''Barefoot in the Park'' is a romantic comedy by
Neil Simon
Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...
. The play premiered on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in 1963, starring
Robert Redford and
Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ann Cole, known professionally as Elizabeth Ashley (born August 30, 1939) is an American actress of theatre, film, and television. She has been nominated for three Tony Awards, winning once in 1962 for '' Take Her, She's Mine''. Ashle ...
. It was made into
a film in 1967, which starred Redford and
Jane Fonda.
Productions
''Barefoot in the Park'' had a pre-Broadway production under the title ''Nobody Loves Me'' at the
Bucks County Playhouse
THE BUCKS COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE
The Bucks County Playhouse is located in New Hope, Pennsylvania.
When the ''Hope Mills'' burned in 1790, the grist mills were rebuilt as the ''New Hope Mills,'' by Benjamin Parry. The town was renamed for the mills.
...
in New Hope, PA.
The play opened on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
at the
Biltmore Theatre on October 23, 1963, and closed on June 25, 1967, after 1,530 performances. It was Neil Simon's longest-running hit, and the tenth-longest running non-musical play in Broadway history. The cast included
Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ann Cole, known professionally as Elizabeth Ashley (born August 30, 1939) is an American actress of theatre, film, and television. She has been nominated for three Tony Awards, winning once in 1962 for '' Take Her, She's Mine''. Ashle ...
(Corie),
Robert Redford (Paul),
Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick (June 19, 1905 – October 25, 1994) was an American actress. She won a Primetime Emmy Award and was nominated for an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.
Early life
Natwick was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Mildre ...
(Mrs. Banks), and
Kurt Kasznar
Kurt Kasznar (born Kurt Servischer; August 13, 1913 – August 6, 1979) was an Austrian-American stage, film and television actor who played roles on Broadway, appearing in the original Broadway productions of '' Waiting for Godot'', ''The ...
(Victor Velasco); the director was
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...
. Scenic design was by Oliver Smith, costumes by
Donald Brooks
Donald Brooks (January 9, 1928 – August 1, 2005) was an American fashion designer and creator of the "American Look" founded in the 1950s and 1960s. He had an immense passion for stage and film, designing well over 3500 costumes. His effo ...
, and lighting by
Jean Rosenthal
Jean Rosenthal (born Eugenia Rosenthal; March 16, 1912May 1, 1969) is considered a pioneer in the field of theatrical lighting design. She was born in New York City to Romanian-Jewish immigrants. northern.edu, retrieved May 20, 2009Fippin, CaroBio ...
. The play was nominated for four 1964
Tony Awards
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...
, with Nichols winning the award for Best Direction of a Play.
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...
starred as Mrs. Banks opposite
Joan Van Ark
Joan Van Ark (born June 16, 1943) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Valene Ewing on the primetime soap opera '' Knots Landing.'' A life member of The Actors Studio, she made her Broadway debut in 1966 in ''Barefoot in the ...
as Corie and
Richard Benjamin
Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known film productions, including ''Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth; ''Catch-22'' (1970), fro ...
as Paul in the national tour during the time the play was still on Broadway. Beginning in 1978,
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the '' Road to...'' movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing ...
spent three years playing Mrs. Banks in
dinner theatres around the country.
A revival opened on Broadway at the
Cort Theater on February 16, 2006, and closed on May 21, 2006, after 109 performances. The cast included
Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet (born January 11, 1972) is an American actress. She began her career with small parts on television, and made her feature film debut in '' Animal Room'' (1995). Her portrayal of Jill St. Claire in '' The Whole Nine Yards'' (2000) bro ...
(Corie),
Patrick Wilson
Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...
(Paul),
Jill Clayburgh
Jill Clayburgh (April 30, 1944 – November 5, 2010) was an American actress known for her work in theater, television, and cinema. She received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Ac ...
(Mrs. Banks), and
Tony Roberts (Victor). The revival was directed by Scott Elliott.
A revival production toured the United Kingdom in 2012. The cast included
Maureen Lipman
Dame Maureen Diane Lipman (born 10 May 1946) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespea ...
, Faye Castelow, Dominic Tighe, and
Oliver Cotton
Oliver Charles Cotton (born 20 June 1944) is an English actor, comedian and playwright, known for his prolific work on stage, TV and film. He remains best known for his role as Cesare Borgia in the BBC's 1981 drama series '' The Borgias''.
Early ...
