| Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune | |
|---|---|
 Poster for the 1987 Westside Theatre production | |
| Written by | Terrence McNally |
| Characters |
|
| Date premiered | June 2, 1987 |
| Place premiered | Manhattan Theatre Club |
| Original language | English |
| Setting | A one-room apartment in Manhattan |
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune is a two-character play by Terrence McNally that was first performed off-Broadway in 1987.
The play focuses on two lonely, middle-aged people whose first date ends with their tumbling into bed. The two are in her one-room walk-up apartment in the west side of Manhattan. Johnny (originated by F. Murray Abraham), a short order cook, is in good physical condition; but Frankie (originated by Kathy Bates), a waitress, is frumpy, fat, and emotionally defined by her unattractiveness. Johnny is certain he has found his soul mate in Frankie. She, on the other hand, is far more cautious and disinclined to jump to conclusions and at first has written off the encounter as a one night stand. As the night unfolds, they slowly begin to reveal themselves to each other as they take tentative steps towards the possible start of a new relationship. Describing the scene from which the play gets its name, David Finkle wrote, "Johnny calls the radio station to request the most beautiful music ever written...Claude Debussy’s 'Clair de lune'...floats onto the night air... Johnny, buoyant with love, beckons Frankie to join him at the window and to bask...in the clair de lune. It's a lovely moment..." [1]
The play opened Off-Broadway on June 2, 1987 at Stage II of the Manhattan Theatre Club, where it ran for two weeks. Directed by Paul Benedict, the original cast starred Kathy Bates and F. Murray Abraham. [2] [3] On October 14, 1987 it opened at Stage I for a six-week run. Kenneth Welsh played the part of Johnny in the Stage I production. [2] [3] On December 4, 1987 the play transferred to the Westside Theatre, and closed on March 12, 1989. Bruce Weitz and Carol Kane replaced Welsh and Bates later in the run. Kathy Bates won a 1988 Obie Award and was nominated for a 1987-1988 Drama Desk Award. [4]
The play opened on Broadway on July 26, 2002 in previews, officially on August 8, 2002 at the Belasco Theatre. [5] [6] Directed by Joe Mantello, the production starred Edie Falco and Stanley Tucci. [5] The play closed on March 9, 2003 after 243 performances and 15 previews. [6] Rosie Perez and Joe Pantoliano were replacements as of January 2003. [7]
The play received Tony Award nominations for 2003 for Best Revival of a Play and for Tucci for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. [6] [8]
A second Broadway revival opened on May 30, 2019 at the Broadhurst Theatre in a limited run. Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon starred in the production, which was directed by Arin Arbus. [9] [10] [11] The play closed on July 28, 2019. [12] The revival received Tony Award nominations for 2020 for Best Revival of a Play and for McDonald for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play.
A 1991 film adaptation by McNally shortened the title to Frankie and Johnny. It starred Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. He made several changes from the play, adding new characters and locations. [13]
Frankie and Johnny Are Married (2003) is a comedy film that refers to McNally's play. Written and directed by Michael Pressman, it explores the troubles a producer (which Pressman played as himself) has trying to mount a production of the Terrence McNally play.
Nathan Lane is an American actor. Since 1975, he has been seen on stage and screen in both comedic and dramatic roles. Lane has received numerous awards, including three Tony Awards, six Drama Desk Awards, two Obie Awards, the Olivier Award, three Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Lane received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2010, The New York Times hailed Lane as "the greatest stage entertainer of the decade".
Terrence McNally was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," McNally was the recipient of five Tony Awards. He won the Tony Award for Best Play for Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class and the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime, and received the 2019 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1996, and he also received the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 and the Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2018, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the highest recognition of artistic merit in the United States. His other accolades included an Emmy Award, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, four Drama Desk Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards, two Obie Awards, and three Hull-Warriner Awards.
Kathleen Doyle Bates is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as nominations for a Tony Award and two BAFTA Awards.
Stephen Flaherty is an American composer of musical theatre and film. He works most often in collaboration with the lyricist/book writer Lynn Ahrens. They are best known for writing the Broadway musicals Ragtime, which was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and won the Tony for Best Original Score; Once on This Island, which won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, the Olivier Award for London's Best Musical, and was nominated for a Grammy Award and eight Tony Awards; and Seussical, which was nominated for the Grammy Award. Flaherty was also nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for his songs and song score for the animated film musical Anastasia.
Audra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four acting categories. In addition to her six Tony Awards she has received numerous accolades including two Grammy Awards, and an Emmy Award. She was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 2016 from President Barack Obama, and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2017.
Frankie and Johnny may refer to:
Joseph Mantello is an American actor and director known for his work on stage and screen. He first gained prominence for his Broadway acting debut in the original production of Tony Kushner's two-part epic play Angels in America (1993–1994) for which he received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play nomination. He has since acted in acclaimed Broadway revivals of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart (2011) and Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie (2017).
Frankie and Johnny is a 1991 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Garry Marshall and starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer in their first film together since Scarface (1983). Héctor Elizondo, Nathan Lane, and Kate Nelligan appear in supporting roles. The original score was composed by Marvin Hamlisch.
Paul Bernard Benedict was an American actor who made numerous appearances in television and films, beginning in 1965. He was known for his roles as The Number Painter on the PBS children's show Sesame Street and as the English neighbor Harry Bentley on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons.
Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Director Chris Jennings, along with Executive Producer Emeritus Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1972 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country's most acclaimed theatre organizations.
Lips Together, Teeth Apart is a 1991 American play written by Terrence McNally. The play which premiered Off-Broadway, concerns two straight couples who spend a weekend in a gay community.
Brian MacDevitt is a lighting designer and educator. He has worked extensively on Broadway and Off Broadway, as well as touring, Regional theatre, and Industrial productions. He won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design for his work on the 2002 Broadway revival of Into The Woods. He also won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a Play three times and the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a Musical once for The Book of Mormon in 2011.
Master Class is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Vincenzo Bellini. The play opened on Broadway in 1995, with stars Zoe Caldwell and Audra McDonald winning Tony Awards.
Margo Allison Lion was a producer for plays and musicals both on Broadway and off-Broadway, known for her role in producing the stage and screen hit Hairspray. Combined, the works Lion produced won 20 Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize.
Tim Cummings is an American actor and author.
The Araca Group is a live entertainment merchandise and production company founded in 1997 by partners Matthew Rego, Michael Rego, and Hank Unger. First achieving notoriety as producers of the musical Urinetown, the company has gradually become more involved in merchandising following the success of Wicked.
Frankie and Johnny Are Married is a 2003 American comedy film written and directed by Michael Pressman, starring Pressman, Lisa Chess and Alan Rosenberg. The film chronicles the troubles a producer has trying to mount a production of the Terrence McNally play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. The production is beset by one problem after another, including a hard to handle male lead (Rosenberg). This eventually results in Pressman taking on the male lead role himself.
It's Only a Play is a play by Terrence McNally. The play originally opened off-off-Broadway in 1982. It was revived off-Broadway in 1986, and on Broadway in 2014. The plot concerns a party where a producer, playwright, director, actors and their friends eagerly wait for the opening night reviews of their Broadway play.
Thomas Joseph Kirdahy is an American Tony and Olivier Award-winning theatrical producer, lawyer, and activist.
Jim Kierstead is a Tony Award, Olivier Award, Drama Desk, and Daytime Emmy Award-winning American theatre producer, film producer, and writer. He is best known for his work on Broadway.