The Sunshine Boys
is a play by Neil Simon that was produced on Broadway in 1972 and later adapted for film and television.
It focuses on aging Al Lewis and Willy Clark, a one-time vaudevillian team known as "Lewis and Clark" who, over the course of forty-odd years, not only grew to hate each other but never spoke to each other off-stage throughout the final year of their act. The stubborn Clark, who was not ready for retirement, resented the wiser Lewis for breaking up the act when he opted to leave show business. It is now 1972 and CBS is inviting the team to reunite for a special on the history of comedy, with the pair representing the vaudeville era at its best. Clark is convinced by his nephew Ben to revive one of the old routines one last time. Much of the humor is derived from efforts to get the two cantankerous actors into the same room for a rehearsal, their differences of opinion once they reunite, and their shenanigans on the actual broadcast.
Neil Simon was inspired by two venerable vaudeville teams. The longevity of "Lewis and Clark" was inspired by Smith and Dale who, unlike their theatrical counterparts, were inseparable lifelong friends. The undercurrent of hostility between "Lewis and Clark" was inspired by the team of Gallagher and Shean, who were successful professionally but argumentative personally.
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Theatre productions
After two previews, the original Broadway production, produced by
Emanuel Azenberg and directed by
Alan Arkin, opened on
December 18 1972 at the
Broadhurst Theatre. It transferred to the
Shubert and then the
Lunt-Fontanne before completing its 538-performance run. The original cast included
Sam Levene as Lewis,
Jack Albertson as Clark, and
Lewis J. Stadlen as Ben. Replacements later in the run included
Lou Jacobi as Lewis and
Jack Gilford as Clark.
Tony Award nominations went to Simon (Best Play), Albertson (Best Actor in a Play) and Arkin (Best Direction of a Play), and Albertson won the
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance.
In 1997, under the auspices of the
National Actors Theatre, a production was mounted at the
Coconut Grove Playhouse in
Miami, and its success justified a transfer north. After twelve previews, the Broadway revival directed by
John Tillinger opened on
December 8 1997 at the
Lyceum Theatre, where it ran for 230 performances. The cast included
Tony Randall as Lewis,
Jack Klugman as Clark, and Matthew Arkin as Ben.
Film adaptation
Television adaptations
In 1995, Simon adapted his play yet again for a
Hallmark Entertainment production that finally aired on
December 28 1997. His teleplay updated the setting and made the two comedians the product of the early days of television, the medium in which the playwright got his start. Directed by John Erman, it starred
Woody Allen as Lewis and
Peter Falk as Clark, with
Michael McKean,
Liev Schreiber,
Edie Falco,
Sarah Jessica Parker, and
Whoopi Goldberg in supporting roles.
There have been three
German television versions of
The Sunshine Boys
, all entitled
Sonny Boys
. The 1982 adaptation starred Carl-Heinz Schroth and Johannes Heesters, the 1995 version featured Harald Juhnke and Wolfgang Spier, and Werner Schneyder and Dieter Hildebrandt appeared in the 2001 edition.
References