Act One (play)
{{Short description|Play written by James Lapine}}
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Act One is a play written by James Lapine, based on Moss Hart's 1959 autobiography of the same title. The play premiered on Broadway in 2014.
Production
Act One premiered on Broadway
at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in Lincoln Center on March 20, 2014 (previews), officially on April 17, 2014. Directed by James Lapine, the cast featured Santino Fontana, Tony Shalhoub (as George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart) and Andrea Martin as Hart's theatrical agent Frieda Fishbein.Hetrick, Adam and Gioia, Michael. [http://www.playbill.com/article/act-one-stage-adaptation-of-moss-harts-theatrical-memoir-opens-on-broadway-april-17-com-217289# " 'Act One', Stage Adaptation of Moss Hart's Theatrical Memoir, Opens on Broadway April 17"], Playbill, April 17, 2014 Martin played three women in Moss Hart's life; Shalhoub also played three roles: as the older Hart, Moss's father, and George S. Kaufman.Brantley, Ben. [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/theater/several-moss-harts-are-in-act-one-at-lincoln-center.html?_r=0# "Several Moss Harts Are in 'Act One,' at Lincoln Center"] The New York Times, April 17, 2014 (in print April 18, 2014, p. C1) The play closed on June 15, 2014, after 67 performances and 31 previews. It was filmed to be shown on the PBS television program "Live from Lincoln Center."Hetrick, Adam. [http://www.playbill.com/article/curtain-comes-down-on-broadway-stage-adaptation-of-moss-harts-theatrical-memoir-act-one-com-322409# "Curtain Comes Down on Broadway Stage Adaptation of Moss Hart's Theatrical Memoir 'Act One'"] Playbill, June 15, 2014, accessed November 28, 2016 The filmed production was first televised on PBS in November 2015 & then uploaded to the Lincoln Center At Home Youtube page on June 19, 2020.Hetrick, Adam; Gioia, Michael. [http://www.playbill.com/article/act-one-with-santino-fontana-and-tony-shalhoub-will-air-on-pbs-in-november-com-366409# " 'Act One', With Santino Fontana and Tony Shalhoub, Will Air on PBS in November"], Playbill, October 8, 2015
The play had a reading on Martha's Vineyard in July 2012, with Tony Shalhoub, Debra Monk, Chuck Cooper and David Turner. The play was developed at the Vineyard Arts Project.Hetrick, Adam. [http://www.playbill.com/article/moss-harts-act-one-adapted-by-james-lapine-gets-starry-reading-with-debra-monk-and-tony-shalhoub-com-195897# "Moss Hart's 'Act One', Adapted by James Lapine, Gets Starry Reading With Debra Monk and Tony Shalhoub"], Playbill, July 21, 2012 The book had previously been adapted into a film in 1963.
Overview
The play is an adaptation of Moss Hart's autobiography Act One.[http://www.dramabookshop.com/act-one-moss-hart-adapted-and-directed-james-lapine-lcts-beaumont-theater-beginning-march-20-2014 Act One] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514071636/http://www.dramabookshop.com/act-one-moss-hart-adapted-and-directed-james-lapine-lcts-beaumont-theater-beginning-march-20-2014 |date=2014-05-14 }} Drama Book Store, accessed April 23, 2014 The play, narrated by the older Moss Hart, traces his life from being poor in The Bronx to becoming famous and successful as a Broadway writer and director. The play depicts Hart's meeting and collaboration with George S. Kaufman. Act One ends with the production of the Hart-Kaufman successful play, Once in a Lifetime in 1930.
Critical reception
Ben Brantley, in his review for The New York Times, wrote "whatever its flaws, 'Act One,'... brims contagiously with the ineffable, irrational and irrefutable passion for that endangered religion called the Theater."
Elysa Gardner, in her review in USA Today, wrote that the play "... is rather an appreciation, most notable for its deep affection and almost deferential reverence. To say the play lacks the complex poignance of the 'Sunday in the Park with George' and 'Into the Woods' librettist's best work wouldn't be fair; however wry Hart's humor or complicated his relationships — with show business, his family, other people — his 'Act One' is a nostalgic and ultimately upbeat reflection on fulfilling a dream....Lapine captures that essence and the period, on the page and on the stage."Gardner, Elysa. [https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/theater/2014/04/17/broadway-review-act-one/7770965/ "Lapine salutes Moss Hart's first act, affectionately"], USA Today, April 18, 2014
The play received nominations for five Tony Awards, with Beowulf Boritt winning for what Playbill called his "captivating, multi-level set design, built on a large-scale revolve..."
Awards and nominations
=Original Broadway production=
| class="wikitable" width="95%" |
| width="5%"| Year
! width="25%"| Award ceremony ! width="40%"| Category ! width="20%"| Nominee ! width="10%"| Result |
|---|
| rowspan="11" align="center"| 2014
| rowspan="5"| Tony Award | {{nom}} |
| Best Actor in a Play
| {{nom}} |
| Best Scenic Design of a Play
| {{won}} |
| Best Costume Design of a Play
| {{nom}} |
| Best Sound Design of a Play
| {{nom}} |
| Drama Desk Award
| Outstanding Sound Design of a Play |Dan Moses Schreier | {{nom}} |
| Drama League Award
| Distinguished Performance | {{nom}} |
| rowspan=4|Outer Critics Circle Award
| colspan=2|Outstanding New Broadway Play | {{nom}} |
| Outstanding Actor in a Play
| Tony Shalhoub | {{nom}} |
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
| {{won}} |
| Outstanding Set Design
| Beowulf Boritt | {{nom}} |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IBDB title|494913}}
- [http://www.lct.org/showMain.htm?id=224 Lincoln Center Listing]
- {{Playbill production|/act-one-vivian-beaumont-theater-vault-0000014027}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20131021062041/http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/14027/Act-One archive])