The Iceman Cometh
Encyclopedia
The Iceman Cometh is a play
written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill
in 1939. First published in 1940 the play premiered on Broadway
at the Martin Beck Theatre on 9 October 1946, directed by Eddie Dowling
where it ran for 136 performances to close on 15 March 1947.
saloon
and rooming house, in 1912. The patrons, who are all men except for three women who are prostitutes, are all dead-end alcoholics
who spend every possible moment seeking oblivion in each others' company and trying to con or wheedle free drinks from Harry and the bartenders. They drift without purpose from day to day, coming fully to life only during the semi-annual visits of the salesman Theodore Hickman, known to them as Hickey. When Hickey finishes a tour of his business territory, which is apparently a wide expanse of the East Coast, he typically turns up at the saloon and starts the party. As the play opens, the regulars are expecting Hickey to turn up in time for Harry's birthday party. The first act introduces the various characters and shows them bickering amongst each other, showing just how drunk and delusional they are, all the while waiting for the arrival of Hickey.
Joe Mott is the only African American member of the group and is the former owner of a black casino. He insists he will soon re-open the casino.
Cecil "The Captain" Lewis is a former infantryman of the British Army
who fought Piet "The General" Wetjoen, a Boer, during the Boer War
. The two are now good friends and each insists they'll soon go back to their nations of origin.
Harry Hope is the proprietor of the bar and, though he is constantly saying otherwise, has a tendency to give out free drinks. He has not left the bar since his wife Bess's death 20 years ago. He promises that he'll take a walk around the block on his birthday, the next day.
Pat McGloin is a former police lieutenant who was convicted on criminal charges and kicked out of the force. He says he is hoping to be reinstated, but is waiting for the right moment.
Rocky Pioggi is the night bartender, but is paid little and makes his living mostly by allowing Pearl and Margie to stay at the bar in exchange for all the money they make. He despises being called a pimp.
Ed Mosher is Harry's brother-in-law, Bess's brother. He is a former circus box-office man and con-man who prides himself on his ability to give incorrect change. He kept too much of his illegitimate profits to himself and was fired, but says he will get his job back someday.
Hugo Kalmar is a former editor of anarchist periodicals who often quotes the Old Testament. He is drunk and passed out for a majority of the play and is constantly asking the other patrons to buy him a drink.
James "Jimmy Tomorrow" Cameron is a former British newspaper correspondent. He is constantly daydreaming about getting his old job back again tomorrow, hence his nickname.
Chuck Morello is the day bartender and Cora's boyfriend. He says that he will marry her tomorrow.
Pearl and Margie are two prostitutes who work for Rocky.
Cora is a third prostitute and is Chuck's girlfriend.
Finally Hickey arrives and his behavior throws the other characters into turmoil. He insists, with as much charisma as ever, but now together with the zeal of a recent convert, that he sees life clearly now as never before, because he is sober. Hickey wants the characters to cast away their delusions and embrace the hopelessness of their fates. He takes on this task with a near-maniacal fervor. How he goes about his mission, how the other characters respond, and their efforts to find out what has wrought this change in Hickey take over four hours to resolve.
During and after Harry's birthday party most seem to have been somewhat affected by Hickey's ramblings. Larry pretends to be unaffected but, when Don reveals he was the informant responsible for the arrest of his own mother (Larry's former girlfriend), Larry rages at him; Willie decides McGloin's appeal will be his first case and Rocky admits he is a pimp.
Eventually, they all return and are jolted by a sudden revelation. Hickey, who had earlier told the other characters first that his wife had died and then that she was murdered, admits that he is the one who actually killed her. The police arrive, apparently called by Hickey himself, and Hickey justifies the murder in a dramatic monologue, saying that he did it out of love for her.
