A public celebration was held on Broadway to honor the literary and theatrical career of Gore Vidal earlier this afternoon, August 23. The event took place at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street), currently home to the Tony-nominated revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man, which concludes its limited engagement on Sunday, September 9, 2012.
Friends and admirers from film, television and theatre presented selections of Vidal's famous works, as well as share personal remembrances and stories. Patricipants included: Susan Sarandon, John Larroquette, James Earl Jones, Alan Cumming, Christine Ebersole, and many more. BroadwayWorld was there for the celebration and we bring you full photo coverage of the star-studded arrivals below.
His best known Broadway plays were Visit to a Small Planet in 1957 and The Best Man in 1960. In The Best Man, about two contenders for the presidential nomination, Mr. Vidal exercised his lifelong fascination with politics. (He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1960.) It has proved among his most enduring works. It ran for 520 performances on Broadway before becoming a successful film, in 1964, with a cast headed by Henry Fonda and a screenplay by Mr. Vidal. It was revived on Broadway in 2000 and is now being revived again at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre as Gore Vidal's The Best Man. It was nominated for a 1960 Tony Award® for Best Play and nominated for a 2012 Tony Award® for Best Revival of a Play.
Other plays include Romulus (1962), based on one of his books, Weekend (1968) and the politically charged An Evening With Richard Nixon and… (1972).
He wrote for most of the television programs that presented hour-long original dramas in the 1950s, including "Studio One," "Philco Television Playhouse" and "Goodyear Playhouse." He was a contract writer for MGM, and also wrote the screenplay for the movie adaptation of his friend Tennessee Williams's play Suddenly, Last Summer.
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