Production History
Picnic opened on Broadway at The Music Box Theatre in New York City on February 19, 1953. It was produced by The Theatre Guild and directed by Joshua Logan. The play’s original cast included Ralph Meeker as Hal, Janice Rule as Madge, Kim Stanley as Millie, Peggy Concklin as Flo, and Paul Newman as Alan. After that, the play toured throughout 1954 and 1955. In 1955, Picnic was produced in several different states, including Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania on May 30, the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California on July 28, and the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts in August. Picnic opened in England at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry on April 14, 1958.
Paul Osborne was chosen to turn Picnic into a musical in the 1960s. It was called Hot September and instead of going to the Alvin Theatre on Broadway in October 1965, the musical premiered in Boston and closed within a few weeks. Another rewrite of Picnic, undertaken by Inge himself in the early 1970s, was titled Summer Brave. It opened at the Equity Library Theatre in New York in 1973, two months before Inge committed suicide. The play only lasted 14 performances, but it was revived two years later at the ANTA Theatre. This time it lasted 18 performances.
Picnic was made into a film by Columbia Pictures, and was released in December 1955. It was directed by Joshua Logan. and nominated for six Academy Awards of which it won two. There was also a television special called Picnic – Broadway on Showtime that aired on November 10, 1986. It was produced by Catalina Production Group, Ltd.
The University of Kansas' operatic version of the play premiered April 8, 2008. Librettist and stage director Tim Ocel recalled, "When Forrest Pierce knocked on my door during the fall of 2006 and said he’d like to compose something for KU Opera, I jumped at the chance. The voice/opera division was just beginning to consider what our contribution to the 50th Murphy Hall celebration would be. I thought maybe we should create something; William Inge is the playwright and dramatic storyteller of 1950s Kansas, so why not explore the possibility of turning one of his plays into an opera? We both agreed that Picnic was the play that lent itself best to an operatic treatment. The libretto formed over the next six months, and by June 2007 Forrest was composing. The opera is a domestic comedy of sorts. Inge calls the play "A Summer Romance." It’s about everyday people… you and I… who have to figure out what it means to be alive and connected and useful in this world. It attempts to show the truth and the possibility of our everyday lives."
Most recently, Inge's Picnic was used as the basis for an opera with the name, composed by Libby Larsen on a commission from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Larsen's Picnic premiered on Thursday, April 2, 2009 by UNCG, in Aycock Auditorium.
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