''Rich and Famous'' is a two-act play by

John Guare John Guare ( ;; born February 5, 1938) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of '' The House of Blue Leaves'' and '' Six Degrees of Separation''. Early life He was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens.Druckman ...

. It premiered in 1974 at the Academy Festival Theatre in Lake Forest,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, and made its Off-Broadway debut in 1976.

Synopsis

Bing Ringling is an old "promising" playwright, finally about to have a play produced -- play number 844.

Productions

''Rich and Famous'' was first produced by William Gardner at the Academy Festival Theatre, in Lake Forest,

, in August 1974. It was directed by

Mel Shapiro Mel Shapiro is an American theatre director and writer, college professor, and author. Trained at Carnegie-Mellon University, Shapiro began his professional directing career at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and then as resident director at Arena Stage i ...

and starred

Charles Kimbrough Charles Kimbrough (born May 23, 1936) is an American actor, best known for his role as the straight-faced anchorman Jim Dial on ''Murphy Brown''. In 1990, his performance in the role earned him a nomination for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Sup ...

Linda Lavin Linda Lavin (born October 15, 1937) is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing the title character in the sitcom ''Alice'' and for her stage performances, both on and off-Broadway. After acting as a child, Lavin joined the C ...

, and

Ron Leibman Ron Leibman (; October 11, 1937 – December 6, 2019) was an American actor. He won both the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play in 1993 for his performance as Roy Cohn in ''Angels in Amer ...

. Guare wrote the music for the play, which was performed by a small band consisting of Bass, Sax, and Woodwinds. ''Rich and Famous'' premiered Off-Broadway at

The Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

New York Shakespeare Festival on January 13, 1976 Guare, John. "Introduction", ''Rich and Famous'', Dramatists Play Service Inc, 1977, , p. 4 and closed on April 25, 1976. Directed by Mel Shapiro, set design Dan Snyder, costume design

Theoni V. Aldredge Theoni V. Aldredge (August 22, 1922 – January 21, 2011) was a Greek-American stage and screen costume designer. Biography Born Theoni Athanasiou Vachliotis in Thessaloniki in 1922, Aldredge received her training at the American School in Athe ...

, and lighting design Arden Fingerhut. The cast starred

William Atherton William Atherton Knight (born July 30, 1947) is an American actor, best known for portraying Richard Thornburg in '' Die Hard'' and its sequel and Walter Peck in ''Ghostbusters''. Early life Atherton was born in Orange, Connecticut, the son ...

starred as Bing Ringling, with Anita Gillette playing the "Female Parts" and Ron Leibman playing the "Male Parts"."'Rich and Famous" Listing"
lortel.org, accessed November 14, 2015 The play was produced by the American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco, in January and February 2009. Directed by

John Rando John Rando is an American stage director who won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for ''Urinetown the Musical'' in 2002. He received his 2nd nomination in the same category in 2015 for the 2014 Broadway revival of '' On the Town''. ...

, the cast featured Brooks Ashmanskas (Bing),

Mary Birdsong Mary Evans Birdsong (born April 18, 1968) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and singer. She has worked in the theater and voiceover work and is a regular cast member on '' Reno 911!'' Early life Birdsong was born in Florida and grew u ...

, Stephen DeRosa and Gregory Wallace.Hurwitt, Robert
"Theater review: John Guare's 'Rich and Famous'"
sfgate.com, January 16, 2009 The reviewer for ''sfgate.com'' wrote: "Written as a vaudeville - complete with snappy, tuneful songs by Guare and musical director Laura Burton providing accompaniment on an old upright piano - 'Rich' follows the downward spiral of playwright Bing Ringling (Brooks Ashmanskas) on the opening night of the off-off-Broadway premiere ("in a toilet on Death Street") of his first produced play....The problem with these characters isn't in the over-the-top performances but in the dated quality of much of the humor, and their cumulative effect doesn't take us on much of a journey."

References

External links

Rich and Famous Internet Off-Broadway Database listing
1974 plays Off-Broadway plays Plays by John Guare Plays set in New York City {{1970s-play-stub