. The play was directed by Lipman in partnership with
Peter Cregeen
Peter Cregeen (born 28 January 1940 in London, England) is a British television director, producer and executive. He was the original director of ITV's successful police drama, ''The Bill'', and made a substantial contribution to the series th ...
.
Plot
Corie and Paul Bratter are a newlywed couple. For their first home, they live in an apartment on the top floor of a
brownstone in New York City. Corie is optimistic about their future together, while Paul, the more anxious and grounded half of the couple, worries about the various flaws in the apartment, such as a hole in the skylight, their leaky closet, and the lack of a bathtub. Shortly after moving in, Corie attempts to set her mother up with their eccentric neighbor Mr. Velasco. During the course of four days, the couple learns to live together while facing the usual daily ups-and-downs. Corie wants Paul to become more easy-going: for example, to run "barefoot in the park".
Critical reception
According to theatre historian Jordan Schildcrout, "Most critics noted that ''Barefoot in the Park'' has 'a dime-a-dozen premise
ndvirtually no plot' (''Variety'') and 'is about nothing at all' (''Herald Tribune''). But they also praised Simon as a 'highly skilled professional writer' (''Herald Tribune'') who used this simple dramatic situation to create 'one of the funniest comedies ever' (''Life'')." Some critics credited director Mike Nichols for making the play "consistently funnier than its modest dialogue seemed to entitle it to be" (''New York Times'').
On the basis of strong reviews and even stronger word of mouth, the Broadway production became a sold-out hit, causing the Biltmore Theatre to double the number of staff in its box-office to deal with the demand for tickets.
Adaptations
Simon adapted his play for a
1967 feature film, starring Robert Redford,
Jane Fonda,
Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick (June 19, 1905 – October 25, 1994) was an American actress. She won a Primetime Emmy Award and was nominated for an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.
Early life
Natwick was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Mildre ...
and
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...
, with
Gene Saks
Gene Saks (born Jean Michael Saks; November 8, 1921 – March 28, 2015) was an American director and actor. An inductee of the American Theater Hall of Fame, his acting career began with a Broadway debut in 1949. As a director, he was nominated ...
, director.
A
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
based on the play began on ABC in September 1970. It was an African American situation comedy which ran for twelve weeks. The show featured
Scoey Mitchell and
Tracy Reed as a "young middle-class couple living in a New York City apartment and struggling through the first years of marriage."
[ This was one of two television series based on Neil Simon plays to debut on the network that month, the other being '']The Odd Couple Odd Couple may refer to:
Neil Simon play and its adaptations
* ''The Odd Couple'' (play), a 1965 stage play by Neil Simon
** ''The Odd Couple'' (film), a 1968 film based on the play
*** ''The Odd Couple'' (1970 TV series), a 1970–1975 televisi ...
''.
A production of ''Barefoot in the Park'' ran at the Moore Theater in Seattle for one week in late 1981; it was taped for a made-for-TV movie by HBO. The play—and movie—starred Richard Thomas as Paul, Bess Armstrong
Elizabeth Key "Bess" Armstrong (born December 11, 1953) is an American film, stage and television actress. She is best known for her roles in films '' The Four Seasons'' (1981), '' High Road to China'' (1983), ''Jaws 3-D'' (1983), and ''Nothing i ...
as Corie, Barbara Barrie
Barbara Barrie (born Barbara Ann Berman; May 23, 1931) is an American actress and author.
Her film breakthrough came in 1964 with her performance as Julie in the landmark film ''One Potato, Two Potato'', for which she won the Best Actress Awar ...
as Mrs. Banks, and Hans Conried
Hans Georg Conried Jr. (April 15, 1917 – January 5, 1982) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for providing the voices of George Darling and Captain Hook in Walt Disney's ''Peter Pan'' (1953), Snidely Whiplash in Jay Ward's '' Dud ...
as Velasco. It was initially telecast in March 1982. The reviewer for ''UPI
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...
'' wrote: "Richard Thomas—light years removed from the ''John Boy'' image of his youth—is superb as Paul Bratter, the buttoned-down young lawyer struggling to come to terms with the elfin free spirit with whom he finds himself honeymooning. Bess Armstrong glows in the role of his wife, Corie, but Barbara Barrie virtually walks away with the show as her bemused mother."
References
External links
*
*
{{Neil Simon
1963 plays
Broadway plays
American plays adapted into films
Plays by Neil Simon
Plays set in New York City