Sly Fox
Sly Fox
OPENING: December 14, 1976
CLOSING: February 19, 1978
Seen: July 1977
LOCATION: Broadhurst Theatre
When I was an all knowing high school theatre kid, I was absolutely certain of one thing: That Shakespeare was the father of Renaissance drama.
Well. Imagine my shock when I sat in a freshman English class with the formidable Shamus (My high school gave the teachers the option of allowing us to call them by their first names). Shamus was an older man who had been teaching at the school for over forty years and was the definition of “Eccentric English Professor” who took pleasure in shocking his students. Whether it was slamming his hands down on his desk and screaming bloody murder to prove a point or figuring out how to verbally needle an individual student, it seemed to be the highlight of his day to elicit some horrified face from a young and unexpecting student. Many of my classmates were either afraid of or despised him. I found him fascinating...and then he found out that my entire knowledge of classic theatre consisted of Shakespeare and no one else.
Cue my rather vicious introduction to Christopher Marlowe, John Donne, and Ben Jonson.
I did not go quietly. At the age of fourteen I took on a man who should rightfully have been teaching grad students but instead was teaching high school girls. My insistence I that I was in the right was a trend that unfortunately followed me through college. In hindsight, Shamus was doing me a favor and I am certain that he saw it that way because the work of Marlowe and Jonson laid the groundwork for Shakespeare and in some cases outshines it.
This was something that Larry Geibert of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum fame recognized. Having already based Forum off the works of Platus, it was only a matter of time before he wrote another piece based off a classic work. In 1976 he opened another play that did just that. It was called Sly Fox and it was based on Ben Jonson’s Volpone.
Volpone tells the story of…Volpone, who is a man con man intent on scamming everyone he can. By pretending to be a very wealthy but very sick and old man, he attracts three would-be “heirs”. When he realizes that one of them has an absolutely gorgeous wife, he decides he must have her. Hilarity ensues and everyone gets their just desserts in the end. Gelbert, who by this point had been an early producer and writer on the hit TV series M*A*S*H, took this plot and modernized it to take place in the late 1800’s San Francisco.
To play the role of the conniving Foxwell J. Sly (See what they did there?), Gelbart was able to retain the talents of George C. Scott, General Patton himself. Rounding out the cast was Jack Gilford – working with Gelbart again after being Tony Nominated for his work in Forum - , Bob Dishy, and Hector Elizondo, who is probably best well known for his work in Garry Marshall films.
By the time my dad saw this show in 1977, George C. Scott had already left the production. His replacement, however, was none other than the Music Man himself Robert Preston. Preston has been much criticized for not having much of an acting range, but he had a career that extended over thirty years.
Sly Fox ran for over two years. It was a very healthy run for a straight play, especially one that was based on a 1606 classic. It was revived in 2004, this time with Richard Dreyfuss as Sly. Also in the cast was Rene Auborjonois and Bob Dishy – who was the only member of the original 1976 cast to return for the revival.
There have been many adaptations of classic work, but most have been those of Shakespeare and many that I have seen and can name (Ten Things I Hate About You and She’s The Man are the two that immediately come to mind) are set in high schools. There are a few exceptions – West Side Story is almost a direct adaptation of Romeo and Juliet and believe it or not The Lion King is a very loose adaptation of Hamlet. As far as I know, Sly Fox is the only Ben Jonson adaptation in modern entertainment. And maybe there should be more – do we really need another interpretation Romeo and Juliet?
It would be interesting to see what would happen if someone now, in 2023, tried to interpret another one of Ben Jonson’s pieces. What about it, Theatre Kids? My plate is full with performing and FIVE open writing projects at the moment but I challenge anyone reading this to give it a shot.
Who knows? You may surprise yourself.
CAST: REPLACEMENT
SIMON ABLE: Hector Elizondo
SLY’S SERVANTS: Darryl Croxton, Calvin Jung, Sandra Seacat
FOXWELL J. SLY: Robert Preston
LAWYER CRAVEN: John Heffernan
JETHRO CROUCH: Jack Gilford
ABNER TRUCKLE: James Gallery
MISS FANCY: Gretchen Wyler
MRS. TRUCKLE: Beth Austin
CROUCH’S SERVANT: Howard Chamberlin
CAPTAIN CROUCH: THEODORE SOREL
THE CHIEF OF POLICE: Raleigh Bond
1ST POLICEMAN: Charles Maggiore
2ND POLICEMAN/BAILIFF: Willy Switkes
3RD POLICEMAN: Joel Simon
COURT CLERK: Howard Chamberlin
THE JUDGE: George Spelvin
UNDERSTUDIES: Howard Chamberlin (Crouch); Theodore Sorel (Sly); Sandra Seacat (Mrs. Truckle, Miss Fancy); Joel Simon (Policeman, Servant, Court Clerk, Bailiff); Willy Switkes (Truckle, Chief of Police); Darryl Croxton (Able); and Charles Maggiore (Captain Crouch, Craven).
Barnes, Clive. “Stage: ‘Sly Fox, A Tireless Farce.” New York Times, December 15, 1976. https://www.nytimes.com/1976/12/15/archives/stage-sly-fox-a-tireless-farce.html?searchResultPosition=2
Barnes. Clive. “Robert Preston, in Scott’s Role, Proves Sly Fox of Another Hue.” New York Times, May 24, 1977. https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/24/archives/robert-preston-in-scotts-role-proves-sly-fox-of-another-hue.html?searchResultPosition=4
British Library. “Volpone.” https://www.bl.uk/works/volpone. Accessed March 2023.
Internet Broadway Database. “Larry Gelbart”. www.ibdb.com Accessed March 2023.
Internet Broadway Database. “Robert Preston.” www.ibdb.com Accessed March 2023.
Internet Movie Database. “Hector Elizondo.” www.imdb.com Accessed March 2023.
Internet Movie Database. “Robert Preston”. www.imdb.com. Accessed March 2023.
Internet Movie Database. “George C. Scott.” www.imdb.com Accessed March 2023.
