Frontispiece & Title Page of "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" by George Axelrod. NY: Random House, (1956). First edition
Pictured here are the stars of the play: Jayne Mansfield (as Rita Marlowe), Lew Gallo (as the Masseur), Walter Matthau (as Michael Freeman) and Orson Bean (as George MacCauley).
The play is an original comedy in three acts and four scenes. After a try-out run at the Plymouth Theatre in Boston from September 26, 1955, it opened at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway on October 13, starring Jayne Mansfield, Walter Matthau and Orson Bean. Directed by the author and produced by Jule Styne, it closed on November 3, 1956 after 444 performances.
The play is a Faustian comedy about a fan magazine writer who sells his soul to the Devil (in the guise of a literary agent) to become a successful screenwriter. The character of Rita Marlowe (played by Jayne Mansfield) is a vapid blonde sex symbol, an exaggerated lampoon of Marilyn Monroe (who had starred the previous year in the film version of Axelrod's play "The Seven Year Itch"). The surname Marlowe is an homage to 16th century playwright Christopher Marlowe, who wrote the 1604 drama The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, the plot of which served as the inspiration for Axelrod's play.
[Source: Wikipedia]
George Axelrod, born in New York, is probably best known for “The Seven Year Itch” – his first Broadway comedy – which ran for almost three years, toured very successfully, flowered in translation all over the world, and eventually was made into a movie – with this iconic scene:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=slfkiWZ7ozI
Frontispiece & Title Page of "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" by George Axelrod. NY: Random House, (1956). First edition
Pictured here are the stars of the play: Jayne Mansfield (as Rita Marlowe), Lew Gallo (as the Masseur), Walter Matthau (as Michael Freeman) and Orson Bean (as George MacCauley).
The play is an original comedy in three acts and four scenes. After a try-out run at the Plymouth Theatre in Boston from September 26, 1955, it opened at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway on October 13, starring Jayne Mansfield, Walter Matthau and Orson Bean. Directed by the author and produced by Jule Styne, it closed on November 3, 1956 after 444 performances.
The play is a Faustian comedy about a fan magazine writer who sells his soul to the Devil (in the guise of a literary agent) to become a successful screenwriter. The character of Rita Marlowe (played by Jayne Mansfield) is a vapid blonde sex symbol, an exaggerated lampoon of Marilyn Monroe (who had starred the previous year in the film version of Axelrod's play "The Seven Year Itch"). The surname Marlowe is an homage to 16th century playwright Christopher Marlowe, who wrote the 1604 drama The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, the plot of which served as the inspiration for Axelrod's play.
[Source: Wikipedia]
George Axelrod, born in New York, is probably best known for “The Seven Year Itch” – his first Broadway comedy – which ran for almost three years, toured very successfully, flowered in translation all over the world, and eventually was made into a movie – with this iconic scene:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=slfkiWZ7ozI