''Romantic Comedy'' is a play by

Bernard Slade Bernard Slade Newbound (May 2, 1930 – October 30, 2019) was a Canadian playwright and screenwriter. As a screenwriter, he created the sitcoms ''The Flying Nun'' and ''The Partridge Family''. As a playwright, he wrote '' Same Time, Next Year'', ...

, author of '' Same Time, Next Year''.

Overview

Phoebe Craddock and Jason Carmichael are playwrights who meet and decide to collaborate just as he is getting married. Their relationship produces first a failure and then a string of successes. Their repartée remains sharp and witty as their unrequited interest in each other gathers energy over a nine-year period, until some resolution finally is in sight.''Romantic Comedy''
samuelfrench.com, retrieved September 19,2017

Production

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 ...

on November 8, 1979 after 11 previews at the

Ethel Barrymore Theatre The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles ...

. It closed on October 18, 1980 after 396 performances. The play was directed by Joseph Hardy, with scenery by Douglas W. Schmidt, costumes by

Jane Greenwood Jane Greenwood (born 30 April 1934) is a British costume designer for the stage, television, film, opera, and dance. Born in Liverpool, England, she works both in England and the United States. She has been nominated for the Tony Award for costu ...

, and lighting by

Tharon Musser Tharon Myrene Musser (January 8, 1925 – April 19, 2009)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 ...

(Phoebe Craddock),

Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor, director, and singer. Perkins is best remembered for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller '' Psycho'', which made him an influential ...

(Jason Carmichael),

Carole Cook Mildred Frances Cook (born January 14, 1924), professionally known as Carole Cook is an American actress. known for appearances on ''The Lucy Show'' and ''Here's Lucy'' Life and career She was born Mildred Frances Cook on January 14, 1924, in ...

(Blanche Dailey),

Holly Palance Holly Kathleen Palance (born August 5, 1950) is an American former actress and journalist. She is perhaps best known for her role as the nanny of Damien Thorn in Richard Donner's ''The Omen'' (1976). Palance also appeared in Pete Walker's horr ...

(Allison St. James),

Greg Mullavey Greg Mullavey (born Gregory Thomas Mulleavy Jr., September 10, 1939) is an American film and television actor who has had roles as Tom Hartman in the television series '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' and Carly's grandfather in ''iCarly''. He has ...

(Leo Janowitz), and Deborah May (Kate Mallory). Keith Baxter (Jason Carmichael),

Karen Valentine Karen Valentine (born May 25, 1947) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as young idealistic schoolteacher Alice Johnson in the ABC comedy drama series ''Room 222'' from 1969 to 1974, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award f ...

(Phoebe Craddock) and

Benay Venuta Benay Venuta (born Benvenuta Rose Crooke, January 27, 1910 – September 1, 1995) was an American actress, singer and dancer. Early life Born in San Francisco, Venuta was a graduate of Hollywood High School. She attended finishing school in G ...

(Blanche Dailey) were replacements later. In 1983, Slade adapted his play for a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

directed by Arthur Hiller. The film starred

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...

and Mary Steenburgen. Earlier that year, the play opened in London at the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

with

Tom Conti Tommaso Antonio Conti (born 22 November 1941) is a Scottish actor, theatre director, and novelist. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1979 for his performance in '' Whose Life Is It Anyway?'' and was nominated for the Academy Aw ...

and

Pauline Collins Pauline Collins (born 3 September 1940) is a British actress who first came to prominence portraying Sarah Moffat in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971–1973) and its spin-off, '' Thomas & Sarah'' (1979). In 1992, she published her autobiography, ...

in the leads.

Reception

The ''New York Post'' wrote: "A darling of a play...zesty entertainment of cool wit and warm sentiment." John Simon, reviewing for the ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'', wrote: " ''Romantic Comedy'' almost makes up in comedy what it lacks in romance... Mia Farrow is quite good... Anthony Perkins desperately lacks charisma..."Simon, John
"Review"
''New York Magazine'', p. 90, November 26, 1979

References

* ''The Best Plays of 1979-1980'' (1980), New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, Inc.,

Notes

External links

* 1979 plays Plays by Bernard Slade Broadway plays American plays adapted into films Romantic comedy {{1970s-play-stub