Hickey's father was a preacher in the backwoods of Indiana. Evidently he was both charismatic and persuasive, and it was inheriting these traits which led Hickey to become a salesman. An angry kid trapped in a small town, Hickey had no use for anyone but his sweetheart, Evelyn. Evelyn's family forbade her to associate with Hickey, but she ignored them. After Hickey left to become a salesman he promised he would marry Evelyn as soon as he was able. He became a successful salesman, then sent for her and the two were very happy until Hickey got tired of his wife always forgiving him for his whore-mongering and began to feel guilty. He next recounts how he murdered her, supposedly to free her from the pain of his constant philandering. But in retelling the murder itself he catches himself laughing and telling Evelyn, "well, you know what you can do with that pipe dream now, don't you?" In realizing he said this, Hickey breaks down completely. He realizes that he went truly insane and that people need their empty dreams to keep them going. The others agree and decide to testify for insanity during Hickey's trial despite Hickey begging them to let him get the death sentence.
The others all go back to their empty promises and pipe dreams except for Don and Larry. Don runs up to his room with the intention of jumping off the fire escape. Larry grimaces and listens at the window with his eyes closed. Don jumps and Larry's eyes are opened to the reality of his situation ("Be God, there's no hope! I'll never be a success...Life is too much for me!") and he is left wishing at last for his own death.
and socialism
. Hugo, Larry and Don are former members of an anarchist movement. Larry, who is now a bitter man who claims to be waiting for death, is approached by his ex-girlfriend's son, Don, at the beginning of the play, and Don remains at the bar.
Don admits that he informed the police of the illegal activities of his mother and other anarchists. He gives several reasons for this but later admits that they are not the real ones. He claims that he did it out of patriotism and then that he wanted the money, but finally admits that he did it because he hated his mother, who was so obsessed with her own freedom that she became too self-centered and often either ignored or dominated him. The conversations between Don and Larry are among the most emotional in the play. Some of these conversations also often involve Hickey, whose actions somewhat parallel Don's.
Two other characters are veterans of the Second Boer War
. One is British and one is Dutch. They alternately defend and insult each other, and there are many allusions to events in South Africa. Both wish to return to their home countries, but their families do not want them there. There is also an African-American character named Joe, who gives several speeches about racial differences.
The Iceman Cometh is often compared to Maxim Gorky
's The Lower Depths
, by which it has been suggested to have been inspired.
This massive undertaking is seldom staged. Even when O'Neill was alive, he delayed its performance on Broadway for seven years, fearing American audiences would reject it. O'Neill was at the height of his fame when he relented in 1946, and the production was a commercial success, though it received mixed reviews. The realistic, seedy language of some of its ne'er-do-well characters was a departure for O'Neill, who was known for writing plays with high-flown and melodramatic dialogue. This play tends to preserve O'Neill's typical passion and intensity while losing some of its aestheticism in the language, and risks a certain amount of redundancy as a result, so it is not surprising that some critics did not fully embrace it at first.
Another problem may have been the performance of James Barton as Hickey. Barton was reportedly not up to the massive emotional and physical demands of such a titanic part, sometimes forgetting his lines or wearing out his voice. Interestingly, the young Marlon Brando
was offered the part of Don Parritt in the original Broadway production, but famously turned it down. Brando later claimed to have read only a few pages of the script the producers gave him, and to have started an argument at the audition about the worth of the play and O'Neill's writing style – which ended with his rejecting the part, apparently in order just to seem consistent – rather than admit to his laziness.
and opened on October 9, 1946 and closed on March 15, 1947, after 136 shows. It was directed by Eddie Dowling
and production and lighting design by Robert Edmond Jones
. The cast starred James Barton (Theodore "Hickey" Hickman), Jeanne Cagney
(Margie), Leo Chalzel (Hugo Kalmar), Russell Collins (James "Jimmy Tomorrow" Cameron), Paul Crabtree (Don Parritt), Dudley Digges
(Harry Hope), Ruth Gilbert
(Pearl), Charles Hart (Lieb), Nicholas Joy (Cecil "The Captain" Lewis), Marcella Markham (Cora), Joe Marr (Chuck Morello), John Marriott
(Joe Mott), E. G. Marshall
(Willie Oban), Al McGranary (Pat McGloin), Tom Pedi (Rocky Pioggi), Carl Benton Reid (Larry Slade), Morton L. Stevens (Ed Mosher), Frank Tweddell (Piet "The General" Wetjoen), and Michael Wyler (Moran).
