According to a casting notice on Playbill.com, Roundabout Theatre Company is producing Picnic to play at the American Airlines Theatre. Dates posted on notice. First Performance: 12/14/12; Opens: 1/10/13; Closes: 3/10/13.
Also, it says the role of Flo Owens has been cast. Any guess who it is? I am guessing it is a name. Casting Notice
The film is slightly a mess (did Logan ever do a good film version of something he apparently did brilliantly on stage?) but Inge is second to me after Williams, and that said IMHO hardly a second rate Williams as many feel--his 60s obscenity filled, absurd plays are ripe for re-appraisal. So I'm all for this!
Has anyone read his late-in-life revised version of the play, Summer Brave? I have never found a print edition, and I know it flopped, but have always wondered what Inge changed.
"The 1994 production was Ashley Judd, Kyle Chandler, Debra Monk. Directred by Scott Ellis, with Susan Stroman choreography!"
Polly Holliday as the mother.
And in a very funny moment, Anne Pitoniak as the neighbor. The funny moment came when you hear a voice yell "Helen!" and Anne Pitoniak says "Coming Mother." It was more of a visual gag, but it got a huge laugh. (The funny part was tiny, frail 72-year old Anne saying "Coming Mother".)
Has anyone read his late-in-life revised version of the play, Summer Brave? I have never found a print edition, and I know it flopped, but have always wondered what Inge changed.
Never read it, but they did it at my university in Kansas. In fact, I think it was the debut production.
What did they change?
*****SPOILERS******
The ending, for one thing. Madge doesn't leave home to be with Hal. She decides to stay, per her mother's wishes, and marry Alan.
That's the way Inge wrote it to begin with. It's the ending he always wanted. Josh Logan and others convinced him that it was too depressing and "not what the audience wanted to see." It wasn't romantic enough. Inge changed it against his own wishes ... and of course he won the Pulitzer Prize for Picnic.
But in Summer Brave, he got the ending he originally envisioned.
I was planning to direct Picnic in the fall of 2010. The rights were pulled at that time for the Broadway production which still is waiting in the wings. I read Summer Brave as a possible replacement. I can't believe that this version is what Inge wanted his script to be. Picnic won the Pulitzer Prize. Why he thought this version is better is a big mystery. Worse of all is the ending, (spoiler). Madge loses Alan, doesn't ran after Hal but will stay in town. There are several teenage boys around Millie's age in this version and the ending implies that Madge will be finding solace with them. Blanche DuBois anyone?
That's interesting, EricMontreal22. I did not care for the movie version when I first saw it either but it grew on me enormously after more viewings. It's got some good acting (though I think William Holden is miscast) and I think it captures a sense of place and time. It's not visually dynamic, but we're talking Josh Logan here. Still, it made me interested in both the play and Inge.
I absolutely love the movie, which is a lot more "visually dynamic" now that it's been fully restored for a recent Blu-ray release. You can see exactly why it won the Academy Award that year for Best Art Direction.
This film should have been Rosalind Russell's Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress, playing Rosemary ... but she (and her manager/husband) refused to allow the studio to promote her for a nomination in that category. Roz insisted that she be "considered" as a leading actress ... and ultimately, that decision meant she didn't rack up enough votes in either category to score a nomination, so she ended up with nothing. It was a foolish move.
I've seen a lot of Roz Russell movies, and I would argue that this is her finest dramatic screen performance (which is saying a lot). Her later scenes in the movie, particularly the one on the porch at night with Howard (played by original Broadway cast member Arthur O'Connell, who did receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor) is heartbreaking, funny, painfully awkward, and ultimately devastating.
The film's other huge standout is its score by George Duning. One of the best of the '50s, and its instrumental theme (mixed with Moonglow) became a big pop hit.
He went back to the original play before Josh Logan forced a "happy" ending with Madge running off with Hal. I think Logan was right, but Inge wanted her to be abandoned and looked on as the town pump.
Cromer directed this to some success regionally, so I'm excited.
Not fond of the movie at all...Logan's take was too huge, too Hollywood, Kim Novak too sexy and William Holden too mature and not enough of a dumb lug for the role.
Catherine O'Hara as Rosemary...that is, if shes not doing A***E.
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joined:10/14/08
Posted: 5/10/12 at 09:13am