Wait Until Dark
OPENING: February 2, 1966
CLOSING: December 31, 1966
Seen: April 1966
LOCATION: Ethel Barrymore Theater
I’ll be honest: this entry was a beast to write. There is significantly more information out there about musicals than there is plays, not to mention plays that aren’t written by the likes of Arthur Miller or Tennessee Williams. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with a good play, but let’s be honest here – when it comes to Broadway, the musical is king. To put this into perspective – I saw my first Broadway musical in 1998. I saw my first Broadway play in 2017. And this comes from The Ultimate Theatre Kid.
For clarification, I had seen my fair share of plays elsewhere. Just never on Broadway.
My dad got a much earlier start with the enchanting art form known as the Broadway Play. Did he see one before 1966? Who knows. But I do have confirmation that by his sixteenth birthday, he had been introduced to this magical expression.
After we had our successful movie night with On A Clear Day my dad surprised me by asking what movie we would be watching next. When I told him it would be the 1967 Audrey Hepburn thriller Wait Until Dark he wrinkled his nose and asked me to let him know when I would be writing about another musical. Unfortunately, he’ll have to wait a few weeks.
Wait Until Dark was written by English playwright Frederick Knott, his third Broadway play. His first, Dial M For Murder, was a smash hit after months of being shopped around. It enjoyed a healthy sixteen month run on Broadway at the Plymouth and then toured for five months. Several years later, it was adapted into an Alfred Hitchcock film starring Ray Milland and Grace Kelly. Fourteen years later after a relative flop called Write Me A Murder, Knott debuted Wait Until Dark at the Barrymore Theater. It starred Lee Remick as the blind Susy and a young Robert Duvall (later famed for The Godfather) as bad guy Roat. I grew up hearing my dad tell me how Robert Duvall was probably one of most talented yet underrated actors out there, and when I found out that Wait Until Dark was his Broadway debut, I assumed my dad was struck by Duvall’s stage presence. However, after looking through the Playbill just a little bit closer, this is not the case. Duvall had an understudy the night my dad saw the show. My Theater Kid heart hurts just a little bit writing that.
Wait Until Dark tells the story of Susy after her husband mistakenly brings home a doll filled with heroin when he returns from a business trip. She is mercilessly stalked by Harry Roat and his men as they try to recover it.
I won’t write any spoilers here. But I will say the main complaint about Wait Until Dark was that the plot dragged until the final scene which, in turn, is exhilarating. After falling asleep watching the Audrey Hepburn film (twice) I can see where the critics were coming from with this one. After my second attempt I didn’t try to get to that scene but I have memories of my mother telling me that the ending of that movie was one of the creepiest she had ever seen.
Remick dropped out of high school to pursue acting and made her Broadway debut at eighteen. (Yarrow, 1991). The show was called Be Your Age and it ran a mere five performances in January of 1953. It was a humble beginning but it was enough to put her on the map. She continued to play summer stock and was featured on several TV shows until she eventually returned to Broadway in 1964’s Anyone Can Whistle. While Anyone Can Whistle was another show that didn’t survive its first week, it did not deter Remick. Wait Until Dark opened two years later and she became the sole Tony nominee for Wait Until Dark in 1966.
I may give the movie another shot. I love a dramatic ending and my mother was adamant that Wait Until Dark’s ending was incredible. The play was memorable enough that it was revived on Broadway in 2001 with Quentin Tarantino as Roat. I would be interested in seeing a revival now that I am old enough to appreciate it; maybe, just maybe, it will make it back to Broadway again in the future. Fingers crossed.
CAST: ORIGINAL
CONFIRMED UNDERSTUDY: James Tolkan for Robert Duvall
MIKE TALMAN: Mitchell Ryan
SGT CARLINO: Val Bisoglio
HARRY ROAT, JR: Robert Duvall
SUSY HENDRIX: Lee Remick
SAM HENDRIX: James Congdon
GLORIA: Julie Herrod
POLICEMEN: William Jordan, Richard Kuss
STANDBY FOR LEE REMICK: Dixie Marquis
UNDERSTUDIES: James Tolkan (Harry Roat Jr); William Jordan (Mike Talman, Sam Hendrix); Richard Kuss (Sgt Carlino); Susan Dunfee (Gloria).
Internet Broadway Database. “Lee Remick”. www.ibdb.com. Accessed March 2023.
Internet Broadway Database. “Robert Duvall”. www.ibdb.com. Accessed October 2022.
Internet Broadway Database. “Wait Until Dark”. www.ibdb.com. Accessed October 2022.
Kauffmann, Stanley. “Theater: Lee Remick Stars in ‘Wait Until Dark’”. New York Times, February 3, 1966. https://www.theatermania.com/off-broadway/news/hal-linden-bernie-kopell-ed-weinberger-interview_94207.html
The Independent. “Obituary: Frederick Knott.” December 26, 2002. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/frederick-knott-137362.html
Tony Awards. www.tonyawards.com. Accessed October 2022.
Yarrow, Andrew L. “Lee Remick, 55, Actress in Roles from Enticing to Tormented, Dies.” New York Times, July 3, 1991. https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/03/obituaries/lee-remick-55-actress-in-roles-from-enticing-to-tormented-dies.html?searchResultPosition=8
Zolotow, Sam. “Library to House Small Theaters” New York Times, August 31, 1966. https://www.nytimes.com/1966/08/31/archives/library-to-house-small-theaters-change-in-papps-plan-will-allow-jan.html?searchResultPosition=1