The play was mounted again Off-Broadway
in 1956, after O'Neill's death. This production, starring Jason Robards
as Hickey and directed by José Quintero
, was massively acclaimed, and the play was accepted as a true masterpiece. Robards won multiple awards for his performance, and went on to distinguish himself throughout his life as the leading interpreter of O'Neill's great male roles. He was most widely known for his film roles but repeatedly devoted his most serious energies to theatrical roles, and especially to O'Neill.
Robards's energetic performance was repeated for a 1960 television production of Play of the Week
for CBS
. Director John Frankenheimer
cast a more malevolent, coarse Lee Marvin
in his 1973 film version that had a 239-minute running time. One actor appeared in both versions: Tom Pedi, as Rocky the bartender. Some reviews at the time were unfavorable to Marvin, as he was generally associated with tough guy roles. The 1973 film was also notable for being Fredric March
's last screen role.
The show ran on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre
from December 13, 1973 to February 16, 1974.
The show was revived on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
and ran from September 29, 1985 to December 1, 1985.
The show was revived again on Broadway, this time at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre
and ran from April 8, 1999 to July 17, 1999.
The 2012 revival at Chicago's Goodman Theatre
will star Nathan Lane
in the lead role of Hickey, supported by Brian Dennehy
as Larry Slade, and directed by Robert Falls
. It will start its run at the Goodman Theatre in April 2012 and is currently slated for a six-week stand.
production again directed by Quintero
and featuring a cast that included Barnard Hughes
as Harry Hope and Donald Moffat
as Larry Slade.
Other noteworthy actors to play the role of Hickey include Lee Marvin
, in a 1973 film adaptation directed by John Frankenheimer
; James Earl Jones
, in a 1973 revival at the Circle in the Square Theatre that was edited for length and criticized for the weakness of its supporting cast; and Kevin Spacey
, who was lauded for his 1998-1999 stage rendition of the part in London's West End and then on Broadway. The play is now widely considered to have the dimensions of a true tragedy
, whereas many of O'Neill's earlier works would be more accurately characterized as melodrama
.
The 1973 film version featured many notable actors besides Lee Marvin, including Fredric March
as Harry, Robert Ryan
as Larry, Jeff Bridges
as Don, George Voskovec as General Wetjoen and Moses Gunn as Joe.
Awards
Nominations
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
in 1939. First published in 1940 the play premiered on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
at the Martin Beck Theatre on 9 October 1946, directed by Eddie Dowling
Eddie Dowling
Eddie Dowling was an American actor, screenwriter, playwright, director, producer, songwriter and composer....
where it ran for 136 performances to close on 15 March 1947.
Characters
- Night Hawk- captain of the police station.
