Twentieth Century Play V.S. Musical?

[Littleshopofcarrie]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 6:37pm

Did anybody see both? If so, which did you like better and how were they different? (besides the music, of course)

[jv92]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 9:40pm

I only know the movie with Barrymore and Lombard, which I'm assuming is very similar to the play. The Mrs. Primrose role is a man in that (and in the play I'm assuming). The musical compresses the action completely to the train, whereas the film begins with Barrymore as Oscar Jaffe discovering the young background player (not audition accompanist) and makes her Lilly Garland. 

[beaemma]

Posted: 6/26/15 at 12:44am

I saw the 2004 Roundabout production of TWENTIETH CENTURY with Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche, the original production of the musical, and the current revival of the musical. While I don't remember a whole lot about the nonmusical, I recall thinking that the musical followed the story quite closely. All the action took place on the train. The Primrose equivalent, played by Tom Aldredge, was named Matthew Clark. He was mild mannered and seemed harmless until the craziness with the stickers was revealed, very much the way Letitia Primrose is written. One of Jaffe's employees (the press agent, I think) was a woman named Ida Webb, played by Julie Halston. I enjoyed the play, but, of course, missed the music because I had seen and loved the musical first. It was very witty and fast paced, with high energy leading performances.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 6/26/15 at 1:10am

I'm sure the play works well on stage, but I found the movie to be really boring even with comedy heavy weight Carole Lombard and great actor John Barrymore in the lead roles. I immensely enjoyed the musical when I saw it, though I think it needs great direction and actors to make it really work.