- Mister Roberts (play)
-
Mister Roberts Written by Thomas Heggen
(novel, play)
Joshua Logan (play)Characters Lieutenant Doug Roberts
The Captain
Doc
Ensign Pulver
Wiley
Gerhart
Lieutenant Ann Girard
Reber
Shore Patrol Officer
StefanowskiDate premiered 18 February 1948 Place premiered Alvin Theatre Original language English Genre Comedy Setting World War II; aboard the USS Reluctant in the South Pacific IBDB profile Mister Roberts is a 1948 play based on the 1946 Thomas Heggen novel of the same name.
The novel began as a collection of short stories about Heggen's experiences aboard the USS Virgo (AKA-20) in the South Pacific during World War II. Broadway producer Leland Hayward acquired the rights for the play and hired Heggen and Joshua Logan for the adaptation.
Mister Roberts opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on February 18, 1948, starring Henry Fonda, David Wayne, Robert Keith and Jocelyn Brando who replaced Eva Marie Saint before the show opened. Logan's brother-in-law, William Harrigan, played the Captain. The original production also featured Harvey Lembeck, Ralph Meeker, Steven Hill, Lee Van Cleef and Murray Hamilton. Fonda got out of a Hollywood film contract in order to star in the Broadway theatre stage production, and won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. The production ran for 1,157 performances.
Tyrone Power starred in the London company. John Forsythe appeared in a national touring production. Many actors began their career in various productions and touring companies. Fess Parker began his show business career in the play, in 1951.
Joshua Logan's account of his collaboration with Thomas Heggen in the writing of the play is in Logan's autobiography, Josh: My Up and Down, In and Out Life.
Awards and nominations
- 1948 Tony Award for Best Play
References
- USNS New Bedford (T-AKL-17) website "The actual ship used in the filming of Mr. Roberts, from "Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport Volume 30" (periodical) November 18th, 1994, No 22
- USS Virgo website "The Wacky Ship of Mr. Roberts, from "Sea Classics" (periodical) January, 1979
- "T. O. Heggen, Author, Found Dead in Bath" New York Times, May 20, 1949.
- Logan, Joshua (1976). Josh: My Up and Down, In and Out Life. Delacorte Press, New York, ISBN 978-0440042358
External links
Tony Award for Best Play (1948–1975) Mister Roberts (1948) · Death of a Salesman (1949) · The Cocktail Party (1950) · The Rose Tattoo (1951) · The Fourposter (1952) · The Crucible (1953) · The Teahouse of the August Moon (1954) · The Desperate Hours (1955) · The Diary of Anne Frank (1956) · Long Day's Journey into Night (1957) · Sunrise at Campobello (1958) · J.B. (1959) · The Miracle Worker (1960) · Becket (1961) · A Man for All Seasons (1962) · Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1963) · Luther (1964) · The Subject Was Roses (1965) · Marat/Sade (1966) · The Homecoming (1967) · Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1968) · The Great White Hope (1969) · Borstal Boy (1970) · Sleuth (1971) · Sticks and Bones (1972) · That Championship Season (1973) · The River Niger (1974) · Equus (1975)
Complete list · (1948–1975) · (1976–2000) · (2001–2025) Categories:- 1948 plays
- American plays
- Broadway plays
- Tony Award winning plays
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.