Something About a Soldier, subtitled "A Comedy-drama in Three Acts", was a play written by Emmy-winning writer Ernest Kinoy. It premiered on Broadway at the Ambassador Theatre in New York on January 4, 1962, after a preview the night before. In all, the show ran for 12 performances, closing on January 13, 1962. [1]
The play is based on a 1957 novel by Mark Harris and deals with the experiences of an idealistic young soldier in a Georgia-based Army training camp during World War II and the Army captain who, by hospitalizing him, saves him from the war. [2]
It featured Oscar nominee Sal Mineo in his first and only Broadway leading role as the young soldier, and also the supporting veteran stage and film actors Ralph Meeker and Kevin McCarthy, and newcomers Ken Kercheval and Tony Roberts.
It was produced by the Theatre Guild and Dore Schary, who also directed the play.
Although Sal Mineo's performance in the lead role was generally praised, reviews for the play as a whole were unenthusiastic. [3]
The King and I is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel Anna and the King of Siam (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. The musical's plot relates the experiences of Anna, a British schoolteacher who is hired as part of the King's drive to modernize his country. The relationship between the King and Anna is marked by conflict through much of the piece, as well as by a love to which neither can admit. The musical premiered on March 29, 1951, at Broadway's St. James Theatre. It ran for nearly three years, making it the fourth-longest-running Broadway musical in history at the time, and has had many tours and revivals.
Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Duvall started his career on stage before transitioning to film and television.
Salvatore Mineo Jr. was an American actor. He was best known for his role as John "Plato" Crawford in the drama film Rebel Without a Cause (1955), which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at age 17, making him the fifth-youngest nominee in the category.
Geraldine Sue Page was an American actress. With a career which spanned four decades across film, stage, and television, Page was the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and four nominations for the Tony Award.
Keir Atwood Dullea is an American actor. He played astronaut David Bowman in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey and its 1984 sequel, 2010: The Year We Make Contact. His other film roles include David and Lisa (1962), Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) and Black Christmas (1974). Dullea studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. He has also performed on stage in New York City and in regional theaters; he has said that, despite being more recognized for his film work, he prefers the stage.
Michael York OBE is a British film, television and stage actor. After performing on stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet (1968). His blond, blue-eyed boyish looks and English upper social class demeanor saw him play leading roles in several major British and Hollywood films of the 1970s. His best known roles include Konrad Ludwig in Something for Everyone (1970), Geoffrey Richter-Douglas in Zeppelin (1971), Brian Roberts in Cabaret (1972), George Conway in Lost Horizon (1973), D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers and its two sequels, Count Andrenyi in Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and Logan 5 in Logan's Run (1976).
Mark Harris was an American novelist, literary biographer, and educator, remembered for his baseball novels featuring Henry Wiggen, particularly Bang the Drum Slowly. Harris's obituary in The Denver Post calls him "one of that legion of under-the-radar writers who for decades consistently turned out excellent novels and went largely unsung as he did...Harris said of his books that 'they are about the one man against his society and trying to come to terms with his society, and trying to succeed within it without losing his own identity or integrity.' He might have said the same thing of himself."
Charles Edward Durning was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays. Durning's best-known films include The Sting (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), The Muppet Movie (1979), True Confessions (1981), Tootsie (1982), Dick Tracy (1990), and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for both The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) and To Be or Not to Be (1983). Prior to his acting career, Durning served in World War II and was decorated for valor in combat.
Lee J. Cobb was an American actor, known both for film roles and his work on the Broadway stage, as well as for his television role as the star of the TV series The Virginian. He often played arrogant, intimidating and abrasive characters, but he also acted as respectable figures such as judges and police officers. Cobb originated the role of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's 1949 play Death of a Salesman under the direction of Elia Kazan, and was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for On the Waterfront (1954) and The Brothers Karamazov (1958).
Biagio Anthony "Ben" Gazzara was an American actor and director of film, stage, and television. He received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Drama Desk Award, in addition to nominations for three Golden Globe Awards and three Tony Awards.
The Real Thing is a play by Tom Stoppard that was first performed in 1982. The play focuses on the relationship between Henry and Annie, an actress and member of a group fighting to free Brodie, a Scottish soldier imprisoned for burning a memorial wreath during a protest.
Susanna "Susan" Kohner is an American retired actress who worked in film and television. She played Sarah Jane in Imitation of Life (1959), for which she was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe award.
Ralph Meeker was an American film, stage, and television actor. He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of Mister Roberts (1948–1951) and Picnic (1953), the former of which earned him a Theatre World Award for his performance. In film, Meeker is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Mike Hammer in Robert Aldrich's 1955 Kiss Me Deadly.
Christian Dominique Borle is an American actor and singer. He is a two-time Tony Award winner for his roles as Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher and as William Shakespeare in Something Rotten!. Borle also originated the roles of Prince Herbert, et. al. in Spamalot, and Emmett in Legally Blonde on Broadway. He starred as Tom Levitt on the NBC musical-drama television series Smash, and starred as Marvin in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos.
Fortune and Men's Eyes is a 1967 play and 1971 film written by John Herbert about a young man's experience in prison, exploring themes of homosexuality and sexual slavery.
Pablo Tell Schreiber is a Canadian-American actor. He is best known for his stage work and for portraying Nick Sobotka on The Wire (2003), William Lewis on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2013–2014), Mad Sweeney on the Starz series American Gods (2017–2020), and as George "Pornstache" Mendez on Orange Is the New Black (2013–2017), for which he received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. He stars as Master Chief in the Paramount+ live-action series Halo (2022–present) which is based on the franchise of the same name.
Valerie Jill Haworth was an English-American actress. She appeared in films throughout the 1960s, and started making guest appearances on television in 1963. She originated the role of Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret on Broadway in 1966.
Ernest Kinoy was an American writer, screenwriter and playwright.
Newsies The Musical is a musical based on the 1992 musical film Newsies, which was inspired by the real-life Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City. The show has music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, and a book by Harvey Fierstein based on the film's screenplay by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White. The musical premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 2011 and made its Broadway debut in 2012, where it played for more than 1,000 performances before touring.
Humbert Allen "Bud" Astredo, Jr. was an American stage, film, and television actor. He made several notable Broadway and Off Broadway theatrical performances, but was best known for the numerous roles he performed on the daytime Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows, most notably that of the warlock Nicholas Blair.