''Broadway'' is a 1926

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

play produced by Jed Harris and written and directed by

George Abbott George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades. Early years Abbott was born in Forestville, New Y ...

and Philip Dunning. It was Abbott's first big hit on his way to becoming "the most famous play doctor of all time" after he "rejiggered" Dunning's play. The crime drama used "contemporary street slang and a hard-boiled, realistic atmosphere" to depict the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

underworld during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

. It opened on September 16, 1926, at the

Broadhurst Theatre The Broadhurst Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for the Shubert brothers. The Bro ...

and was one of the venue's greatest hits, running for 603 performances.

Production

Sylvia Field LOC 7314071234 (cleaned-up version)

Written and directed by Philip Dunning and George Abbott, and produced by Jed Harris, ''Broadway'' opened September 16, 1926, at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City. The cast is listed in order of appearance: * Paul Porcasi as Nick Verdis * Lee Tracy as Roy Lane * Clare Woodbury as Lil Rice * Ann Preston Bridgers as Katie * Joseph Calleia as Joe * Mildred Wall as Mazie Smith * Edith Van Cleve as Ruby * Eloise Stream as Pearl * Molly Ricardel as Grace * Constance Brown as Ann * Sylvia Field as Billie Moore * Robert Gleckler as Steve Crandall * Henry Sherwood as Dolph * William Foran as Porky Thompson * John Wray as Scar Edwards * Thomas Jackson as Dan McCorn * Frank Verigun as Benny * Millard Mitchell as Larry * Roy R. Lloyd as Mike ''Broadway'' was a smash hit, running for 603 performances. In addition to having his first prominent stage role, cast member Joseph Calleia acted as the company's stage manager and, working for producer Jed Harris, he supervised some ten duplicate productions of ''Broadway'' in the United States and abroad.

Adaptations

Film

Carl Laemmle Carl Laemmle (; born Karl Lämmle; January 17, 1867 – September 24, 1939) was a film producer and the co-founder and, until 1934, owner of Universal Pictures. He produced or worked on over 400 films. Regarded as one of the most important o ...

paid $225,000 for the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

rights in 1927, a sum that set a record.

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

released ''

'' on September 15, 1929.

Television

A one-hour adaptation of ''Broadway'' starring Joseph Cotten and Piper Laurie aired May 4, 1955, on the CBS TV series ''

The Best of Broadway ''The Best of Broadway'' is a 60-minute live television anthology series that aired on CBS Television on Wednesdays at 10p.m. Eastern Standard Time from September 15, 1954, to May 4, 1955, for a total of nine episodes. Each show was broadcast liv ...

''.

Revivals

A 1978

-bound revival of ''Broadway'', directed by Robert Allan Ackerman and musical staging by Dennis Grimaldi closed during its

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

tryout.Corry, John. "Broadway." ''The New York Times'', June 30, 1978.
/ref>

References

External links

*

including plot summary 1926 plays Broadway plays American plays adapted into films {{1920s-play-stub