Characters
- George Hay
, a traveling actor.
- Charlotte
, George's wife and actress in his company.
- Rosalind
, Roz
, George & Charlotte's daughter, who left the stage to lead a "normal" life.
- Howard
, a TV weatherman and Rosalind's fiancé.
- Paul
, stage manager for George's company, and Rosalind's ex-fiancé.
- Ethel
, Charlotte's nearly-deaf mother.
- Richard
, a love sick lawyer who is courting Charlotte.
- Eileen
, an actress in George's company who was George's "one-night-stand."
Overview
Moon Over Buffalo
relies heavily on
situation comedy for its humor, as well as some sexual innuendo and a little
slapstick.
The actor who plays George, in particular, must be able to deliver a highly physical performance; George engages in a mock
fencing match with Charlotte, a
wrestling match with Howard, and a stunt fall into the
orchestra pit.
The action and dialogue are fast-paced, as the characters are constantly bickering or frantically trying to resolve some confusion.
George and Charlotte Hay, traveling actors, are performing
Cyrano de Bergerac
and
Private Lives
in a
repertory theatre in Buffalo. Charlotte has grandiose dreams of becoming a
Hollywood film star; George, on the other hand, is quite satisfied as a stage actor, and sees
live theatre as being superior to film.
George receives a phone call from
Frank Capra, a very famous
film director, who says that he needs replacements for
Ronald Colman and
Greer Garson, the two stars of his current film,
The Scarlet Pimpernel, and that he plans to see one of George's shows and consider George and Charlotte for the parts.
Charlotte, however, doesn't believe George when he gives the news; she has just learned that George has had an affair with one of their actors, Eileen, and that Eileen is pregnant with George's child. Charlotte tells George she plans to leave with Richard, a successful and charismatic lawyer. George, despondent, gives up hope and turns to alcohol to drown his misery.
When Charlotte reads the news about Capra losing his actors, she returns to the theater, only to find that George has left.
Charlotte and Rosalind (their daughter who has recently come to visit) contact all the bars in the city, looking for him.
They can't find him, but Charlotte does meet Howard, Roz's new fiancé, whom Charlotte's hard-of-hearing mother mistakenly introduces as Frank Capra.
Thinking that Howard is the famous director, Charlotte gives him the "red carpet" treatment, for which Howard is grateful, but confused.
And when George returns, he believes that Howard is actually Eileen's brother, seeking revenge for George's affair with Eileen. In what he thinks is
self-defense, George ties up the innocent Howard and locks him in a closet.
When Charlotte and Roz finally meet George again, they try to get him prepared for the afternoon's showing of
Private Lives
, which Capra intends to see. George, in his drunken stupor, decides he would rather do
Cyrano
, and dresses appropriately. The resulting show is a disaster, as George is several minutes late to arrive onstage and in the wrong
costume and character. In the end, Howard, still bound in ropes, hops onstage and calls out for help; then George falls into the orchestra pit, presumably breaking a few instruments and sending him to the hospital.
After the show, a sober George offers his apology to Howard.
Brushing that aside, Howard announces that he has met an old love and in walks Eileen. Howard and Eileen have decided to get engaged and eagerly plan to start a family right away. Everyone is relieved...and happy. Now that Roz is now single, Paul takes the opportunity to (almost literally) sweep her off her feet, and they get engaged again on the spot.
Charlotte forgives — or at least forgets — George's infidelity and decides to stay with him instead of Richard. Finally, in a
deus ex machina
-like plot twist, Capra himself calls to say that he missed the afternoon performance and will instead see the show in the evening, thus allowing George and Charlotte another chance at Hollywood stardom.
Production
Directed by
Tom Moore,
Moon Over Buffalo
opened on
Broadway at the
Martin Beck Theatre on October 1, 1995, where it ran for 309 performances, after 22 previews and an out-of-town tryout in Boston.
A video,
Moon Over Broadway
, was made, following the show through the rehearsal period and the Broadway opening.
Cast
Broadway Theatre, New York
- George Hay -- Philip Bosco
- Charlotte Hay -- Carol Burnett
- Rosalind -- Randy Graff
- Ethel -- Jane Connell
- Paul -- Dennis Ryan
- Eileen -- Kate Miller
- Howard -- Andy Taylor
- Richard Maynard -- James Valentine
J. K. Tyl Theatre, Plzen
Czech name: Mesíc nad Buffalem.
- George Benson -- Pavel Pavlovský
- Charlotte Benson -- Monika Švábová
- Rosalind Benson -- Andrea Cerná
- Ethel -- Zorka Kostková
- Paul -- Jan Malér
- Eileen -- Klára Kováríková
- Howard -- Zdenek Rohlícek
- Richard Maynard -- Zdenek Mucha