Room Service (play)

Room Service is a farce written by Allen Boretz and John Murray. It was originally produced by George Abbott and debuted at the Cort Theatre in New York City on May 19, 1937. Its initial production ran for 500 performances, closing on July 16, 1938.[1] The play, starring Jack Lemmon in the role of Leo Davis was revived on Broadway for a short run of 16 performances in 1953.

Poster for the Federal Theatre Project production of Room Service in San Francisco (1938)

RKO Pictures purchased the film rights for a then-record $225,000 and used it as the basis for the Marx Brothers film of the same title.[2] In 1944 RKO released a further film adaptation, a musical entitled Step Lively starring Frank Sinatra.

The 1937 original Broadway production starred Sam Levene as Gordon Miller, Eddie Albert as Leo Davis and Phillip Loeb as Harry Binion.[3]

Original 1937–38 Broadway cast
Character Actor
Leo Davis Eddie Albert
Sasha Smirnoff Alexander Asro*
Timothy Hogarth Jack Byrne
Joseph Gribble Clifford Dunstan*
Hilda Manney Betty Field
Faker Englund Teddy Hart
Senator Blake's Secretary William Howard
Gordon Miller Sam Levene
Harry Binion Phillip Loeb
Gregory Wagner Donald MacBride*
Bank Messenger William Mendrek
Senator Blake Ralph Morehouse
Christine Marlowe Margaret Mullen
Dr. Glass Hans Robert
Simon Jenkins Philip Wood*
  • Reprised the role in the film adaptation.
  • The basic plot of Room Service was used for the "Monkees, Manhattan Style" episode of The Monkees (season 1, episode 30, first broadcast April 10, 1967, also known as "Monkees in Manhattan").[4][5][6]

References
  1. "Room Service" (1937) at the Internet Broadway Database
  2. Mitchell, Glenn (2003). The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia. London: Reynolds & Hearn. pp. 247–248. ISBN 1-905287-11-9.
  3. "Room Service" (1953) at the Internet Broadway Database
  4. Pearlman, Louie (ndg) "Every ‘Monkees’ Episode: “Monkees in Manhattan” (S1E30)" Rebeat Magazine
  5. Staff (ndg) "The Monkees in Manhattan" MonkeesTV
  6. Staff (ndg) "Monkees, Manhattan Style: Connections" IMDb.com


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