Does anyone remember 1981's 'The Supporting Cast' ?

The other day I was reading about actress Betty Garrett who was most familiar to television audiences playing 'Irene Lorenzo' on 'All In The Family', and later the landlady 'Mrs. Babbish' on 'Laverne and Shirley'. Garrett, though, had a background in theater.

According to the article, Garrett left the series 'Laverne and Shirley' in 1981 when 'Laverne and Shirley' was scheduled to end their run, but ABC then renewed the series for another two years. It was too late for Garrett - she had committed to a comedy on Broadway called 'The Supporting Cast' which also starred Hope Lange, Sandy Dennis, Joyce Van Patten and Jack Gilford. The play ran for eight previews, and then lasted a month on Broadway before closing (it played August, 1981). Garrett couldn't return to 'L & S' because the writers permanently wrote out her character.



Does anyone remember this play ? Was it very bad that it closed in a month ? With such a stellar cast, I would think it would have lasted longer - anyone know the details ?

I saw it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Fairly standard sitcom stuff, but the cast was amazing. They all came out after the show and signed and chatted. Sandy Dennis was everything you’d expect, feeding the local alley cats. There’s a grainy tape of it floating around the internet somewhere.

Thanks everyone for the responses! From what I read it sounds like it had a fun story to it. Too bad it’s never been revived.

I enjoyed it quite a lot, which is surprising, given that I thought that Furth was a borderline hack. I remember laughing a lot...it did have a terrific cast and Lange brought a lot of warmth. The funny thing is that, although I do remember enjoying it thoroughly, I do not remember anything about the plot. Go figure.

Agreed. Flop musicals are given a second life all the time. I’d be interested to learn about some straight plays with a similar trajectory