Night Music (play)

Night Music
Written by Clifford Odets
Date premiered February 22, 1940 (1940-02-22)
Place premiered Broadhurst Theatre
Original language English
Setting New York City

Night Music is a 1940 play by Clifford Odets. Written in 1939 and produced by the Group Theatre,[1] the play was a commercial failure, closing after 20 performances.[2][3]

The play's failure contributed to the dissolution of the Group Theatre.[4] Odets would ultimately spend several months in Hollywood, California in 1940 preparing a screenplay for Night Music, but the screenplay was never produced.[5] It was Odets' last play for the Group Theatre, which was closed in early 1941.[1]

The play, Odets' first attempt at comedy,[6] tells the story of Steve Takis, a young film studio employee who is sent to New York City to collect two trained monkeys and bring them back to Hollywood. One of the monkeys discards his wallet and identity papers, causing havoc, and Takis winds up in jail. He is befriended by a policeman, Detective Rosenberger, and falls in love with a young actress, Fay Tucker. In her 1990 book on the Group Theatre, Real Life Drama, author Wendy Smith called the plot premise "absurd" and described it as a serious flaw, along with the portrayal of Takis as hostile and arrogant.[6]

At the time of the production of Night Music, Group members were yearning for a commercial success that would keep the group alive, and were pinning their hopes on Odets.[6] Harold Clurman cast Group members Elia Kazan as Steve Tucker and Morris Carnovsky as Detective Rosenberger. Jane Wyatt, a stage actress but not a Group member, was cast as Fay Tucker. Other roles were played by Group Theater regulars, including Roman Bohnen, Sanford Meisner, Philip Loeb and Art Smith. Richard Conte, then using the name Nicholas Conte, appeared in a small role.[6][3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Stage Left: The Struggles of Clifford Odets". The New Yorker. April 17, 2006. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  2. ↑ Cantor, Harold (2000). Clifford Odets, Playwright-poet. Scarecrow Press. p. 98. ISBN 0810837323.
  3. 1 2 "Night Music – Broadway Play – Original". www.ibdb.com. The Broadway League. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  4. ↑ Hayes, Richard (2009). "Clifford Odets and the Movies" (PDF). Revista de Estudios Norteamericanos (14): 67–80. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Brenman-Gibson, Margaret (2002). Clifford Odets: American Playwright : the Years from 1906 to 1940. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 616. ISBN 1557834571.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Wendy (1990). Real life drama : the Group Theatre and America, 1931-1940 (1st ed.). New York: Knopf. pp. 394–400. ISBN 0394574451.
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