The Iceman Cometh is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill
James Barton, in his performance as Hickey, was reportedly not up to the massive emotional and physical demands of such a titanic part, and sometimes forgot his lines or wore out his voice.
Marlon Brando was offered the part of Don Parritt in the original Broadway production, but turned it down. Brando was able to read only a few pages of the script the producers gave him before falling asleep, and he later argued at length with the producers, describing the play as "ineptly written and poorly constructed" in the hopes they would explain what the play was about and not discover that he had not read it. The play received mixed reviews.
1956: An Off-Broadway production staged after O'Neill's death featured Jason Robards as Hickey and was directed by José Quintero. This production was an unqualified success and established the play as a great modern tragedy.
1985: A Broadway revival staged at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre featured Jason Robards as Hickey with a cast that included Barnard Hughes as Harry Hope, Donald Moffat as Larry Slade, and again directed by José Quintero. It ran from September 29, 1985, to December 1, 1985.
1990: Chicago's Goodman Theatre mounted a production directed by Robert Falls, starring Brian Dennehy as Hickey, Jerome Kilty as Hope and James Cromwell as Slade.
1998: A London production featuring Kevin Spacey had a successful and critically acclaimed run through 1998 and 1999 at the Almeida Theatre and the Old Vic in London.
1999: A Broadway revival from the 1998 London production staged at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre with Kevin Spacey as Hickey. It ran from April 8, 1999, to July 17, 1999.
2012: A revival at Chicago's Goodman Theatre featured Nathan Lane in the lead role of Hickey, Brian Dennehy this time as Larry Slade, and was directed by Robert Falls. It started its run at the Goodman Theatre in April 2012, slated for a six-week engagement. It was a huge success for the Goodman Theater, whose management stated it was the most successful production in its history. This production omitted the character of Pat McGloin.
2015: The Goodman Theatre production directed by Falls, starring Lane and Dennehy and the rest of the original cast with the creative team from Chicago was produced at the Harvey Theater of the Brooklyn Academy of Music with a six-week engagement starting on February 5, 2015, that featured Nathan Lane and John Douglas Thompson. For his performance, Thompson won an Obie Award.
2018: Denzel Washington starred as Hickey and Tammy Blanchard as Cora, in a Broadway revival directed by George C. Wolfe. The production ran for 14 weeks at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, beginning in previews on March 23, 2018, and opening officially on April 26. The cast featured Frank Wood as Cecil Lewis, Bill Irwin as Ed Mosher, Reg Rogers as James Cameron, Colm Meaney as Harry Hope, David Morse as Larry Slade, and Austin Butler as Don Parritt. The sets were by Santo Loquasto, costumes by Ann Roth, and lighting design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer.
Adaptations
1960: TV Production for Play of the Week on the National Telefilm Associates (NTA) syndication network, directed by Sidney Lumet. This production featured Jason Robards as Hickey, Tom Pedi from the original 1947 stage production as Rocky Pioggi, Sorrell Booke as Hugo Kalmar, and Robert Redford as Don Parritt. It is presented as two separate episodes of the series due to the length of the work, with a total run time of 210 minutes. It is notable in view of TV standards of the time that while much dialog was omitted for time, that which was retained was not changed to soften its language. For example, at the end of Hickey's breakdown, Robards says the words "that damned bitch" exactly as O'Neill had written.
1973: A film adaptation as part of the American Film Theatre directed by John Frankenheimer. This production featured many well known actors including Lee Marvin as Hickey, Fredric March as Harry Hope, Robert Ryan as Larry Slade, Tom Pedi as Rocky Pioggi, Bradford Dillman as Willie Oban, Sorrell Booke as Hugo Kalmar, Martyn Green as Cecil Lewis, Moses Gunn as Joe Mott, George Voskovec as The General (Piet Wetjoen) and Jeff Bridges as Don Parritt. This film was the final film appearance of Fredric March, Robert Ryan and Martyn Green. The film run time is 239 minutes. Dialog was consistently trimmed for time as might be done for a stage production. The character of Ed Mosher was excised entirely. There are some variations in words or word order in ordinary speech that differ from the published text. The most important speeches are present and usually performed in full from the published text. Some segments of dialog are presented in an order that differs from the published text.
Notable performers
thumb|[[Tom Pedi, here seen in Arnie, was the original Rocky and portrayed the character in both the TV adaptation and the film adaptation.]]
- Jason Robards played the role of Hickey in multiple stage productions and the 1960 TV adaptation.
- Tom Pedi played the role of Rocky the bartender in the original 1947 stage production, the 1960 TV adaptation and the 1973 film adaptation.
- Sorrell Booke played the role of Hugo Kalmar in both the 1960 TV adaptation and the 1973 film adaptation.
- Robert Redford played the role of Don Parritt in the 1960 TV adaptation.
- James Earl Jones played the role of Hickey in the 1973 Broadway production.
