Enter Laughing
Enter Laughing is a 1963 play by Joseph Stein.
A farce in two acts, it is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Carl Reiner. The action centers on the journey of young aspiring actor David Kolowitz as he tries to extricate himself from overly protective parents (who want him to be a married pharmacist) and two too many girlfriends, while struggling to meet the challenge of his lack of talent in 1930s New York City.
The Broadway production opened on March 13, 1963, and ran for over a year. It marked the Broadway directorial debut of Gene Saks.[1] The cast included Alan Arkin, Vivian Blaine, Sylvia Sidney, Michael J. Pollard, and Alan Mowbray. Arkin won a Tony for his performance.
Original cast
In order of appearance:[2]
- Irving Jacobson as Mr. Foreman
- Alan Arkin as David Kolowitz
- Michael J. Pollard as Marvin
- Meg Myles as Miss B.
- Charles Randall as Pike
- Pierre Epstein as Don Baxter
- Walt Wanderman as Don Darwin
- Alan Mowbray as Marlowe
- Vivian Blaine as Angela
- Sylvia Sidney as Mother
- Marty Greene as Father
- Barbara Dana as Wanda
- Shimen Ruskin as Waiter
- Monroe Arnold as Roger
- Tom Gorman as Lawyer
Reception
Enter Laughing opened March 13, 1963 at
Arkin won both the
Adaptations
Reiner co-wrote the screenplay with Stein for the 1967 film version, directed by Reiner and starring Reni Santoni as David, José Ferrer as Marlowe, Shelley Winters as Mrs. Kolowitz, and Elaine May as Angela.
The play served as the basis for the ill-fated 1976 musical So Long, 174th Street.
Enter Laughing was revived Off-Broadway as a musical in 2008 by The York Theatre Company. With music and lyrics by Stan Daniels, the production starred Josh Grisetti for a limited run. The New York Times praised the revival as "hilarious"[7] and Variety reviewer Steven Suskin wrote that "portions bordered on the hysterical".[8] Like Arkin in 1963, Grisetti won the 2009 Theatre World Award for his performance.[6]
Enter Laughing: The Musical was revived again Off-Broadway by The York Theatre Company in 2019; running from May 7, 2019, to June 23, 2019. The 2019 revival featured: Raji Ahsan, Farah Alvin, Dana Costello, Ray DeMattis, Chris Dwan, Alison Fraser, Magnes Jarmo, Michael Kostroff, Paul Kreppel, Robert Picardo, Nathan Salstone, David Schramm, Allie Trimm and Joe Veale.[9]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7864-5309-2.
- ISBN 978-0-573-60864-3.
- ^ Howard Taubman (March 15, 1963). "The Theater: 'Enter Laughing'" (PDF). New York Times. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
- ISBN 978-1-55783-264-1.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-1798-8.
- ^ a b "Theatre World Award Recipients". Theatre World Awards. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
- ^ Neil Genzlinger (September 16, 2008). "An Innocent in Love and Show Business". Theater. New York Times. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
- ^ Steven Suskin (September 10, 2008). "Review: Enter Laughing". Variety. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
- ^ "Enter Laughing: The Musical". yorktheatrecompany. Retrieved 2019-06-22.