''The Ritz'' is a comedic farce by

Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," ...

. Rita Moreno won a

Tony Award 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 cer ...

for her performance as Googie Gomez in the 1975 Broadway production, which she and many others of the original cast reprised in a 1976 film version directed by

Richard Lester Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for directing the Beatles' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and '' Help!'' (1965), and the superhero films ' ...

Plot

The farce is set in a

gay bathhouse A gay bathhouse, also known as a gay sauna or a gay steambath (uncommonly known as a gay spa), is a commercial space for gay, bisexual, and other men to have sex with men. In gay slang, a bathhouse may be called just "the baths", "the sauna", ...

in Manhattan, where unsuspecting businessman Gaetano Proclo, a heterosexual, has taken refuge from his homicidal brother-in-law Carmine Vespucci, a mobster. Gaetano stumbles across an assortment of oddball characters, including a rabid chubby chaser, go-go boys, a squeaky-voiced detective, and Googie Gomez, a third-rate entertainer with visions of Broadway glory who mistakes him for a famous producer and whom he mistakes for a man in drag. Further complications arise when Gaetano's wife, Vivian, tracks him down and jumps to all the wrong conclusions about his sexual orientation.

Production history

Original Broadway production

McNally was playwright-in-residence at Yale University, and while there, wrote a play titled ''The Tubs'', which was slang for the "baths". The play was presented at

Yale Repertory Theatre Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented student ...

in 1974. It was chosen to be produced on Broadway, but the title was changed because a play with a similar title ('' Tubstrip'' by

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. Career In addition to his fourteen solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1,600 albums. As a sideman, he h ...

) was playing in New York City. The ''Tubs'' title was also a nod to one of the jokes of the play, "an infatuation for overstuffed men by 'chubby chasers.'" ''The Ritz'' premiered on Broadway at the

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1913, it was desi ...

on January 20, 1975, and closed after 398 performances and 10 previews. Directed by

Robert Drivas Robert Drivas (born Robert Choromokos; November 21, 1935 – June 29, 1986) was an American actor and threatre director. Life and early career Drivas was born Robert Choromokos in Coral Gables, Florida, the son of Hariklia (née Cunningham-W ...

, the cast included

Jack Weston Jack Weston (born Morris Weinstein; August 21, 1924 – May 3, 1996) was an American actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1976 and a Tony Award in 1981. Career Weston, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, usually played comic roles in fi ...

(Gaetano), Rita Moreno (Googie),

Jerry Stiller Gerald Isaac Stiller (June 8, 1927 – May 11, 2020) was an American actor and comedian. He spent many years as part of the comedy duo Stiller and Meara with his wife, Anne Meara, to whom he was married for over 60 years until her death in 2015 ...

(Carmine Vespuci),

F. Murray Abraham F. Murray Abraham (born Murray Abraham; October 24, 1939) is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he came to prominence for his acclaimed leading role as Antonio Salieri in the drama film '' Amadeus'' (1984) for which he wo ...

(Chris),

Stephen Collins Stephen Weaver Collins (born October 1, 1947) is an American former actor and writer. He is known for playing Eric Camden on the television series '' 7th Heaven'' from 1996 to 2007. Afterwards, Collins played the roles of Dayton King on the ABC ...

(Michael Brick), and

George Dzundza George Dzundza ( ; born July 19, 1945) is an American television and film actor. Early life and education Dzundza was born in Rosenheim, Germany, to a Ukrainian-Jewish father, Roman Dzundza, originally from Kalush, Ukraine, and a Polish-Jewish m ...

(Abe)." 'The Ritz'"
playbillvault.com, accessed April 17, 2014 Moreno won the

and was nominated for a

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

for her performance, and the play received a Drama Desk nomination as Outstanding New American Play.

Revivals

The first Broadway revival of ''The Ritz'' opened in previews in May 1983 at Xenon, formerly

Henry Miller's Theatre The Stephen Sondheim Theatre, formerly Henry Miller's Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 124 West 43rd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Owned by the Durst Organization and managed by the Roundabout Theatre ...