- Jeff Bridges played the role of Don Parritt in the 1973 film adaptation and Lee Marvin played Hickey.
- Barnard Hughes played the role of Harry Hope in the 1985 Broadway production.
- Tony Danza played the role of Rocky the bartender in the 1999 Broadway production.
- Paul Giamatti played the role of Jimmy Tomorrow in the 1999 Broadway production.
- Kevin Spacey played the role of Hickey in the 1999 Broadway and London Old Vic Productions.
- Nathan Lane played the role of Hickey and Brian Dennehy played Larry Slade in the 2012 Goodman Theater production, which was revived in 2015 at BAM.
- Denzel Washington played the role of Hickey in the 2018 Broadway production.
- Austin Butler played the role of Don Parritt in the 2018 Broadway production.
- Bill Irwin played the role of Ed Mosher in the 2018 Broadway production.
Reception
The critic Pauline Kael called The Iceman Cometh the "greatest thesis play of the American theater" and mentions that O'Neill has a "crude, prosaic virtuosity, which is also pure American poetry".
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
{| class="wikitable" style="width:95%;"
|-
! style="width:5%;" | Year
! style="width:25%;" | Award ceremony
! style="width:40%;" | Category
! style="width:20%;" | Nominee
! style="width:10%;" | Result
|-
| 1947
| New York Drama Critics' Circle Award
| Best American Play
| Eugene O'Neill
|
|}
1973 Broadway revival
{| class="wikitable" style="width:95%;"
|-
! style="width:5%;" | Year
! style="width:25%;" | Award ceremony
! style="width:40%;" | Category
! style="width:20%;" | Nominee
! style="width:10%;" | Result
|-
| 1974
| Drama Desk Award
| Outstanding Costume Design
| Carrie F. Robbins
|
|}
1985 Broadway revival
{| class="wikitable" style="width:95%;"
|-
! style="width:5%;" | Year
! style="width:25%;" | Award ceremony
! style="width:40%;" | Category
! style="width:20%;" | Nominee
! style="width:10%;" | Result
|-
| rowspan="7" | 1986
| rowspan="4" | Tony Award
| colspan="2" | Best Revival
|
|-
| Best Direction of a Play
| José Quintero
|
|-
| Best Scenic Design
| Ben Edwards
|
|-
| Best Lighting Design
| Thomas R. Skelton
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | Drama Desk Award
| colspan="2" | Outstanding Revival
|
|-
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
| Donald Moffat
|
|-
| Outstanding Costume Design
| Jane Greenwood
|
|}
1999 Broadway revival
{| class="wikitable" style="width:95%;"
|-
! style="width:5%;" | Year
! style="width:25%;" | Award ceremony
! style="width:40%;" | Category
! style="width:20%;" | Nominee
! style="width:10%;" | Result
|-
| rowspan="18" | 1999
| rowspan="5" | Tony Award
| colspan="2" | Best Revival of a Play
|
|-
| Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
| Kevin Spacey
|
|-
| Best Direction of a Play
| Howard Davies
|
|-
| Best Scenic Design
| Bob Crowley
|
|-
| Best Lighting Design
| Mark Henderson
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | Drama Desk Award
| colspan="2" | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play
|
|-
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
| Paul Giamatti
|
|-
| Outstanding Director of a Play
| Howard Davies
|
|-
| rowspan="8" | Outer Critics Circle Award
| colspan="2" | Outstanding Revival of a Play
|
|-
| Outstanding Actor in a Play
| Kevin Spacey
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
| Tim Pigott-Smith
|
|-
| Michael Emerson
|
|-
| Outstanding Director of a Play
| Howard Davies
|
|-
| Outstanding Set Design
| rowspan="2" | Bob Crowley
|
|-
| Outstanding Costume Design
|
|-
| Outstanding Lighting Design
| Mark Henderson
|
|-
| Drama League Award
| colspan="2" | Distinguished Revival of a Play
|
|-
| colspan="2" | Theatre World Award
| Clarke Peters
|
|}
2018 Broadway revival
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! Year
! Award Ceremony
! Category
! Nominee
! Result
|-
| rowspan="12" | 2018
| rowspan="8" | Tony Award
| colspan="2" | Best Revival of a Play
|
|-
| Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
| Denzel Washington
|
|-
| Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
| David Morse
|
|-
| Best Direction of a Play
| George C. Wolfe
|
|-
| Best Scenic Design
| Santo Loquasto
|
|-
| Best Costume Design of a Play
| Ann Roth
|
|-
| Best Lighting Design of a Play
| Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer
|
|-
| Best Sound Design of a Play
| Dan Moses Schreier
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | Drama League Award
| colspan="2" | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play
|
|-
| Distinguished Performance Award
| Denzel Washington
|
|-
| Outer Critics Circle Award
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
| David Morse
|
|-
| Drama Desk Award
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
| David Morse
|
|}
See also
- Raines law