Sunday in New York (play)

For the 1963 film, see Sunday in New York (film).

Sunday in New York
Written by	Norman Krasna
Date premiered	29 November 1961
Place premiered	Cort Theatre, New York
Original language	English
Genre	Comedy
Setting	New York City. The Present

Sunday in New York was a 1961 American romantic comedy Broadway play written by Norman Krasna, produced by David Merrick, directed by Garson Kanin, and starring Robert Redford. It ran for 188 performances.^[1]

It was made into a 1963 film, Sunday in New York, starring Jane Fonda, Rod Taylor and Cliff Robertson. Krasna wrote the screenplay.

Cast

• Pat Harrington, Sr. as Man
• Conrad Janis as Adam Taylor
• Sondra Lee as Woman
• Ron Nicholas as Russell Wilson
• Robert Redford as Mike Mitchell
• Pat Stanley as Eileen Taylor

Reception

The New York Times called it "inventive and chic. Only the substance is familiar and thin."^[2] Walter Kerr called it a "sentimentalised farce... precisely the kind of echo chamber exercise that drives intelligent young theatregoers to complete despair."^[3]

Variety wrote "the show has ribtickling lines and farcical situations."^[4] Another review in the same magazine called it "a synthetic, frivolous, amusing comedy."^[5]

Redford later said he liked the jokes but felt the play was "not up to the standard of a Kanin-Gordon script".^[6] However the New York Times review was positive enough to ensure a semi-decent run and give Redford his first significant stage success.^[7]

The show closed in May 1962 after 189 performances.^[8] The play was estimated to have lost $35,000 on its $125,000 investment, even including sale of the film rights.^[9][10] However subsidiary presentations may have helped push the production into the black.^[11]

The play ran for two years in Paris, and had a successful run in Los Angeles in a production starring Marlo Thomas.^[12]

Redford's appearance in the play would later help him be cast in Barefoot in the Park. It also contributed to George Roy Hill casting him in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid because it gave Hill confidence Redford could handle comedy.^[13]

See also

• List of American plays

References

1. Sunday in New York original production Playbill at Playbill
2. Theatre: Play by Krasna: Sunday in New York' Opens at the Cort By HOWARD TAUBMAN. New York Times 30 Nov 1961: 40.
3. Echoes and Unspoken Ideas By Walter Kerr. The Washington Post and Times-Herald 17 Dec 1961: G3.
4. "Sunday in New York". Variety. 8 November 1961. p. 70.
5. "Sunday in New York". Variety. 6 December 1961. p. 62.
6. Callan p 88
7. Callan p 89
8. 2 SHOWS PLANNED BY BLOOM GARDEN: ' 1,000,000 Bank Note' and 'How Much?' Due in '63 ANTA Has New Project Three Attractions to Close Eva Gabor Starts a Firm Bouwerie Lane to Open in Fall Merrick Negotiates By SAM ZOLOTOW. New York Times 9 May 1962: 45.
9. "4 Respectable Broadway Shows Close". Variety. 16 May 1962. p. 61, 67.
10. "Sunday has $76,328 to make". Variety. 31 January 1962. p. 65.
11. "Sunday near payoff on subsidiary rights". Variety. 21 August 1963. p. 53.
12. 'Sunday' Popular Los Angeles Times 4 June 1963: C6.
13. Spada p 112

Notes

• Callan, Michael Feeney (2011). Robert Redford : the biography. Alfred A. Knopf.
• Freedland, Michael (1988). Jane Fonda : a biography. St. Martin's Press.
• Kiernan, Thomas (1982). Jane Fonda : heroine for our time. Delilah Books.

External links

• ​Sunday in New York​ at the Internet Broadway Database