- Harry Hope – proprietor of a saloon and rooming house
- Ed Mosher – Hope's brother-in-law, former circus man
- Pat McGloin – former police lieutenant
- Willie Oban – a Harvard Law School alumnus
- Joe Mott – a former proprietor of a Negro gambling house
- General Piet Wetjoen – former leader of a BoerBoerBoer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
commando - Captain Cecil Lewis – former Captain of British infantry
- James Cameron "Jimmy Tomorrow" – former Boer WarBoer WarThe Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
correspondent - Hugo Kalmar – former editor of anarchist periodicals
- Larry Slade – former Syndicalist-Anarchist
- Rocky Pioggi – night bartender
- Don Parritt - teenager, son of former Anarchist
- Pearl – street walker
- Margie – street walker
- Cora – street walker
- Chuck Morello – day bartender
- Theodore Hickman "Hickey" – a hardware salesman
- Moran - police detective
- Lieb - police detective
Plot summary
The Iceman Cometh is set in Harry Hope's decidedly downmarket Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
saloon
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
and rooming house, in 1912. The patrons, who are all men except for three women who are prostitutes, are all dead-end alcoholics
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
who spend every possible moment seeking oblivion in each others' company and trying to con or wheedle free drinks from Harry and the bartenders. They drift without purpose from day to day, coming fully to life only during the semi-annual visits of the salesman Theodore Hickman, known to them as Hickey. When Hickey finishes a tour of his business territory, which is apparently a wide expanse of the East Coast, he typically turns up at the saloon and starts the party. As the play opens, the regulars are expecting Hickey to turn up in time for Harry's birthday party. The first act introduces the various characters and shows them bickering amongst each other, showing just how drunk and delusional they are, all the while waiting for the arrival of Hickey.
Joe Mott is the only African American member of the group and is the former owner of a black casino. He insists he will soon re-open the casino.
Cecil "The Captain" Lewis is a former infantryman of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
who fought Piet "The General" Wetjoen, a Boer, during the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
. The two are now good friends and each insists they'll soon go back to their nations of origin.
Harry Hope is the proprietor of the bar and, though he is constantly saying otherwise, has a tendency to give out free drinks. He has not left the bar since his wife Bess's death 20 years ago. He promises that he'll take a walk around the block on his birthday, the next day.
Pat McGloin is a former police lieutenant who was convicted on criminal charges and kicked out of the force. He says he is hoping to be reinstated, but is waiting for the right moment.
Rocky Pioggi is the night bartender, but is paid little and makes his living mostly by allowing Pearl and Margie to stay at the bar in exchange for all the money they make. He despises being called a pimp.
Ed Mosher is Harry's brother-in-law, Bess's brother. He is a former circus box-office man and con-man who prides himself on his ability to give incorrect change. He kept too much of his illegitimate profits to himself and was fired, but says he will get his job back someday.
Hugo Kalmar is a former editor of anarchist periodicals who often quotes the Old Testament. He is drunk and passed out for a majority of the play and is constantly asking the other patrons to buy him a drink.
James "Jimmy Tomorrow" Cameron is a former British newspaper correspondent. He is constantly daydreaming about getting his old job back again tomorrow, hence his nickname.
Chuck Morello is the day bartender and Cora's boyfriend. He says that he will marry her tomorrow.
Pearl and Margie are two prostitutes who work for Rocky.
Cora is a third prostitute and is Chuck's girlfriend.
Finally Hickey arrives and his behavior throws the other characters into turmoil. He insists, with as much charisma as ever, but now together with the zeal of a recent convert, that he sees life clearly now as never before, because he is sober. Hickey wants the characters to cast away their delusions and embrace the hopelessness of their fates. He takes on this task with a near-maniacal fervor. How he goes about his mission, how the other characters respond, and their efforts to find out what has wrought this change in Hickey take over four hours to resolve.
During and after Harry's birthday party most seem to have been somewhat affected by Hickey's ramblings. Larry pretends to be unaffected but, when Don reveals he was the informant responsible for the arrest of his own mother (Larry's former girlfriend), Larry rages at him; Willie decides McGloin's appeal will be his first case and Rocky admits he is a pimp.
Eventually, they all return and are jolted by a sudden revelation. Hickey, who had earlier told the other characters first that his wife had died and then that she was murdered, admits that he is the one who actually killed her. The police arrive, apparently called by Hickey himself, and Hickey justifies the murder in a dramatic monologue, saying that he did it out of love for her.
