This story as enacted in various film, stage and television productions offers the defining example of archetypal characters - the clashing romantic couple who are absolutely and exclusively of the theater, and who live their lives at the fever pitch of melodrama and farce. The Hecht/MacArthur play has been revived on Broadway twice, once in 1950 with Jose Ferrer directing himself and Gloria Swanson in the leads, with Werner Klemperer and Edward Platt in supporting roles; and in 2004 by the Roundabout Theatre Company, with Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche heading a cast that also included Tom Aldredge and Dan Butler. The latter production received Tony Award nominations for Heche and Aldredge. The play was performed on television in 1949 by Fredric March and Lilli Palmer, in 1953 by Fred Clark and Constance Bennett and in 1956 with the unlikely combination of Orson Welles and Betty Grable. More than 40 years after the release of the film, on February 19, 1978, the tale was revived as a Broadway musical, On the 20th Century, starring John Cullum, Madeline Kahn, Kevin Kline and Imogene Coca. The production, directed by Harold Prince, played for 449 performances and won five Tony awards in the musical category including those for Best Book and Score, Best Actor (John Cullum) and Featured Actor (Kevin Kline). The show was staged in London in 1980 with Keith Mitchell and Julia McKenzie, and revived there in 2010 with Howard Samuels and Rebecca Vere. Kristin Chenoweth and Hugh Jackman have performed a public reading of the musical, and Chenoweth has expressed hopes of bringing it back to Broadway soon.

By Roger Fristoe