- Hughie
"Hughie" is a short two-character play by
Eugene O’Neill set in the lobby of a small hotel on a West Side street in midtown New York during the summer of 1928. The play is essentially a long monologue delivered by a small time hustler named Erie Smith to the hotel’s new night clerk Charlie Hughes, lamenting how Smith’s luck has gone bad since the death of Hughie, Hughes' predecessor. O’Neill wrote "Hughie" in 1942, although it did not receive its world premiere until1958 , when it was staged inSweden at the Royal Dramatic Theatre withBengt Eklund as Erie Smith. It was first staged in English at the Theater Royal inBath, England in1963 withBurgess Meredith as Erie. [ [http://www.eoneill.com/library/laconics/2/2b.htm Hughie: Robards' Monte Cristo?] ]The play was first presented on Broadway in
1964 starringJason Robards as Erie and directed byJosé Quintero , who were famous for their depictions of O’Neill’s plays. Robards received aTony Award nomination for his performance, and revived the production in1975 inBerkeley, California withJack Dodson as Charlie Hughes. Robards and Dodson returned to it at the Hyde Park Festival Theatre in1981 and the Trinity Repertory Theatre inProvidence, Rhode Island in1991 , [ [http://www.eoneill.com/library/laconics/2/2b.htm Hughie: Robards' Monte Cristo?] ] also televising their performances in1984 forPBS ."Hughie" has been produced on Broadway twice since the
1964 Robards/Quintero production. In1975 it was paired in repertory with another short play, "Duet ", this time withBen Gazzara as Erie (who also won aTony Award nomination for the role), and in1996 by theCircle in the Square Theatre in a production directed by and starringAl Pacino ."Hughie" has been televised three times in addition to the
1984 Jason Robards /Jack Dodson version: in1959 (for Swedishtelevision ),1960 (Norwegiantelevision ), and1983 (Frenchtelevision ). [ [http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=Hughie "Hughie" on the Internet Movie Database] ]References
External links
* [http://www.ibdb.com/show.asp?ID=4564 "Hughie" on the Internet Broadway database]
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