Mister Roberts (play)
Mister Roberts is a 1948 play based on the 1946 Thomas Heggen novel of the same name.
| Mister Roberts | |
|---|---|
 Henry Fonda and Robert Burton, 1950 | |
| Written by | Thomas Heggen (novel, play) Joshua Logan (play) |
| Characters | Lieutenant Doug Roberts The Captain Doc Ensign Pulver Wiley Gerhart Lieutenant Ann Girard Reber Shore Patrol Officer Stefanowski |
| Date premiered | 18 February 1948 |
| Place premiered | Alvin Theatre |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Setting | World War II; aboard the USS Reluctant in the South Pacific |
The novel began as a collection of short stories about Heggen's experiences aboard USS Rotanin and USS Virgo in the South Pacific during World War II. Broadway producer Leland Hayward acquired the rights for the play and hired Heggen and Joshua Logan for the adaptation.
Mister Roberts opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on February 18, 1948, starring Henry Fonda, David Wayne, Robert Keith, and Jocelyn Brando, who replaced Eva Marie Saint before the show opened. Logan's brother-in-law, William Harrigan, played the Captain. The original production also featured Harvey Lembeck, Ralph Meeker, Steven Hill, Lee Van Cleef, and Murray Hamilton. Fonda got out of a Hollywood film contract to star in the Broadway theatre stage production. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. The production ran for 1,157 performances. Fonda later reprised his role of Lieutenant Roberts in the 1955 film of the same name.
A book dramatizing the play, co-authored by Heggen and Logan and also titled Mister Roberts, was published by Random House in 1948. New York Times critic Lewis Nichols praised the work as standing on its own. [1]
Tyrone Power starred in the London company. John Forsythe appeared in a national touring production. Many actors began their careers in various productions and touring companies. Fess Parker began his show-business career in the play, in 1951.
Joshua Logan's account of his collaboration with Thomas Heggen in the writing of the play is in Logan's autobiography, Josh: My Up and Down, In and Out Life.
Awards and nominations
- 1948 Tony Award for Best Play
References
- "Mr. Roberts; MISTER ROBERTS. By Thomas Heggen and Joshua Logan. Foreword by John Mason Brown. 163 pp. New York: Random House. $2.50". timesmachine.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
- "History", USNS New Bedford (T-AKL-17), Sea bird adventure.
- "The Wacky Ship of Mr. Roberts", Sea Classics, USS Virgo, January 1979, archived from the original on 2008-08-21.
- "T. O. Heggen, Author, Found Dead in Bath", The New York Times, May 20, 1949.
- Logan, Joshua (1976), Josh: My Up and Down, In and Out Life, New York: Delacorte Press, ISBN 978-0-440-04235-8.