The Best Man (play)

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The Best Man
Written by Gore Vidal
Date premieredMarch 31, 1960
Place premiered Morosco Theatre
New York City
Original languageEnglish
SubjectFive men vie for their party's nomination for president.
GenreDrama
SettingA presidential convention, Philadelphia, 1960

The Best Man is a 1960 play by American playwright Gore Vidal. The play premiered on Broadway in 1960 and was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Play. Vidal adapted it into a film with the same title in 1964.

Contents

Lee Tracy, playing Art Hockstader, repeated his performance in the 1964 film adaptation.

Summary

At the Presidential primaries in the summer of 1960 in Philadelphia, Secretary of State William Russell lives by his principles, but is haunted by recent health problems that threaten his career and vote-winning potential. Senator Joe Cantwell presents himself as the people's candidate; his determination to win at all costs is also his great flaw. Cantwell is faced with the revelation of sexual indiscretions, threatening both his marriage and his career. These two frontrunners for their party's presidential nomination fight for the support of the outgoing president and resort to mudslinging in a very public contest.

Cast and characters

CharacterBroadway debut
(1960) 		Broadway revival
(2000) 		2nd Broadway revival
(2012)
Ex-President Art Hockstader Lee Tracy Charles Durning James Earl Jones
Mrs. Sue-Ellen Gamadge Ruth McDevitt Elizabeth Ashley Angela Lansbury
Secretary William Russell Melvyn Douglas Spalding Gray John Larroquette
Alice Russell Leora Dana Michael Learned Candice Bergen
Senator Joseph Cantwell Frank Lovejoy Chris Noth Eric McCormack
Mabel Cantwell Kathleen Maguire Christine Ebersole Kerry Butler
Sheldon Marcus Graham Jarvis Jonathan Hadary Jefferson Mays
Dick Jensen Karl Weber Mark Blum Michael McKean
Senator Clyde CarlinGordon B. Clarke Ed Dixon Dakin Matthews

Productions

The play opened on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre on March 31, 1960, and ran for 520 performances before closing on July 8, 1961.

The play starred Melvyn Douglas (William Russell) and Frank Lovejoy (Joseph Cantwell). On October 2, 1962, Lovejoy died of a heart attack in his sleep at his residence in New York City. Lovejoy and his wife, Joan Banks, had been appearing in a New Jersey production of the play.

A revival opened on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre in September 2000, and closed on Dec 31, 2000 after 121 performances and 15 previews. Directed by Ethan McSweeny, the play starred Elizabeth Ashley, Charles Durning, Christine Ebersole, Spalding Gray, Michael Learned, Chris Noth, Mark Blum, Jonathan Hadary and Jordan Lage. [1]

A revival opened on Broadway at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on March 6, 2012 in previews and officially on April 1, 2012, [2] in a limited run.

The revival was originally scheduled to close on July 1, 2012 but was extended to September 9, 2012. The cast starred James Earl Jones (as former President Art Hockstader), Angela Lansbury, John Larroquette (as candidate William Russell), Candice Bergen, Eric McCormack (as candidate Senator Joseph Cantwell), Jefferson Mays, Michael McKean, Fred Parker Jr. and Kerry Butler, with direction by Michael Wilson. This production was nominated for two 2012 Tony Awards: Best Revival of a Play and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play (Jones). [3] Theatre review aggregator Curtain Critic gave the production a score of 75 out of 100 based on the opinions of 13 critics. [4] John Stamos, Cybill Shepherd, Kristin Davis, and Elizabeth Ashley took over the roles originally held by McCormack, Bergen, Butler, and Lansbury in July 2012. Angelica Page played Catherine (secretary and mistress to Larroquette's William Russell) before assuming the lead role of Alice Russell when Cybill Shepherd unexpectedly left the show. [5]

In 2017, acclaimed stage and TV actor Martin Shaw starred as Russell in the UK premier and tour of the play, with Jack Shepherd, Gemma Jones, Glynis Barber, Honeysuckle Weeks and Jeff Fahey as Cantwell. The production received favourable reviews and its relevance to modern political machinations was commented on in the light of the 2016 US presidential election. [6]

Response

Political reaction

At the time, it was widely recognized that the play was written as a deliberate parallel of the upcoming 1960 Democratic Convention. The play also seemed to be a scathing attack on the Kennedys whom Vidal detested [7] and also something of a tribute to Adlai Stevenson whom Vidal admired and supported. The principal characters in the play represent Vidal's then view of the main players in the Democratic Party, only with different names.

