''Paris Is Out!'' is a 1970 Broadway comedy by Richard Seff that starred

Sam Levene Sam Levene (born Scholem Lewin; August 28, 1905 – December 28, 1980) was a Russian Empire-born American Broadway, film, radio, and television actor and director. In a career spanning over five decades, he appeared in over 50 comedy and dram ...

and

Molly Picon Molly Picon ( yi, מאָלי פּיקאָן; born Malka Opiekun; February 28, 1898 – April 5, 1992) was an American actress of stage, screen, radio and television, as well as a lyricist and dramatic storyteller. She began her career in Yidd ...

as Daniel and Hortense Brand, a married couple planning a vacation. The Broadway production ran for 96 performances after 16 previews at the

Brooks Atkinson Theatre The Lena Horne Theatre (previously the Mansfield Theatre and the Brooks Atkinson Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 256 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1926, it was designed by Herbert ...

between February 2 and April 18, 1970. The Broadway play was produced by David Black in association with

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

and directed by Paul Aaron. Trump invested $70,000 in the production (). Prior to his role as lead producer of ''Paris Is Out!'', Black had been general manager of five Broadway shows and producer of 16 Broadway shows, including ''

George M! ''George M!'' is a Broadway musical based on the life of George M. Cohan, the biggest Broadway star of his day who was known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway." The book for the musical was written by Michael Stewart, John Pascal, and Francine P ...

'' with

Joel Grey Joel Grey (born Joel David Katz; April 11, 1932) is an American actor, singer, dancer, photographer and theatre director. He is best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the musical '' Cabaret'' on Broadway as well as in the 1972 fi ...

and

Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters ( ''née'' Lazzara; born February 28, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo co ...

; ''

The Impossible Years ''The Impossible Years'' is a 1965 comedy play written by Robert Fisher and Arthur Marx, son of comedian Groucho Marx. After two previews, the Broadway production, directed by Arthur Storch, opened on October 13, 1965, at the Playhouse Theatre, ...

'' first starring Alan King and replaced by Broadway star

; ''

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 BC), specifica ...

'' starring

Phil Silvers Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly sixty years. Silvers achieved major popu ...

; ''Ready When You Are, CB!'' with

Julie Harris Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary stage work, she received five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play. Harris debuted on Broadway in 1945, against the wish ...

, among others) among other shows. Seff said of Trump, who was making his first and only investment in a Broadway production, "He seemed to like to be in the theater but I think he looked at it more like real estate, like a business venture, period. He was a very sweet young man at 24." Legendary Theatre Critic

Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theatre critic. He worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his ...

observed the play was "A delightful family comedy in which Molly Picon and Sam Levene are in top form". Since Atkinson had recently retired as the Theatre Critic for

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

the quote could not be used in promotions as Atkinson did not want to undermine his replacement. Theatre Critic

Clive Barnes Clive Alexander Barnes (13 May 1927 – 19 November 2008) was an English writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977, he was the dance and theater critic for ''The New York Times'', and, from 1978 until his death, ''The New York Post.'' Barnes had sign ...

reviewed a Saturday matinee performance of the play for

stating "I pitied it more than I disliked it", and described it as "a bad play". Barnes' review stated "What must be made instantly clear is that 'Paris Is Out!' is a bad play, not an incompetent play. It is trivial and silly. Yet I know some people who might enjoy it more than 'King Lear'. Although Barnes was critical of the play itself, he had praise for its two stars, stating: On February 22, 1970, a review by

Walter Kerr Walter Francis Kerr (July 8, 1913 – October 9, 1996) was an American writer and Broadway theatre critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals as well as the author of several books, genera ...

for the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' featured the headline "Paris is Out Can Leave Kerr Out". Kerr wrote that "Paris is Out is not exactly what those who hate it take it to be. (I neither hated it I simply sat there and looked at it)". Kerr lauded Sam Levene's starring performance describing him as "blessedly funny, as he practically can't help being, no matter what curmudgeonly things he is called upon to do." The box office gross of the original Broadway production increased each of the eleven weeks it was open, yet an

Easter Sunday Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

blizzard forced the closure of ''Paris Is Out'' along with two others Broadway plays,

Art Buchwald Arthur Buchwald (October 20, 1925 – January 17, 2007) was an American humorist best known for his column in ''The Washington Post''. At the height of his popularity, it was published nationwide as a syndicated column in more than 500 newspaper ...

's ''Sheep on the Runway'' and a revival of

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

's ''

Private Lives ''Private Lives'' is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It concerns a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetuall ...

'' with

Tammy Grimes Tammy Lee Grimes (January 30, 1934 – October 30, 2016) was an American film and stage actress. Grimes won two Tony Awards in her career, the first for originating the role of Molly Tobin in the musical '' The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' and the ...

and Brian Bedford. The play has since been successfully revived in tours and dinner theatre, and it broke records in a run at Philadelphia's Playhouse in the Park (Philadelphia), Playhouse in the Park with its original co-star Picon.

Pat O'Brien Pat O'Brien may refer to: Politicians * Pat O'Brien (Canadian politician) (born 1948), member of the Canadian House of Commons *Pat O'Brien (Irish politician) (c. 1847–1917), Irish Nationalist MP in the United Kingdom Parliament Others *Pat O'Br ...

and his wife toured with ''Paris Is Out'' for 48 weeks, another tour starred

Ann B. Davis Ann Bradford Davis (May 3, 1926 – June 1, 2014) was an American actress. She achieved prominence for her role in the NBC situation comedy '' The Bob Cummings Show'' (1955–1959), for which she twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outs ...

Cast

as Daniel Brand *

as Hortense Brand *Gwyda DonHowe as Charlotte Grael * Terry Kiser as Roger Brand *Zina Jasper as Arlene Kander *

Laryssa Lauret Laryssa Kukrycka Lysniak Lauret (August 9, 1939 – July 5, 2015) was an American actress of Ukrainian descent. She worked on Broadway and off Broadway, as well as in television in long-running roles, such as Dr. Karen Werner in '' The Doctors'' a ...

as Hellevi Gessnehr *Dorothy Sands as Hattie Fields *Gary Tigerman as Andrew Grael

References

External links

* {{Trump businesses 1970 plays Broadway plays Business career of Donald Trump Comedy plays