Vanessa
- Lee Ann Fahey as Become Get Girl
- Barbara Press every bit Intellectual Girl
Production [edit]
Original production [edit]
After 2 previews, the Broadway production opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on Feb 12, 1969 and ran for 453 performances before closing on March fourteen, 1970. Directed past Joseph Hardy, the cast included Allen every bit Allan Felix, Diane Keaton as Linda Christie, Tony Roberts every bit Dick Christie, and Jerry Lacy as Bogart.[1] Allen left the show near the cease of its run and was replaced by Bob Denver.[2]
It was while auditioning for this play that Diane Keaton first met Woody Allen and they began their professional and personal relationship.[3]
London product [edit]
A production of Play It Once again, Sam opened at the World Theatre in London's Due west End on September xi, 1969, starring Dudley Moore. Australian actor Bill Kerr played the Humphrey Bogart role.[4]
Reception [edit]
The Broadway production received generally positive reviews, including several from critics who saw it as a tribute to Bogart.[5] [6] UPI critic Jack Gaver thought information technology was "an agreeable amusement" in which "[northward]othing of outcome happens".[7] On the other manus, New York's John Simon delivered a characteristically negative review, criticizing the "rawly autobiographical" content of the play as well equally Allen's performance in it.[8] Bob Denver's performance every bit Allen'southward tardily-run replacement was praised by New York Times critic Clive Barnes for conveying "a 18-carat clown-like wistfulness" that Barnes had found lacking in Allen.[2]
The production received three Tony Laurels nominations, for Hardy's direction and for the supporting performances of Keaton and Roberts.[ane]
The 1969 London product was later described in The Guardian'south 2002 obituary of Moore as "a mistakenly Anglicised version" of the play.[9] It received mixed reviews: The Daily Telegraph found Moore'southward "cuddly appeal" appropriate to the graphic symbol,[ix] only others thought Moore failed to capture the specifically "neurotic" image of "Jewish-American manhood" that the play required,[10] while The Spectator'south Hilary Spurling found Moore to be "trapped with a fairly measly supply of jokes in a glum, transatlantic no-human'due south-country" and "sadly unconvincing as a gormless twit".[11]
In his 2005 book, Acting Jewish: Negotiating Ethnicity on the American Phase & Screen, theater historian Henry Bial interpreted the play as 1 that "carries the banner for a Jewish masculinity that is explicitly assorted with both Bogart and the merely other male person character in the play, Dick". In more general terms, Bial notes that Allen'due south character, like Bogart, "overcame existence 'not also tall and kinda ugly' to succeed as a ladies' man."[5]
References [edit]
- ^ a b "Play It Again, Sam" at the Internet Broadway Database.
- ^ a b Adam Bernstein, "Bob Denver, 70; Brought Goofy One-act to Role every bit Television receiver's Gilligan", The Washington Post, September 7, 2005.
- ^ Diane Keaton, "The Big Picture" Archived 2014-03-31 at the Wayback Machine, Vogue, November 2011.
- ^ Simon Farquhar "Bill Kerr: Comedian and thespian who began every bit a child star and became best known working with the Goons and Tony Hancock", The Independent, 3 September 2014
- ^ a b Henry Bial, Acting Jewish: Negotiating Ethnicity on the American Stage & Screen (Academy of Michigan Press, 2005), ISBN 978-0472069088. Excerpts available at Google Books.
- ^ "Broadway Boxscore", Associated Printing in The Knickerbocker News, February 15, 1969.
- ^ Jack Gaver, "Lamentable Sack Woody Allen In Phase Debut As Sad Sack", The Pittsburgh Press, February fourteen, 1969.
- ^ John Simon, "Wishing Woody Wouldn't", New York, March 10, 1969.
- ^ a b Ronald Bergen, "Dudley Moore: Theatre and goggle box comic, classical musician and jazz original, and briefly an unexpectedly adorable Hollywood movie star", The Guardian, March 27, 2002.
- ^ Jeff Lenburg, Dudley Moore: An Informal Biography (iUniverse, 2001), ISBN 978-0595182688, pp. 43-44. Excerpts available at Google Books.
- ^ Hilary Spurling, "ARTS: Nut-and-apple case", The Spectator, September 19, 1969.
External links [edit]
- Play Information technology Again, Sam at the Net Broadway Database
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_It_Again,_Sam_(play)
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