The Reluctant Debutante (play)

This article is about the play. For other uses, see The Reluctant Debutante.

The Reluctant Debutante is a 1955 play by the British playwright William Douglas Home.

It was first performed (for a 'try-out' week) at the Theatre Royal Brighton after William Douglas-Home spotted the untrained 17-year-old actress Anna Massey and brought her in to audition for the title role.[1] After she wowed the Brighton audiences the play quickly transferred to the Cambridge Theatre, London on 24 May 1955, where it enjoyed a long run [2] with Wilfrid Hyde-White continuing to play the father and Celia Johnson the neurotic mother, Sheila Broadbent. The production was directed by Jack Minster.[3]

On 30 June 1955 MGM bought the film and stage rights to this hit London success [4] with the aim of taking it to Broadway.

In 1956 the play premièred on Broadway at the Henry Miller's Theatre with a mostly changed cast but still with Anna Massey in the lead and Wilfrid Hyde-White playing her father. [5]

  1. ^ "St. Joseph Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 December 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Production of The Reluctant Debutante | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  4. ^ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  5. ^ "The Reluctant Debutante Original Broadway Cast - 1956 Broadway". www.broadwayworld.com.