I Am a Camera
I Am a Camera | |
---|---|
Julie Harris as Sally Bowles Photograph by Carl Van Vechten, May 1952 | |
Written by | John Van Druten Adapted from the Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood |
Characters | Christopher Isherwood Fraulein Schneider Fritz Wendel Sally Bowles Natalia Landauer Clive Mortimer Mrs. Watson-Courtneidge |
Date premiered | November 28, 1951 |
Place premiered | Empire Theatre, New York City |
Subject | An English writer living in Berlin before the rise of the Hitler regime |
Genre | Drama |
Setting | A room in Fraulein Schneider's flat in Berlin 1930 |
I Am a Camera is a 1951 Broadway play by John Van Druten[1][2] adapted from Christopher Isherwood's 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin, which is part of The Berlin Stories. The title is a quotation taken from the novel's first page: "I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking."[3] The original production was staged by John Van Druten, with scenic and lighting design by Boris Aronson and costumes by Ellen Goldsborough.[1] It opened at the Empire Theatre in New York City on November 28, 1951 and ran for 214 performances before closing on July 12, 1952.[4]
The production was a critically acclaimed success for both
Tony Awards of her career for Best Leading Actress in a play, and for Marian Winters, who won both the Theatre World Award and Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Play. The play also won for John Van Druten the New York Drama Critics' Circle for Best American Play (1952).[4] It also earned the famous review by Walter Kerr, "Me no Leica".[5][6]
Original Broadway Cast (1951)
- Christopher Isherwood – William Prince
- Fraulein Schneider – Olga Fabian
- Fritz Wendel – Martin Brooks
- Sally Bowles – Julie Harris
- Natalia Landauer – Marian Winters
- Clive Mortimer – Edward Andrews
- Mrs. Watson-Courtneidge – Catherine Willard
Adaptations
- Film – Julie Harris, Laurence Harvey, and Shelley Winters.
- Broadway Musical – Hal Prince, book by Joe Masteroff, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, starring Jill Haworth, Bert Convy, Lotte Lenya, Jack Gilford, and Joel Grey.
- Film Musical – Michael York.
References
- ^ a b Van Druten, John (1951). I Am a Camera. Random House, Inc.
- ISBN 0822205459.
- ISBN 0811200701.
- ^ a b Playbill Vault. "I Am a Camera on Broadway". Retrieved October 27, 2013.
- ^ Botto, Louis."Quotable Critics" Playbill, May 28, 2008
- S2CID 145418943.
External links
- Media related to I Am a Camera at Wikimedia Commons
- I Am a Camera at the Internet Broadway Database