Hickey's father was a preacher in the backwoods of Indiana. Evidently he was both charismatic and persuasive, and it was inheriting these traits which led Hickey to become a salesman. An angry kid trapped in a small town, Hickey had no use for anyone but his sweetheart, Evelyn. Evelyn's family forbade her to associate with Hickey, but she ignored them. After Hickey left to become a salesman he promised he would marry Evelyn as soon as he was able. He became a successful salesman, then sent for her and the two were very happy until Hickey got tired of his wife always forgiving him for his whore-mongering and began to feel guilty. He next recounts how he murdered her, supposedly to free her from the pain of his constant philandering. But in retelling the murder itself he catches himself laughing and telling Evelyn, "well, you know what you can do with that pipe dream now, don't you?" In realizing he said this, Hickey breaks down completely. He realizes that he went truly insane and that people need their empty dreams to keep them going. The others agree and decide to testify for insanity during Hickey's trial despite Hickey begging them to let him get the death sentence.
The others all go back to their empty promises and pipe dreams except for Don and Larry. Don runs up to his room with the intention of jumping off the fire escape. Larry grimaces and listens at the window with his eyes closed. Don jumps and Larry's eyes are opened to the reality of his situation ("Be God, there's no hope! I'll never be a success...Life is too much for me!") and he is left wishing at last for his own death.
Themes and political content
The play contains many allusions to political topics, particularly anarchismAnarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
and socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
. Hugo, Larry and Don are former members of an anarchist movement. Larry, who is now a bitter man who claims to be waiting for death, is approached by his ex-girlfriend's son, Don, at the beginning of the play, and Don remains at the bar.
Don admits that he informed the police of the illegal activities of his mother and other anarchists. He gives several reasons for this but later admits that they are not the real ones. He claims that he did it out of patriotism and then that he wanted the money, but finally admits that he did it because he hated his mother, who was so obsessed with her own freedom that she became too self-centered and often either ignored or dominated him. The conversations between Don and Larry are among the most emotional in the play. Some of these conversations also often involve Hickey, whose actions somewhat parallel Don's.
Two other characters are veterans of the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. One is British and one is Dutch. They alternately defend and insult each other, and there are many allusions to events in South Africa. Both wish to return to their home countries, but their families do not want them there. There is also an African-American character named Joe, who gives several speeches about racial differences.
The Iceman Cometh is often compared to Maxim Gorky
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
's The Lower Depths
The Lower Depths
The Lower Depths is perhaps Maxim Gorky's best-known play. It was written during the winter of 1901 and the spring of 1902. Subtitled "Scenes from Russian Life," it depicted a group of impoverished Russians living in a shelter near the Volga. Produced by the Moscow Arts Theatre on December 18,...
, by which it has been suggested to have been inspired.
Background
The play is one of O'Neill's most ambitious works, and bears the impression of having been written from a perspective of profound despair. It expresses the playwright's disillusionment with the American ideals of success and aspiration, and suggests that much of human behavior is driven by bitterness, envy and revenge. Despite the emotional difficulty of this play which may have decreased its popularity, fans of the play believe that all the characters are so well explored, with measured doses of wry humor, that the best productions are compelling. The suspense of discovering the true meaning and intentions of Hickey's character usually maintains the audience's interest.This massive undertaking is seldom staged. Even when O'Neill was alive, he delayed its performance on Broadway for seven years, fearing American audiences would reject it. O'Neill was at the height of his fame when he relented in 1946, and the production was a commercial success, though it received mixed reviews. The realistic, seedy language of some of its ne'er-do-well characters was a departure for O'Neill, who was known for writing plays with high-flown and melodramatic dialogue. This play tends to preserve O'Neill's typical passion and intensity while losing some of its aestheticism in the language, and risks a certain amount of redundancy as a result, so it is not surprising that some critics did not fully embrace it at first.
Another problem may have been the performance of James Barton as Hickey. Barton was reportedly not up to the massive emotional and physical demands of such a titanic part, sometimes forgetting his lines or wearing out his voice. Interestingly, the young Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
was offered the part of Don Parritt in the original Broadway production, but famously turned it down. Brando later claimed to have read only a few pages of the script the producers gave him, and to have started an argument at the audition about the worth of the play and O'Neill's writing style – which ended with his rejecting the part, apparently in order just to seem consistent – rather than admit to his laziness.
