Play by
Ernest Thompson
The play focuses on Margaret Mary Elderdice, an aging, widowed pianist living in a dreary Upper West Side apartment, and her relationships with a prim, virginal violinist neighbor and the young companion who moves in for an extended stay.
Critics’ Reviews
Variety “Katharine Hepburn is virtually the whole show in (this play). And since she is a glittering star and one of the top box-office names of the current stage, the Ernest Thompson comedy-drama is an unquestioned hit. Hepburn is enormously winning as the besieged grand dame, a role she turns into an obvious and entirely acceptable version of her own public image. No normal playgoers could mistake the Hepburn characterization ? or not be beguiled by it. It is marvellously theatrical.”
Walter Kerr - The New York Times “One mysterious thing she has learned to do is breathe unchallengeable life into lifeless lines. She does it, or seems to do it, by giving the most serious consideration to every syllable she utters. There may have been a time when she coasted on mannerisms, turned on her rhythms into a form of rapid transit. That time is long gone.”
Cast Lists
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Opening Night Cast 1981 USA
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| Regina Baff …. Robin BirdLudi Claire …. Cara Varnum
(Standby)Katharine Hepburn …. Margaret Mary Elderdice Don Howard …. Glen Dabrinsky Dorothy Loudon …. Cara Varnum David Margulies …. Serge Barrescu Corinne Neuchateau …. Robin Bird (Understudy) Pat Santino …. Glen Dabrinsky (Understudy) …. Serge Barrescu (Understudy) |
Show Pictures
Run History
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Opening & Closing Dates
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Type & Version
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Theatre
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Nov 19, 1981-Mar 13, 1982
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Play / Original
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Ethel Barrymore Theatre,NY,USA |
Video
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Production Notes
Thompson was prompted to write the piece when screenwriter George Seaton offered him a grant to write a new play following the success of his previous work, On Golden Pond.
The play originally was presented off-Broadway in 1978. After three previews, the Broadway production, directed by Noel William, opened on November 19, 1981 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Despite the presence of screen legend Katharine Hepburn, supported by Dorothy Loudon, Regina Baff, and David Margulies, it ran for only 126 performances. Hepburn was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, but lost to Zoe Caldwell (Medea).
Thompson wrote the teleplay for and directed a CBS production that originally aired on Thanksgiving night in 1995. The cast included Shirley Maclaine, Liza Minnelli, Kathy Bates, Jennifer Grey, Estelle Harris, and Robert Pastorelli.
References
Internet Broadway Database listing
Internet Movie Database listing
A Curtain up Review Tea at Five