By Robert Simonson
27 Mar 2003
Say Goodnight, Gracie, the steady Broadway hit by Rupert Holmes, is saying "Hello" to all Gracies—but only on Thursdays at 2 PM.
The one-man show, starred Frank Gorshin at Burns, recently introduced the Thursday matinees as an alternative to the typical Thursday evening performances offered by most Broadway shows.
The new schedule is reminiscent of certain performance line-ups in London, where Thursday matinees are not unheard of.
The show opened on Oct. 10, 2002, following previews from Sept. 17.
Gracie was the first new play to open in the 2002-03 Broadway season. John Tillinger directs the work, which previously played at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts and the Coconut Grove Playhouse. It won Florida's Carbonell Award for Best New Play of 2000. Didi Conn provides the voice of Gracie Allen. John Lee Beatty is scenic consultant, lighting design is by Howard Werner, sound is by Kevin Lacey.
In Say Goodnight Gracie , comedian George Burns finds himself caught in limbo, unable to enter heaven until he plays his last performance, thereby preserving his perfect record of having never missed a curtain. Beginning with Burns' poverty-stricken youth on the Lower East Side of New York City, Gorshin recreates the great comedian's life, from his success in vaudeville and on the radio to his marriage to the love of his life, Gracie Allen, and her tragic death; finishing with Burns' late-in life, Academy Award-winning success on the silver screen and his establishment as a 20th-Century entertainment and comedy icon.
Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre is at 240 W. 44th Street. For ticket information, call (212) 239 6200.