, but closed after a single regular performance on May 2, 1983 and two weeks of previews. The play was directed by Michael Bavar and featured Taylor Reed as Gaetano, Casey Donovan as Brick, and

Holly Woodlawn Holly Woodlawn (October 26, 1946 – December 6, 2015) was a transgender Puerto Rican actress and Warhol superstar who appeared in the films ''Trash'' (1970) and '' Women in Revolt'' (1971). She is also known as the Holly in Lou Reed's hit glam r ...

as Googie Gomez, an
Mr. America Tom Terwilliger
as one of the bathhouse patrons A limited-run Broadway revival produced by the

Roundabout Theatre Company The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. History The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist, Michael Fried and Elizabet ...

began previews at

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was ...

on September 15, 2007, officially opening on October 11 and closing on December 9, 2007. Directed by

Joe Mantello Joseph Mantello (born December 27, 1962) is an American actor and director known for his work on Broadway productions of '' Wicked'', '' Take Me Out'', and ''Assassins'', having gained notoriety in the 1993 cast of ''Angels in America''. Early l ...

, the cast included

Rosie Perez Rosa Perez (born September 6, 1964) is an American actress, choreographer, dancer, and activist. Her breakthrough came with her portrayal of Tina in the film ''Do the Right Thing'' (1989), followed by ''White Men Can't Jump'' (1992). Perez's perf ...

as Googie Gomez,

Kevin Chamberlin Kevin Chamberlin (born November 25, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for his theatre roles such as Horton in ''Seussical'' and Uncle Fester in ''The Addams Family''. For his theatre work, he received three Tony Award and three Drama Desk ...

as Gaetano Proclo, and

Seth Rudetsky Seth Dennis Rudetsky (born February 28, 1967) is an American musician, actor, writer and radio host. He currently is the host of ''Seth's Big Fat Broadway'' and ''Seth Speaks'' on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio's '' On Broadway''. The show focuses on R ...

and

Ryan Idol Ryan Idol (born August 10, 1966) is an American gay pornographic film actor who performed in the 1990s and later onstage in mainstream theater. He has French, Irish, and Native American ancestry. Idol describes himself as "the creation of Marc ...

as bathhouse patrons. The play had been slightly rewritten. Due to

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, the baths are presented as an "abstract farce machine" and jokes about sexually transmitted diseases are dropped. The music includes a more current disco-style. Brantley, Ben
"Theater Review. 'The Ritz'"
''The New York Times'', October 12, 2007

Critical response

Mel Gussow Melvyn Hayes "Mel" Gussow (; December 19, 1933 – April 29, 2005) was an American theater critic, movie critic, and author who wrote for ''The New York Times'' for 35 years. Biography Gussow was born in New York City and grew up in Rockville ...

, in his review of the 1983 production 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 ...

'', wrote: "Of the three versions of the show I have seen, at the Yale Repertory Theater (under its original title, ''The Tubs''), on Broadway and at Xenon, this is easily the least amusing and the most overbearing...In the current production, the role oogieis undertaken by Holly Woodlawn, a transvestite actor of Andy Warhol movie fame. He is not bad, but he is not Googie. "

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...

reviewed the 2007 production for ''The New York Times'', writing: "This latest revival of 'The Ritz' is cute, cuddly and often oddly inert...Stripped of the amyl-nitrite-scented clouds of novelty that clung to it 32 years ago, the show is exposed as a friendly, conventional sitcom for the stage. And though it features ace performances by Ms. Perez and by Kevin Chamberlin as a visitor from the planet of the heteros, Joe Mantello’s direction rarely revs up to the dizzy velocity that farce demands." Peter Wolfe noted that, with ''The Ritz'', McNally's "command of stagecraft represents the advance he had in mind when he called his mature plays operas in contrast to the aria-like ambience of their predecessors."Wolfe, Peter. "Four. Caldron of Deceit", ''The Theater of Terrence McNally: A Critical Study'', McFarland, 2013, , p. 84

1976 film version

Weston, Moreno, Stiller, and Abraham reprised their stage roles in the 1976 film version directed by

. Also in the cast were

Kaye Ballard Kaye Ballard (November 20, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American actress, comedian, and singer. Early life Ballard was born Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four children born to Italian immigrant parents, Lena (née Nac ...

and

Treat Williams Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film '' Hair'', and la ...

. The film, Weston, and Moreno received Golden Globe nominations in the comedy category.

References

External links

Internet Broadway Database listing, all productions
*

at bathhouseaddict.com. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritz, The 1975 plays Broadway plays Plays by Terrence McNally LGBT-related plays