Boeing Boeing Question.

Don't know much about it.

But it's a play. A farce to be more exact.

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shh82 just about summed up the show...

BoeingonBroadway.com has a summary. And yes, I'd say there's a really good chance of it being on TKTS on the 17th. There are however, multiple discount codes available online (Broadwaybox.com, theatermania.com, etc etc) that offer half price tickets.

A phenomenally successful sex farce that was a hit everywhere except Broadway.

The fact that this play was a hit everywhere except Broadway says a lot more about the immature and prudish attitude American theatergoers in the 1960's had towards subject matter of a sexual nature than it does about Boeing Boeing. The most popular nonmusical play of the period was American playwright Jean Kerr's "Mary, Mary", also billed as a sex comedy, but one whose plot and dialogue, although very witty, was G-rated even for the time. Boeing Boeing may still be too sophisticated for today's American theatergoers. This play requires that the audience actually listen to the dialogue and assumes that they are of sufficient intelligence to comprehend it. I hope that does not prove to be the cause for Boeing Boeing to fail again this time around. It is about time American audiences caught up with the rest of the world in accepting and enjoying sexual farce without discomfort or dumbing the material down to some antiquated notion of what is acceptable.

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Updated On: 5/7/08 at 11:06 PM

etoile - their next thoughts will be on Glory Days


and that will be a HUGE ego boost.

The entire cast are hysterical.

What more needs to be said?

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It is a well documented fact that the 1960's Broadway production of "Boeing Boeing" failed because audiences of the time simply did not get it and many people were uncomfortable with the cavalier moral tone of the play. It was simply ahead of its time, at least for Broadway. Edward Anhalt (Becket), who wrote the screen adaptation of the play for the very successful 1965 film version stated this as the reason he reworked the material to make it more acceptable to American audiences by making the lead character less amoral than in the original and the film benefited from still unsurpassed comedy performances by Tony Curtis and Thelma Ritter.
For those who might be interested, the film of "Boeing Boeing" is being shown on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) on May 18. It is worth checking out even if you have not seen the current production.

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Updated On: 5/8/08 at 06:14 AM

You got me wrong, SueleenGay. I am very happy that audiences are responding enthusiastically to "Boeing Boeing". It has always been a fast, frenetically paced, howlingly funny play. But its subject matter was sophisticated and somewhat shocking for its time, at least within the framework of a stage comedy. We have come a long way since then and most television sitcoms today appear racier than "Boeing Boeing", but not nearly as well written. But I don't like the comparison to "Three's Company". "Saved by the Bell" was Shakespeare compared to that show, which was redeemed only by the late John Ritter elevating the material with his extremely funny performances each week. Corine may be referring to the set, which is reminiscent of the apartment in "Three's Company". But getting back to “Boeing Boeing”, I have seen at least 5 productions of it in England, Canada, and a revival of the original French version in Paris plus the wonderful 1965 film version with Tony Curtis & Jerry Lewis (he plays the role of the friend who shows up and his reactions to all the crazy stuff going on is great). The show is everything you say it is and is funny even when you see it again. There is so much going on that each time you can discover something you missed the last time because you were laughing so much. Very few plays can achieve that connection with its audience.

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Updated On: 5/8/08 at 04:27 PM