The Long Hard Road a Play Must Follow Before it Hits the Stage

The Tony nominations arrived last week. Yes, the post-talk centers on surprises and snubs. (No Lea Michele!) As someone who covers that world closely, I am most struck by how long it takes shows to get ON a Broadway stage. My suggestion: An award for longest in gestation?

My first nomination would go to “Dog Day Afternoon,” (which, by the way, had a bad day when nominations came out) starring Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss Bachrach. (Both from TV’s “The Bear”).

In case you think this stage adaptation of the Al Pacino film was a bright new idea: know that I saw a reading years ago at a writer’s festival in Ojai, California. That’s an annual summer event where new plays are tested. Some move upward and onward, most do not.

Bernthal was the draw for that as well. (He is a resident of Ojai) The reading was well-done: actors holding scripts and yet capturing the audience’s attention. There was hopeful buzz that it was heading to New York. I spoke after the reading with its playwright, Stephen Adly Guirgis, the award-winning writer of “From Riverside to Crazy” and more. I asked if it wasn’t risky to take on such a beloved property. “Hey, if someone is going to F---it up, it might as well be me,” he said with a wink. I confess I’d given up expecting it to happen, and occasionally heard a rumor or two—Bobby Cannavale might do the lead, for example—but all the buzz died down. Now it is up, though it has a tentative closing day set.

This is more the norm than exception for plays. A stage version of the great 1957 movie “A Face In the Crowd” seemed a hot property a decade or so ago: partly because it became a musical with songs by Elvis Costello. The Public Theatre was interested...well, until COVID hit.

The producers eventually found a place in London to try it out. Now, there is legitimate hope, especially with a top director attached. Might I add that rarely has a story (dealing with a con man who attains political power) been more timely? Stay tuned.

Speaking of London, “High Noon”—the stage version—was in process for a long time, with the script by Oscar-winning writer Eric Roth. It finally landed on the West End, with Billy Crudup in the lead role. Roth told me, “I have had movies take ten, fifteen years to be made....my play saw the light of day after five. I always consider it a blessing to be heard.”

The examples keep coming. I saw Jonathan Groff at the 92Y at least a decade ago trying out his Bobby Darin tribute. When it never surfaced or Broadway or off Broadway, I figured it had slowly died. But no, this past year “Just In Time” opened at Circle in the Square with Groff in the starring role. The steps: First, according to one of its developers, Ted Chapin, there was a quest to get the rights to Darin’s story. (A show called “Dream Lover” had been done in Australia) “After a deep dive into Darin’s story, Jonathan Groff was in,” says Chapin. “The framework of what was done at the Y remained, and people started to say “Broadway! right away. There were readings, Alex Timbers (director) and I brought in writer Warren Leight, and decided to take the fourth wall further.” (Groff interacts constantly with the audience. Hold those napkins over your faces for protection, he warns us.)

Daryl Roth—who has been in the business long enough to have a venue named for her—says, “I think “Dog Day” is a specific example of how getting a play with stars attached is different. And even so, it took six years. We are still dealing with the Covid interruptions so that plays that might’ve been in the pipeline or in development in 2019 in 2020 could have been lost in the backlog. Development wise, regional and nonprofit theaters, which have always been the life blood of new play development have experienced funding cuts, smaller budgets and thus seasons with fewer plays.”

All true, and aside from companies like Steppenwolf in Chicago, Off- Broadway may be a safer, less expensive route. “O Mary!” has remained a hit and that started downtown. As did “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Suffs,” and...dare we remind you—”Hamilton?”

Back to where we began. If you wonder why so many films seem to be turning into stage works, know that for nervous investors they are at least proven and known properties. And when they work, they can win awards, as “The Outsiders” proved. (The latest: “The Lost Boys” a musical which just got some big nominations) And which is why virtually every movie studio now has a special division for just that. Still, no guarantees. “Rocky” was knocked out quickly on stage. “The Notebook” did okay, despite confusing audiences with switching characters’ skin colors. (He’s white as a teen, but black as a grown man?) Sometimes a seemingly clever idea should stay locked up.

Michele Willens’ “Stage Right or Not” airs weekly on PBS’ Robinhoodradio.