Harvey
Closing: August 05, 2012Harvey - 2012 Broadway History , Info & More
Studio 54 (Broadway)
254 West 54th St. New York, NY
Harvey was first brought to the Broadway stage in 1944 and was directed by Antoinette Perry. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1944, and its initial run lasted for four years—1,775 performances. James Stewart assumed the role of “Elwood” from Frank Fay in the 1944 production and originated the role in the 1970 production as well as the film adaptation in 1950. Helen Hayes played “Veta” opposite Mr. Stewart in the 1970 production. Jim Parsons stars as one of modern theatre’s most lovable characters, Elwood P. Dowd. Charming and kind, Elwood has only one character flaw: an unwavering friendship with a 6-foot-tall, invisible white rabbit named Harvey. In order to save the family’s social reputation, Elwood’s sister Veta (Jessica Hecht) takes Elwood to the local sanatorium. But when the doctors mistakenly commit his anxiety-ridden sister, Elwood — and Harvey—slip out of the hospital unbothered, setting off a hilarious whirlwind of confusion and chaos as everyone in town tries to catch a man and his invisible rabbit.
Harvey - 2012 - Broadway Cast
PREVIEW Harvey - 2012 - Broadway
Photos
Videos
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Harvey
Hope Is a Thing With Long, Fuzzy Ears
8 / 10
The Pulitzer Prize committee may have never erred more egregiously than it did in favoring “Harvey” over Tennessee Williams’s first masterwork, “The Glass Menagerie.” But handled with care, as it has been in this Roundabout Theater Company production, this winsome comedy about a lovable eccentric can cast a satisfying spell. Mr. Ellis’s amiable staging—which features expert supporting performances from Jessica Hecht, as Elwood’s dithery sister, Veta, and Charles Kimbrough, as the eminent psychiatrist she hopes will lock her troublesome brother up for good—strikes the right, gently dizzy tone. Most important, Mr. Parsons carries the weight of a role immortalized on film by the inimitable James Stewart as lightly as Elwood does the hat and coat he keeps on hand for his furry companion. Mr. Parsons possesses in abundance the crucial ability to project an ageless innocence without any visible effort: no small achievement for an actor in these knowing times.
Jim Parsons And A 6'3' Rabbit In Harvey: My Review
7 / 10
It's thin stuff and difficult to pull off because a lot of the action happens offstage and is merely recounted, but this production has moments, while not really soaring into the absurdist yet warming stratosphere. Jim Parsons has the right earnest, bemused decency as Elwood, making you believe he believes while conversing with what looks like thin air. But Jessica Hecht is strange casting as Veta Louise. Hecht is an excellent actress, but she's best at sensible, analytical roles, not ones that call for being daftly flustered. (The pseudo aristocratic accent she goes for here sounds especially forced.) Fortunately, she--like the whole production--gets better in the second half, especially when she unravels while noticing, to her dismay, that her mother's portrait on the wall has been covered by one involving Harvey.
Category
Harvey History
Other Productions of Harvey
| 1944 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1970 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 2012 | Broadway |
Roundabout Theatre Production Broadway |
| West End |
West End West End |
Harvey - 2012 Broadway Awards and Nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Jessica Hecht |
Videos