The Man Who Came to Dinner

The Man Who Came to Dinner is a comedy in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. It then enjoyed a number of New York and London revivals.

The play is set in the small town of Mesalia, Ohio in the weeks leading to Christmas in the 1930s. The exposition reveals that the famously outlandish radio wit Sheridan Whiteside of New York City was invited to dine at the house of rich factory owner Ernest W. Stanley and his family. However, before Whiteside enters the house, he slips on a patch of ice outside the front door and injures his hip. He is attended by Dr. Bradley, the absent-minded town physician, and Miss Preen, his frantic nurse.

Influence of Alexander Woollcott

Kaufman and Hart wrote the play as a vehicle for their friend Alexander Woollcott, the model for the lead character Sheridan Whiteside.^[1] At the time the play was written Woollcott was famous both as the theater critic who helped re-launch the career of the Marx Brothers and as the star of the national radio show The Town Crier. Woollcott was well liked by both Kaufman and Hart, but that did not stop him from displaying the obnoxious characteristics displayed by Whiteside in the play. Kaufman and Hart had promised a vehicle for Woollcott but had been unable to find a plot that suited them until one day Woollcott showed up, unannounced, at Hart's Bucks County estate, and proceeded to take over the house. He slept in the master bedroom, terrorized Hart's staff, and generally acted like Sheridan Whiteside. On his way out he wrote in Hart's guest book, "This is to certify that I had one of the most unpleasant times I ever spent." Hart related the story to Kaufman soon afterwards. As they were both laughing about it, Hart remarked that he was lucky that Woollcott hadn't broken his leg and become stuck there. Kaufman looked at Hart and the idea was born.

Woollcott was delighted with the play and was offered the role for its Broadway debut. With his busy schedule of radio broadcasts and lectures he declined and Monty Woolley played the part. Woollcott did play Whiteside in the West Coast version of the play, and was even joined by Harpo Marx, who portrayed his own referenced character, Banjo.

The printed edition of the play starts with the inscription "To Alexander Woollcott, for reasons that are nobody's business."

Other influences

Beverly Carlton was modeled after Noel Coward.

Banjo was modeled after Harpo Marx, and there is a dialogue reference to Marx's brothers Groucho and Chico. When Sheridan Whiteside talks to Banjo on the phone, he asks him, "How are Wackko and Sloppo?"

The song "What Am I To Do" was written by Cole Porter specifically for the play.

Harriet Stanley, the alias for Harriet Sedley, is an obvious reference to the famed Massachusetts murderer Lizzie Borden. The popular jump-rope rhyme referencing Borden, with her name replaced with that of Harriet Sedley, is repeated in the play.

Original cast

The original cast is listed below, as billed.

• Mrs. Ernest W. Stanley ....... Virginia Hammond
• Miss Preen ................... Mary Wickes
• Richard Stanley .............. Gordon Merrick
• June Stanley ................. Barbara Wooddell
• John ......................... George Probert
• Sarah ........................ Mrs. Priestley Morrison
• Mrs. Dexter .................. Barbara Adams
• Mrs. McCutcheon .............. Edmonia Nolley
• Mr. Stanley .................. George Lessey
• Maggie Cutler ................ Edith Atwater
• Dr. Bradley .................. Dudley Clements
• Sheridan Whiteside ........... Monty Woolley
• Harriet Stanley .............. Ruth Vivian
• Bert Jefferson ............... Theodore Newton
• Professor Metz ............... LeRoi Operti
• The Luncheon Guests .......... Phil Sheridan, Charles Washington, William Postance
• Mr. Baker .................... Carl Johnson
• Expressman ................... Harold Woolf
• Lorraine Sheldon ............. Carol Goodner
• Sandy ........................ Michael Harvey
• Beverley Carlton ............. John Hoysradt
• Westcott ..................... Edward Fisher
• Radio Technicians ............ Rodney Stewart, Carl Johnson
• Banjo ........................ David Burns
• Deputies ..................... Curtis Karpe, Phil Sheridan
• A Plainclothes Man ........... William Postance

Film adaptation

The production was adapted for a 1942 feature film, scripted by Philip G. Epstein and Julius J. Epstein and directed by William Keighley. The film featured Monty Woolley, Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Billie Burke, Jimmy Durante, Mary Wickes and Richard Travis. It had its world premiere at the Capitol Theater in Paragould, Arkansas.

Radio adaptation

In 1949, The Man Who Came to Dinner was produced for CBS Radio for The Hotpoint Holiday Hour. The production starred Charles Boyer, Jack Benny, Gene Kelly, Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Rosalind Russell.

It was also adapted for the Lux Radio Theater on March 27, 1950, starring Clifton Webb as Sheridan Whiteside]] and Lucille Ball as Maggie Cutler. The show was hosted by William Keighley, who directed the 1942 film adaptation.

Musical adaptation

The play and subsequent film served as the basis for the 1967 musical Sherry!, with a book and lyrics by James Lipton and music by Laurence Rosenthal.

Television adaptation

A Hallmark Hall of Fame production, adapted by Sam Denoff and Bill Persky and directed by Buzz Kulik, was broadcast by NBC on November 29, 1972. The production starred Orson Welles, who was "a marvelous friend" of Woollcott's and had been offered the role of Sheridan Whiteside in both the original stage production and the 1942 film; he later said he was "very smart [to have declined]; because if you've seen the film you'll know it was awful and there was no way for anybody to be good in it."^[2] Welles's costars were Lee Remick (Maggie Cutler), Joan Collins (Lorraine Sheldon), Don Knotts (Dr. Bradley), and Marty Feldman (Banjo). The New York Times criticized Denoff's updating of the original play (Welles's Whiteside was a television personality competing with Johnny Carson) and listed the production in its 1972 "Worst of Television" list.^[3]

Broadway revivals

A 1980 revival directed by Stephen Porter ran for 19 previews and 85 performances at the Circle in the Square Theatre. The cast included Ellis Rabb, Roderick Cook, Leonard Frey, Carrie Nye, and Jamey Sheridan. Drama Desk Award nominations went to Cook for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play and Nye for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play.

A 2000 revival, which ran for 85 performances, was produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company and directed by Jerry Zaks. The cast included Nathan Lane (Sheridan Whiteside), Jean Smart (Lorraine Sheldon), Harriet Sansom Harris (Maggie Cutler), and Lewis J. Stadlen (Banjo). In an interview prior to the opening, Lane said, "There's a danger in playing Whiteside. In the movie, Monty Woolley's portrayal at times came across as mean for mean's sake. It's when it gets nasty or bitchy that it goes off in the wrong direction."^[1] He suggested that his performance was influenced by Woollcott's repressed sexuality, stating, "He had a lot of...things he didn't want to deal with."^[1]

The 2000 production received mixed reviews. Variety, The Advocate and Talkin' Broadway reviewed it positively,^[4][5][6] and Entertainment Weekly gave the production a B+, calling it "as fresh a send-up as an SNL sketch and [with] an even more inspired plot" and singling out Smart's "swanning demonstration of ultimate showbiz phoniness" for praise.^[7] In The New York Times, however, Ben Brantley disliked the production, writing that "What should be a buoyant balloon of an evening [is] more often an exercise in deflation." Brantley praised Stadlen but found most of the acting, including Lane's, to be "a series of flourishes that sell individual jokes and epigrams without being anchored to character."^[8] Smart was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play and Stadlen was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, though neither won. The production was broadcast by PBS on October 7, 2000, three days after the New York production closed, and was released on DVD.

References

External links

• The Man Who Came to Dinner at the Internet Broadway Database