Vidal's main character and hero, the very patrician and intellectual William Russell, is an homage to Adlai Stevenson. The other character, the despicable Senator Joe Cantwell, represents Vidal's view of Kennedy, as well as Richard Nixon (whom Vidal also detested), Joseph McCarthy and Estes Kefauver, all of whom—like Cantwell—rose to national prominence via publicity-seeking Senate investigative committees. (Cantwell even specifically mentions hearings into the Mafia, similar to those in which Kefauver and both Kennedys had participated.) The rumors of homosexuality in Joe Cantwell's past also parallel rumors about Joe McCarthy.

Joe Cantwell campaigns on the need to close "The Missile Gap" with the USSR, which was a major Kennedy campaign claim (which was completely fictional; despite Sputnik, in terms of strategic missiles the US was well ahead of the Soviets at the time). In an ironic and prophetic similarity to Nixon, Cantwell has secretly decided to open relations with Red China if elected, while playing up his anti-Communism in public. The ex-President, Art Hockstader, whose endorsement both candidates are fighting for is a send-up of Harry Truman, although his quip when downing a shot of Bourbon - "Striking a blow for Liberty!" - was a Prohibition-era salute[ citation needed ] that was a favorite saying of Vice President John Nance Garner.

Critical reviews

In his review of the original 1960 Broadway play for The New York Times , Brooks Atkinson wrote that the play is a "political melodrama that comes close enough to the truth to be both comic and exciting" [8] and that Vidal "knows how to put together a plot that is both amusing and engrossing." [8]

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.
1960 Tony Awards Best Play Gore Vidal Nominated [9]
Best Actor in Play Melvyn Douglas Won
Best Actor in PlayLee TracyNominated
Best Featured Actress in a Play Leora Dana Nominated
Best Direction of a Play Joseph Anthony Nominated
Best Scenic Design of a Play Jo Mielziner Nominated

2001 Broadway revival

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.
2001 Tony Award Best Revival of a Play The Best ManNominated [10]
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival of a Play Won [10]
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Revival of a PlayWon [10]
Best Actress in a Play Michael Learned Nominated [10]
Featured Actor in a Play Charles Durning Nominated [10]
Theatre World Award Chris Noth Won [10]

2012 Broadway revival

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.
2012 Tony Award Best Revival of a Play The Best ManNominated [11]
Best Actor in a Play James Earl Jones Nominated
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival of a PlayThe Best ManNominated
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Angela Lansbury Nominated
Outstanding Sound Design of a PlayJohn GromadaWon
Drama League Award Distinguished Revival of a PlayNominated
Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding Revival of PlayThe Best ManNominated
Outstanding Featured Actor in a PlayJames Earl JonesWon
Outstanding Featured Actress in a PlayAngela LansburyNominated

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References

  1. ↑ Brantley, Ben. "Theater Review: A Timeless Morality Tale Cloaked in Politics" The New York Times, September 18, 2000
  2. ↑ Haun, Harry. "Playbill On Opening Night: Gore Vidal's 'The Best Man' Pins the Tale" Archived 2012-04-04 at the Wayback Machine Playbill.com, April 2, 2012
  3. ↑ Gans, Andrew and Jones, Kenneth." 'The Best Man', Tony Nominee as Best Revival of a Play, Extends Booking a Second Time" Archived 2012-09-04 at the Wayback Machine Playbill.com, May 17, 2012
  4. ↑ "Gore Vidal's The Best Man". Curtain Critic. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Angelica Page Replaces Cybill Shepherd in Broadway's Best Man". TheaterMania.com. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  6. ↑ "Martin Shaw to star in UK premier of The Best Man". whatsonstage.com. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  7. ↑ Vidal's biographer, Fred Kaplan, contests this interpretation, however. See Kaplan (1993), p.464 e.g.
  8. 1 2 Atkinson, Brooks. "The Best Man", The New York Times, April 1, 1960, p. 39
  9. ↑ "The Best Man (Broadway, 1960)". Playbill. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Best Man Broadway @ Virginia Theatre". Playbill . Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  11. ↑ "The Best Man (Broadway, 2012)". Playbill. Retrieved April 14, 2024.

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