Productions
The original production was put up at the Martin Beck TheatreAl Hirschfeld Theatre
The Al Hirschfeld Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 302 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect G. Albert Lansburgh for vaudeville promoter Martin Beck, the theatre opened as the Martin Beck Theatre with a production of Madame Pompadour on November 11, 1924. It...
and opened on October 9, 1946 and closed on March 15, 1947, after 136 shows. It was directed by Eddie Dowling
Eddie Dowling
Eddie Dowling was an American actor, screenwriter, playwright, director, producer, songwriter and composer....
and production and lighting design by Robert Edmond Jones
Robert Edmond Jones
Robert Edmond Jones was an American scenic, lighting, and costume designer. He is credited with incorporating the new stagecraft into the American drama. His designs sought to integrate the scenic elements into the storytelling instead of having them stand separate and indifferent from the play’s...
. The cast starred James Barton (Theodore "Hickey" Hickman), Jeanne Cagney
Jeanne Cagney
Jeanne Carolyn Cagney was an American film and television actress.-Biography:She was born in New York City, the younger sister of film actor James Cagney and actor/producer William Cagney. She married Jack Morrison on June 6, 1953; they had two children...
(Margie), Leo Chalzel (Hugo Kalmar), Russell Collins (James "Jimmy Tomorrow" Cameron), Paul Crabtree (Don Parritt), Dudley Digges
Dudley Digges (actor)
Dudley Digges was an Irish stage and film actor.Digges was born in Dublin. He went to America with a group of Irish players in 1904, and became successful both as an actor and producer. For a time, he was stage manager to Charles Frohman and George Arliss...
(Harry Hope), Ruth Gilbert
Ruth Gilbert (actress)
Ruth Gilbert was an American actress, best known for her role as Alice in the first sound version of Alice in Wonderland in 1931, and as Max in The Milton Berle Show.-Career:...
(Pearl), Charles Hart (Lieb), Nicholas Joy (Cecil "The Captain" Lewis), Marcella Markham (Cora), Joe Marr (Chuck Morello), John Marriott
John Marriott (actor)
John Marriott was an American film and television actor.Marriott was born in Boley, Indian Territory which is now a part of Oklahoma. He died in Jamaica, Queens, New York City.-Selected filmography:...
(Joe Mott), E. G. Marshall
E. G. Marshall
E. G. Marshall was an American actor, best known for his television roles as the lawyer Lawrence Preston on The Defenders in the 1960s, and as neurosurgeon David Craig on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors in the 1970s...
(Willie Oban), Al McGranary (Pat McGloin), Tom Pedi (Rocky Pioggi), Carl Benton Reid (Larry Slade), Morton L. Stevens (Ed Mosher), Frank Tweddell (Piet "The General" Wetjoen), and Michael Wyler (Moran).
The play was mounted again Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
in 1956, after O'Neill's death. This production, starring Jason Robards
Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
as Hickey and directed by José Quintero
José Quintero
José Benjamin Quintero was a Panamanian theatre director, producer and pedagogue best known for his interpretations of the works of Eugene O'Neill.-Early years:...
, was massively acclaimed, and the play was accepted as a true masterpiece. Robards won multiple awards for his performance, and went on to distinguish himself throughout his life as the leading interpreter of O'Neill's great male roles. He was most widely known for his film roles but repeatedly devoted his most serious energies to theatrical roles, and especially to O'Neill.
Robards's energetic performance was repeated for a 1960 television production of Play of the Week
Play of the Week
Play of the Week is an American anthology series of televised stage plays which aired in NTA Film Network syndication from October 12, 1959 to May 1, 1961...
for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. Director John Frankenheimer
John Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films...
cast a more malevolent, coarse Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
in his 1973 film version that had a 239-minute running time. One actor appeared in both versions: Tom Pedi, as Rocky the bartender. Some reviews at the time were unfavorable to Marvin, as he was generally associated with tough guy roles. The 1973 film was also notable for being Fredric March
Fredric March
Fredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
's last screen role.
