''Holiday'' is a 1928 play by
Philip Barry which was twice adapted to film. The original play opened in New York on November 26, 1928, at the
Plymouth Theatre and closed in June 1929, after 229 performances. It was directed by
Arthur Hopkins
Arthur Hopkins (October 4, 1878 β March 22, 1950) was a well-known Broadway theater director and producer in the early twentieth century. Between 1912 and 1948, he produced and staged more than 80 plays β an average of more than two per year β ...
, set design by
Robert Edmond Jones
Robert Edmond Jones (December 12, 1887 – November 26, 1954) 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 scenic elem ...
, and costume design by Margaret Pemberton.
Synopsis
The story follows Johnny Case, a corporate lawyer on Wall Street. He has abundant financial prospects but little social background. Before the start of the play, Julia, the eldest daughter of the Seton family, has met Johnny at
Lake Placid. During the ten-day trip, they have fallen in love and are to be married. But there is one person who does not want the marriage this quickly: Julia's father, Edward, who questions Johnny's life's goal "to retire early and work late."
After Johnny makes $25,000, he plans to go away and enjoy life while he is still physically capable. The stock market being what it is in 1928, stocks keep climbing and climbing. Johnny achieves his goal and announces his plans even as Julia's father is announcing the engagement. Julia is upset at his decision; she wants a proper house in town and a place in the country. Now the woman Johnny met and fell in love with at Lake Placid is gone; she is just as materialistic as her father.
Production
Produced and directed by
Arthur Hopkins
Arthur Hopkins (October 4, 1878 β March 22, 1950) was a well-known Broadway theater director and producer in the early twentieth century. Between 1912 and 1948, he produced and staged more than 80 plays β an average of more than two per year β ...
, Philip Barry's ''Holiday'' opened November 26, 1928 at the
Plymouth Theatre. The three-act comedy featured scenic design by
Robert Edmond Jones
Robert Edmond Jones (December 12, 1887 – November 26, 1954) 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 scenic elem ...
and costume design by Margaret Pemberton. It closed in June 1929 after 229 performances.
Cast
* Hope Williams as Linda Seton
* Ben Smith as Johnny Case
*
Dorothy Tree
Dorothy Tree (born Dorothy Estelle Triebitz, May 21, 1906 – February 13, 1992) was an American actress, voice teacher and writer. She appeared in a wide range of character roles in at least 49 films between 1927 and 1951.
Her roles includ ...
as Julia Seton
*
Monroe Owsley
Monroe Righter Owsley (August 11, 1900 β June 7, 1937) was an American stage and film actor.
Early years
The son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Owsley, he was born in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was a manufacturing executive, and his mother was a c ...
as Ned Seton
* Barbara White as Susan Potter
*
Donald Ogden Stewart
Donald Ogden Stewart (November 30, 1894 β August 2, 1980) was an American writer and screenwriter best known for his sophisticated golden age comedies and melodramas such as '' The Philadelphia Story'' (based on the play by Philip Barry), '' T ...
as Nick Potter
* Walter Walker as Edward Seton
* Rosalie Norman as Laura Cram
* Thaddeus Clancy as Seton Cram
* Cameron Clemens as Henry
* J. Ascher Smith as Charles
* Beatrice Ames as Delia
Katharine Hepburn was the understudy to Williams.
Accolades
''Holiday'' was included in
Burns Mantle
Robert Burns Mantle (December 23, 1873February 9, 1948) was an American theater critic. He founded the ''Best Plays'' annual publication in 1920.Chansky, Dorothy (2011)"Burns Mantle and the American Theatregoing Public" in ''Theatre History Stu ...
's ''The Best Plays of 1928β29''.
Adaptations
The play was adapted for film twice: The first filmed
''Holiday'' was released
in 1930. Directed by
, it starred
Ann Harding
Ann Harding (born Dorothy Walton Gatley; August 7, 1902 β September 1, 1981) was an American theatre, motion picture, radio, and television actress. A regular player on Broadway and in regional theater in the 1920s, in the 1930s Harding was ...
,
Mary Astor
Mary Astor (born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 β September 25, 1987) was an American actress. Although her career spanned several decades, she may be best remembered for her performance as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in '' The Maltese ...
,
Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton Jr. (March 18, 1886 – September 29, 1970) was an American character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television, and voice work for animated cartoons.
Early life
Horton was born in Kings County ...
,
Robert Ames and
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...
. ''
Holiday'' was filmed again
in 1938. Directed by
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 β January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head ...
, this version starred
Katharine Hepburn,
Cary Grant
Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...
,
Doris Nolan,
Lew Ayres
Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 β December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul BΓ€umer in the film '' All Quiet on the Western Fr ...
, and
Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton Jr. (March 18, 1886 – September 29, 1970) was an American character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television, and voice work for animated cartoons.
Early life
Horton was born in Kings County ...
, who reprised his role from the 1930 film. Donald Ogden Stewart wrote the screenplay adaptation, receiving an Academy Award.
Revivals
The revival went up on December 3, 1995, at the
Circle in the Square Theatre
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, in the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is one of two Broadway theaters that use a thrust stage that extends ...
and closed on January 14, 1996, after 50 performances. It was directed by David Warren, sets by
Derek McLane Derek McLane (born June 14, 1958, in London, England) is an American set designer for theatre, opera, and television. He graduated with a BA from Harvard College and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
Career
McLane has designed more than 350 pr ...
, costumes by
Martin Pakledinaz
Martin Pakledinaz (September 1, 1953 β July 8, 2012) was an American costume designer for stage and film.
He won his Tony Awards for designing the costumes for '' Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and the 2000 revival of ''Kiss Me, Kate'', which ...
, lighting by
Donald Holder
Donald Holder is an American lighting designer in theatre, opera and dance based in New York. He was born in 1962. He has been nominated for fourteen Tony Awards, winning the 1998 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design as well as the Drama Desk Awar ...
, sound and score by
John Gromada
John Gromada (born February 22, 1964) is a prolific, award-winning composer and sound designer. He is best known for his many scores for theatrical productions in New York on and off-Broadway and in regional theatres. Broadway plays he has scored i ...
, and style/movement by Loyd Williamson. The cast featured
Tony Goldwyn
Anthony Howard Goldwyn (born May 20, 1960) is an American actor, singer, producer, director, and political activist. He made his debut appearing as Darren in the slasher film '' Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' (1986), and had his breakthr ...
as Johnny Case,
Laura Linney as Linda Seton,
Kim Raver
Kimberly Jayne Raver (born March 15, 1969) is an American actress and producer. She is best known for television roles as Dr. Teddy Altman on ABC's medical drama '' Grey's Anatomy'', Kim Zambrano on '' Third Watch'', and Audrey Raines on '' ...
as Julia Seton, Jim Oyster as Henry, Reese Madigan as Charles,
Reg Rogers
Reg Rogers (born December 23, 1964) is an American stage, film, and television actor, known for his roles in '' Primal Fear'' and '' Runaway Bride'' and for the TV miniseries ''Attila''. He also appears in theater, both on Broadway and Off-Broadw ...
as Ned Seton, Tom Lacy as Edward Seton, Rod McLachlan as Seton Cram, Becca Lish as Laura Cram, Michael Countryman as Nick Potter, and Anne Lange as Susan Potter.
[
]
References
External links
* {{IBDB show , 4450 , Holiday
1928 plays
Broadway plays
Plays by Philip Barry
Manhattan in fiction
American plays adapted into films
Plays set in New York City