''Getting Away with Murder'' is a play written by Stephen Sondheim and

George Furth George Furth (born George Schweinfurth; December 14, 1932 – August 11, 2008) was an American librettist, playwright, and actor. Life and career Furth was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of George and Evelyn (née Tuerk) Schweinfurth. He was ...

, which ran for 17 performances on Broadway in 1996.

Overview

The action centers on seven well-to-do patients of an eminent psychiatrist meeting for their weekly group therapy session. During a fierce

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

thunderstorm, the patients arrive and soon discover that their doctor, Dr. Conrad Bering, has been murdered. Wanting to avoid bad publicity, "the patients conduct their own investigation amid power blackouts, sightings of phantom figures on the terrace outside, and enigmatic messages on the doctor's

answering machine An answering machine, answerphone or message machine, also known as telephone messaging machine (or TAM) in the United Kingdom, UK and some Commonwealth countries, ansaphone or ansafone (from a trade name), or telephone answering device (TAD), ...

." Each of the characters is named based on the seven deadly sins, for example Dossie Lustig and Pamela Prideaux.Jones, Chris
"Nobody Is Getting Away With This `Murder'"
''Chicago Tribune'', September 20, 1999 The building is vacant except for Dr. Bering, because it is going to be renovated.

Background

In an interview with Anthony Shaffer, Sondheim shared the background of the play: "In ''Getting Away With Murder,'' I started from what I wanted for a first-act curtain. It's hard to talk about it without giving something away. But there is a mystery, there is a solution and there is in the truest sense of the word a detective. It's just that it doesn't manifest itself in the usual way.... I had this plot idea, which I mentioned to George, because I thought it should be sharp and funny and very New York... because the plotting gets fairly complex in the second act, he urthbogged down. So I wrote that act and then we started to edit each other's stuff. The collaboration became blended as we went over each other's work. I suspect in two years we won't know who wrote which lines. We wrote it for fun. I had never intended or expected that it would get on."

Production

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 previews at the

Broadhurst Theatre The Broadhurst Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for the Shubert brothers. The Bro ...

on February 20, 1996. After 29 previews the show opened on March 17 and closed on March 31 after 17 performances. The cast featured

John Rubinstein John Rubinstein (born December 8, 1946) is an American actor, composer and director. Early life Rubinstein is the son of Polish parents. His mother, Aniela (née Młynarska), a dancer and writer, was a Roman Catholic native of Warsaw, the dau ...

Terrence Mann Terrence Vaughan Mann (born July 1, 1951) is an American theatre, film and television actor. He is best known for his appearances on the Broadway stage, which include Chester Lyman in '' Barnum'', Rum Tum Tugger in ''Cats'', Javert in '' Les ...

Christine Ebersole Christine Ebersole (born February 21, 1953) is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in film, television, and on stage. She starred in the Broadway musicals '' 42nd Street'' and ''Grey Gardens'', winning two Tony Awards. She has co- ...

, Jodi Long, Herb Foster (Dr. Conrad Bering),

Frankie Faison Frankie Russel Faison (born June 10, 1949) is an American actor known for his role as Deputy Commissioner, and, later, Commissioner, Ervin Burrell in the HBO series ''The Wire'', as Barney Matthews in the ''Hannibal Lecter'' franchise, and as Su ...

Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...

(voice), George Furth (voice),

Michelle Hurd Michelle Hurd (born December 21, 1966) is an American actress best known for her work in television. She first received recognition for portraying Monique Jeffries in the police procedural series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (1999–2 ...

, and

Josh Mostel Joshua Mostel (born December 21, 1946) is an American actor with numerous film and Broadway credits. The son of Zero Mostel, he is best known for his supporting roles in films such as ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' (1973), '' Harry and Tonto'' (1974 ...

. According to Chris Jones, reviewing a regional production in 1999, the play "had a troubled gestation period, with frantic script changes during the tryout and preview period to change the fate of the murderer."

''The Doctor Is Out'' (1995)

The play was originally produced in 1995 at the

Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which i ...

(San Diego) as ''The Doctor Is Out'', from September 10 to October 21, directed by Jack O'Brien. O'Brien remained the director when the show later moved to Broadway.

Critical response

The ''Variety'' reviewer wrote of the Old Globe production: "Ultimately though, the focus of this show is on the two authors, who use a conventional murder-mystery form to create a darkly humorous exploration of evil and corruption. You won’t miss the songs from this Sondheim show, but you might just miss the powerful human insight and emotional power of his best shows."Taylor, Jonathan
''The Doctor Is Out''
'' ''Variety'', September 18, 1995 Stefanie Buettner, in commentary for ''The Sondheim Review'' wrote: "The actors, who are all about as big a Broadway star as one can be nowadays, make for a terrific ensemble cast, the set is spectacular, and there is even some appropriately creepy background music. The writing is not great prose, but who expects great drama in a thriller? Of course, you have to take this play for what it is: it's not probing into the depth of the human soul, it also won't be in line for the next Pulitzer - but that's fine with me."Buettner, Stefanie
"Thoughts on 'Getting Away'"
sondheim.com, accessed September 11, 2015

References

External links

*
''Getting Away with Murder''
theater review by Jeremy Gerard for ''Variety'' (17 March 1996)
A Most Sinister Gathering of Not-So-Usual Suspects
theater review by

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

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 d ...

'' (18 March 1996){{subscription required
Getting Away with Murder
script and performance rights from

Dramatists Play Service Dramatists Play Service (also known as The Play Service) is a theatrical-publishing and licensing house, established in 1936 by members of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Society for Authors' Representatives. DPS publishes English-language ...

1996 plays Broadway plays Plays by George Furth Plays set in New York City Comedy thriller plays