Harvey (play) - Adaptations

Adaptations

The play was adapted for film by Chase, Oscar Brodney, and Myles Connolly in 1950. Directed by Henry Koster, it starred Josephine Hull and James Stewart.

Three US television adaptations have been made. The first, in 1958 starring Art Carney, Marion Lorne, Elizabeth Montgomery, Larry Blyden, Fred Gwynne, Charlotte Rae, and Jack Weston. James Stewart reprised his famous screen role in 1972 along with Fred Gwynne, Richard Mulligan and Madeline Kahn. The latest was in 1998 with Harry Anderson, Swoosie Kurtz, Jessica Hecht (who appears in the 2012 revival), Leslie Nielsen, and William Schallert.

In addition, versions of the play were produced in 1959, 1967, 1970 and 1985 for West German television, as Mein Freund Harvey (My Friend Harvey).

On August 2, 2009, it was revealed that Steven Spielberg has committed to a new adaptation of the play. It was to be a co-production between 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks, with a screenplay written by novelist Jonathan Tropper. However, on December 4, 2009, Spielberg revealed that he had quit the project, partly due to his inability to find an actor willing to play Elwood.

The play was adapted as "Say Hello to Harvey", a stage musical by Leslie Bricusse, opening on September 14, 1981 in Toronto, where it closed prior to Washington DC and New York engagements. As Ken Mandelbaum noted in his 1991 book "Not Since Carrie": "Elwood was played by Donald O'Connor, who had made his Broadway musical debut earlier the same year in another mistake, "Bring Back Birdie". As Elwood's sister, Veta, Patricia Routledge gave another superb performance in a bomb; after (this show) she washed her hands of the American musical theatre... (it) opened up a two-set play to include scenes in the bar only described by Elwood in the play and brought on an extraneous chorus for numbers like the opening "Smalltown U.S.A." In between the songs, Chase's original play still shone through... "

In May 2012, a new production of the original play began previews in New York City at Studio 54 Theatre, starring Jim Parsons, Charles Kimbrough, Jessica Hecht, and Carol Kane. The Roundabout Theatre Company production is set to run from June 14 through August 5, 2012. Theatre review aggregator Curtain Critic gave the production a score of 73 out of 100 based on the opinions of 15 critics.

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