The Man Who Came to Dinner

The clip is from the 1942 film version starring Monty Woolley and Bette Davis. Here are Jimmy Durante and Mary Wickes as Banjo (based on Harpo Marx) and Nurse Preen, respectively.

A professional contact and friend of Walt's named Gordon played the lead role last night in the Edmonds Community College production of this wonderful play, co-written by George S. Kauffman and Moss Hart. The cast is very good, with Gordon in the title role kind of directing his young ensemble from the stage. Gordon is a graduate of the Yale Drama School, so he knows his stuff. He is a delightful actor and person.

Nabokov famously hated live theater. He said it was because the actors seem to have more fun than the audience. Sadly, this is often true. Not so with this play and this staging. Perhaps because of the intimacy of the setting (the seats end where the stage begins and the front row is on the same level as the stage), the audience is part of the fun. The dialogue is sharp and fast and funny.

Support community theater. Go and see this play tonight, tomorrow or Sunday. You will be surprised at how much fun it is.