About the Play:

The Man Who Came to Dinner is a full-length comedy by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. A cantankerous megalomaniac theatre critic breaks his leg while on a lecture tour and is forced to stay a bit longer at the normal Midwestern home of his host family, ultimately taking over the house with his demands and visiting Broadway luminary friends. This hilarious comedy classic is a most popular title with regional and community theatres.

The Man Who Came to Dinner is Broadway's most hilarious and enduring comedy about celebrity. Sheridan Whiteside – theatre critic, lecturer, wit, radio orator, intimate friend of the great and near great – having dined at the home of the Stanleys, slips on their doorstep, breaking his hip. A tumultuous six weeks of confinement follow. The Stanley living room is monopolized by the irascible invalid; ex-convicts are invited to meals; and transatlantic calls bring a LARGE phone bill. The arrival of strange gifts from his friends further destroys domestic tranquility. It would take a stoical housewife to harbour penguins in her library, an octopus in her cellar, and 10,000 cockroaches in her kitchen. When Maggie, his secretary, falls in love with the reporter, Bert Jefferson, Whiteside summons a glamorous actress, Lorraine, to win the affections of the young man. Knowing the girl's charms, Maggie enlists the aid of a clever impersonator who, affecting the voice of Lord Bottomley, whom the actress hopes to marry, asks her by phone to return to him and be married. The ruse almost works, but Whiteside, becoming suspicious, finds that no calls have come through from London. In revenge, Lorraine suggests a three-week rewrite on a play of Bert's in which she feigns great interest. Lake Placid is to furnish the quiet for his inspiration, and she is to be his collaborator. The unexpected arrival of a mummy case, just as the relenting Whiteside is frantically seeking to get rid of Lorraine, furnishes a malicious idea. Tricking her into stepping into the case, he shuts the lid and blackmails his host into having the case carried to the airport, preparatory to a round-the-world cruise. Whiteside departs from the Stanley's home triumphantly, but a second later a crash is heard – he has again slipped and fallen!

The Man Who Came to Dinner opened in 1939 at New York's Music Box Theater to become one of the longest-running hits in the history of Broadway. It's still enormously popular, and has been a staple of community theatres, regional repertory houses, and high schools since then.

Cast: 9 female, 15 male (some doubling possible in lesser roles)

About the Playwright:

Moss Hart (1904-1961) was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theatre on Broadway. He also succeeded in Hollywood, becoming a notable screenwriter. Among his many accolades are the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Academy Award nomination for best screenplay, and a Best Director Tony Award.

George S. Kaufman (1889-1961) was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. After brief periods studying law and as a salesman, he began to contribute humorous material to newspapers; by 1915 he was writing for the theater section of the New York Tribune, moving to the New York Times (1917-30). He wrote forty-five plays and musicals in his career. The vast majority were hits and two of his collaborations won the Pulitzer Prize.