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Sweet Bird of Youth

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1st edition cover
(New Directions)

Sweet Bird of Youth is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star, Princess Kosmonopolis (also known as Alexandra Del Lago), whom he hopes to use to help him break into the movies. The main reason he returns to his home town is to get back what he had in his youth: primarily, his old girlfriend, whose father had run him out of town years before.

Plot

Self-professed to be from the wrong side of the tracks of St. Cloud, Florida, Chance Wayne loves Heavenly Finley. She is the daughter of wealthy 'Boss' Thomas J. Finley, a corrupt and ruthless politician/businessman who has a strong belief in chastity and parades his daughter around in a white dress showcasing her as the perfect virgin. Finley doesn't like bastards, or any one he considers less than well bred, around his "puppet" Heavenly. When Chance first meets Heavenly its at the Finley's Country Club, where he's waiting tables. Chance approaches Finley seeking permission to see Heavenly formally, enroute to a future proposal of marriage. Finley will of course never allow this. So, he entices Chance with the American Dream of fame and fortune in Hollywood to get Chance to just leave town and he sends his daughter away on a long tour of Europe to get her away from Chance as well.

Years later, Chance rolls back into St. Cloud with temperamental and drunken movie star Alexandra Del Lago; she intends to retire because she is embarrassed about her last movie role. Chance hopes to blackmail Del Lago with a surreptitious tape recording in order to get a part in a film, however Chance is distracted by Heavenly and never pursues Del Lago any further. Heavenly still loves Chance and wants to escape her evil dictator father. Boss Finley wants to run Chance out of town again, but it will be a little more difficult this time if only because of the notoriety of Miss Del Lago.

Production history

Sweet Bird of Youth (film)
original movie poster
Directed byRichard Brooks
Written byRichard Brooks
Produced byPandro S. Berman
Starring
CinematographyMilton R. Krasner
Music byBronislau Kaper
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
March 21, 1962
Running time
120 minutes

Broadway

The original production was produced on March 10, 1959 by Cheryl Crawford at the Martin Beck Theatre in New York City. Directed by Elia Kazan, it starred Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Sidney Blackmer, Madeleine Sherwood, Diana Hyland, Logan Ramsey, John Napier, and Rip Torn. Bruce Dern also played a small role. The production was nominated for 4 Tony Awards, including Best Actress for Geraldine Page. The play ran for 375 performances.

A revival opened on December 29, 1975 at the Harkness Theatre, in a production directed by Edwin Sherin, starring Christopher Walken as Chance Wayne and Irene Worth as Princess Kosmonopolis. Irene Worth won the 1976 Tony Award for Best Actress.

A production is currently being planned to open in 2011 with David Cromer directing and Scott Rudin serving as producer. It has been announced that Nicole Kidman will portray the role of Alexandra Del Lago.[1] James Franco was in talks to co-star however recently dropped out for unknown reasons.[2]

London

It took 26 years for Sweet Bird of Youth to reach London's West End. It opened on July 8, 1985 at the Haymarket Theatre in a production directed by Harold Pinter and presented by impresario Douglas Urbanski it starred Lauren Bacall and Michael Beck with James Grout and David Cunningham. This production later transferred to Los Angeles under the direction of Michael Blakemore.

Film and television adaptations

In 1962, the play was made into a film starring Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight, Madeleine Sherwood, Ed Begley, Rip Torn and Mildred Dunnock. The movie was adapted and directed by Richard Brooks.[3][4]

It won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ed Begley), and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Geraldine Page) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Shirley Knight).

Sweet Bird of Youth was made for television in 1989, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Mark Harmon, Valerie Perrine, Ronnie Claire Edwards, Cheryl Paris and Rip Torn. It was adapted by Gavin Lambert and directed by Nicolas Roeg.

1962 Cast

Cultural references

  • "Youth of a Thousand Summers" by Van Morrison is based on this play.
  • In the Robert Zemeckis film Death Becomes Her (1992), lead character Madeline Ashton is depicted as the star of a Broadway musical adaptation of Sweet Bird of Youth called "Songbird!"
  • The song "Sweet Bird of Truth" by the rock group The The is a reference to the Tennessee Williams play.
  • A reference to the Tennessee Williams play (and indeed Williams himself) was written by Bernie Taupin in his lyric for Elton John's song "Lies," from John's 1995 album, "Made in England."

Notes

  1. ^ Kidman Returning To Broadway Contact Music. 17 September
  2. ^ Kennedy, Mark (August 30, 2011). "James Franco And The 'Sweet Bird Of Youth': Actor Drops Out Of Would-Be Broadway Debut". The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  3. ^ Variety film review; February 28, 1962, page 6.
  4. ^ Harrison's Reports film review; March 10, 1962, page 34.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sweet_Bird_of_Youth&oldid=488642808"