P4 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe

From Stage lightS to Klieg lightSthe Journey From theater to Filmby amy levinSon

It Is not uncommon for some of Hollywood’s best films to find their sources in the theater. In recent years such plays as Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire, Doubt by John Patrick shanley and Farragut North (re-titled as The Ides of March) by Beau Willimon have made their way from the stage to the screen with stellar results. usually, though not always, playwrights adapt their own work for the screen which is part of why the work translates as well as it does. Here are a few examples of the ‘who and how’ involved with great adaptations for screens large and small.

Wait until DarKthe stage version of Wait Until Dark was written by frederick Knott in 1966, and had its world premiere that same year. only one year later, the film, under the same title, was directed by terence Young with an unforgettable score by Henry mancini. Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin starred with a supporting cast of richard crenna, Jack Weston and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. In this instance, the screenplay adaptation was not written by the playwright but by screenwriter robert carrington. Audrey Hepburn, in her portrayal of suzy, was nominated for an oscar but lost to Katherine Hepburn’s performance in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

forty-seven years after the play first premiered, Jeffrey Hatcher was commissioned by the Geffen to adapt Knott’s original play. now placed in 1944, Hatcher has captured all of the menace of Knott’s original but given an added richness to both the antagonists and protagonist. this production is the world premiere of Hatcher’s new adaptation of Wait Until Dark.

Dial m For murDerconsidered by some to be frederick Knott’s most successful play, Dial M for Murder would also become a famous film directed by none other than Alfred Hitchcock. A little known fact, prior to writing this for the stage, it was a BBc television production. It premiered at the Westminster theatre in Victoria, London, in June 1952. Directed by John fernald and starring Alan macnaughtan and Jane Baxter, this production was followed in october 1952 by a successful Broadway run. reginald Denham directed richard Derr, Gusti Huber and John Williams

Alan Arkin and Audrey Hepburn in the film adaptation of Wait Until Dark (1967) directed by terence Young.

who was awarded a tony for Best supporting Actor for his role as chief Inspector Hubbard. Hitchcock subsequently cast Williams to reprise the role in the film.

Knott wrote the screenplay for the 1954 Hollywood movie for Warner Brothers starring ray milland, Grace Kelly and robert cummings. In June 2008, the American film Institute revealed its “ten top ten” list — the best ten films in ten “classic” American film genres. Dial M for Murder was ranked the ninth best film in the mystery genre. Like Wait Until Dark, the transition into film was seamless. Knott became known for his strong female characters in peril and haunted his audiences as much with what we imagine as what we actually see with our own eyes. His plays and films were truly ground-breaking psychological thrillers.

Pygmalion & my Fair LADythe thriller genre certainly doesn’t corner the market on successful adaptations from stage to screen. George Bernard shaw wrote Pygmalion in the spring of 1912. A film, a Broadway musical and a musical film were to follow and would launch careers, break records and endure through the years as one of the best plays/musicals/films ever to be written. When shaw finished Pygmalion he decided upon mrs. Patrick campbell to play the lead. she proceeded to have a nervous break- down necessitating the postponement of the show. When it finally premiered in London in April 1914, shaw directed the production which proved to be a tumultuous experience. on a nightly basis at least one of the actors or shaw himself would storm out of rehearsal. In 1938, a film version of Pygmalion emerged that would serve as the structure for what would become Lerner and Loewe’s beloved musical play, My Fair Lady. this musical would turn out to be a game changer for a young actress by the name of Julie Andrews. the role of Eliza Doolittle had been offered first to mary martin while Higgins had been offered to noel coward. When coward and martin turned down the roles, rex Harrison and Julie Andrews were approached and accepted. After hearing only two songs from

the score, moss Hart agreed to direct the production. on opening night of the out of town tryout, rex Harrison, who was unaccustomed to singing in front of a live orchestra, announced “that under no circumstances would he go on that night ... with those thirty-two interlopers in the pit.” He locked himself in his dressing room and finally emerged with little more than an hour until curtain. But while he was now ready to go on, the rest of the cast had already been dismissed for the evening and the stage crew and producers still on hand were forced to go out and collect the actors from the neighborhood pubs. In the end, opening night was a success.1 the musical premiered on Broadway march 15, 1956, and closed september 29, 1962 after 2,717 performances, a record at the time.

An oscar-winning film version was made in 1964, directed by George cukor with Harrison reprising his role as Henry Higgins. the casting of Audrey Hepburn instead of Julie Andrews as Eliza was controversial, partly because theatergoers regarded Andrews as perfect for the part and partly because Hepburn’s singing voice had to be dubbed by marni nixon. Jack Warner, the head of Warner Brothers, who produced the film, wanted “a star with a great deal of name recognition,” and Julie Andrews had no screen experience at the time. Andrews went on to star in Mary Poppins that same year and beat out Audrey Hepburn for the oscar in the best actress category.

DoubtIn more recent years, an example of an extraordinary play that became an exceptional film is John Patrick shanley’s Doubt. the play, having premiered off-Broadway, moved to Broadway in march of 2005 and went on to win the tony for Best Play as well as the Pulitzer Prize. In addition, all four actors in the production, cherry Jones, Brian f. o’Byrne, Heather Goldenhersh and Adriane Lenox were nominated for tony Awards with wins for Jones and Lenox. three years later when the elegant film, written and directed by shanley, was released, once again the actors in the four main roles were lauded and nominated for oscars.

PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe P5

1 schreiber, Brad. Stop the show!: a history of insane incidents and absurd accidents in the theater (2006), thunder’s mouth Press, IsBn 1-56025-820-9, pp. 137–138

robert cummings, Grace Kelly and ray milland in the film Dial M for Murder (1954). Julie Andrews and rex Harrison in the Broadway production of My Fair Lady (1956).