The show ran on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre
Circle in the Square Theatre
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre in midtown Manhattan on 50th Street in the Paramount Plaza building.The original Circle in the Square was founded by Paul Libin, Theodore Mann and Jose Quintero in 1951 and was located at 5 Sheridan Square in Greenwich Village...
from December 13, 1973 to February 16, 1974.
The show was revived on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 205 West 46th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by the architectural firm of Carrere and Hastings, it was built by producer Charles Dillingham and opened as the Globe Theatre, in honor of London's Shakespearean playhouse, on...
and ran from September 29, 1985 to December 1, 1985.
The show was revived again on Broadway, this time at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre
Brooks Atkinson Theatre
The Brooks Atkinson Theatre is a Broadway theater located at 256 West 47th Street in Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it was constructed as the Mansfield Theatre by the Chanin brothers in 1926. After 1933, the theatre fell into relative disuse until 1945, when Michael Myerberg...
and ran from April 8, 1999 to July 17, 1999.
The 2012 revival at Chicago's Goodman Theatre
Goodman Theatre
The Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of Chicago theatre, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization...
will star Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane is an American actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his roles as Mendy in The Lisbon Traviata, Albert in The Birdcage, Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers, Ernie Smuntz in MouseHunt, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...
in the lead role of Hickey, supported by Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy
Brian Mannion Dennehy is an American actor of film, stage and screen.-Early years:Dennehy was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Hannah and Edward Dennehy, who was a wire service editor for the Associated Press; he has two brothers, Michael and Edward. Dennehy is of Irish ancestry and was...
as Larry Slade, and directed by Robert Falls
Robert Falls
Robert Falls is an American theater director and the current Artistic Director of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.-Early years:Falls was born in Ashland, Illinois to Arthur Joseph Falls and Nancy Stribling...
. It will start its run at the Goodman Theatre in April 2012 and is currently slated for a six-week stand.
Adaptations
Robards starred in a 1960 live television version of the play, and returned to it in a 1985 BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production again directed by Quintero
José Quintero
José Benjamin Quintero was a Panamanian theatre director, producer and pedagogue best known for his interpretations of the works of Eugene O'Neill.-Early years:...
and featuring a cast that included Barnard Hughes
Barnard Hughes
Bernard Aloysius Kiernan “Barnard” Hughes was an American actor of theater and film. Hughes became famous for a variety of roles; his most notable roles came after middle age, and he was often cast as a dithering authority figure or grandfatherly elder.-Personal life:Hughes was born in Bedford...
as Harry Hope and Donald Moffat
Donald Moffat
Donald Moffat is an English-born actor, now a naturalized American citizen.-Early life:Moffat was born in Plymouth, Devon, the only child of Kathleen Mary and Walter George Moffat, who was an insurance agent. His parents ran a boarding house in Totnes...
as Larry Slade.
Other noteworthy actors to play the role of Hickey include Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
, in a 1973 film adaptation directed by John Frankenheimer
John Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films...
; James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
, in a 1973 revival at the Circle in the Square Theatre that was edited for length and criticized for the weakness of its supporting cast; and Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
, who was lauded for his 1998-1999 stage rendition of the part in London's West End and then on Broadway. The play is now widely considered to have the dimensions of a true tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
, whereas many of O'Neill's earlier works would be more accurately characterized as melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
.
The 1973 film version featured many notable actors besides Lee Marvin, including Fredric March
Fredric March
Fredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
as Harry, Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan
Robert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains.-Early life and career:...
as Larry, Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges
Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart....
as Don, George Voskovec as General Wetjoen and Moses Gunn as Joe.
Awards and nominations
Awards
- 1956 Vernon Rice Award for Best Production (Drama Desk Awards)
- 1999 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival of a Play
Nominations
- 1999 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play