An all-star revival of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross is readying to open at Broadway's Palace Theatre March 31. But today in 1984, the play's original Broadway production opened at the John Golden Theatre. Directed by Gregory Mosher, the work would go on to get a Tony nominee for Best Play and win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The work, which follows four ruthless and foul-mouthed Chicago real-estate agents and the lows to which they stoop to get their properties sold, made its world premiere at London's National Theatre in 1983. It won the Olivier for Play of the Year. Jack Shepherd also won an Olivier for his performance.
But the play's American premiere would not be a straight transfer, getting a fully new cast and creative team. The work came to Broadway via Chicago's Goodman Theatre, which hosted the North American premiere before it transferred to New York's Golden Theatre the same year. The original cast included Robert Prosky as Shelley Levene, J.T. Walsh as John Williamson, James Tolkan as Dave Moss, Mike Nussbaum as George Aaronow, Joe Mantegna as Richard Roma, Lane Smith as James Lingk, and Jack Wallace as Baylen. Mantegna won the Best Featured Actor Tony Award for his work.
Frank Rich, reviewing the production in the New York Times, mentioned the script's famously frequent expletives, though praising Mamet's ability to turn them into something artful: "Mr. Mamet's ability to turn almost every word inside out. The playwright makes all-American music—hot jazz and wounding blues—out of his salesmen's scatalogical native lingo. In the jagged riffs of coarse, monosyllabic words, we hear and feel both the exhilaration and sweaty desperation of the huckster's calling."
A fun fact: the line from Glengarry Glen Ross you are most likely to hear quoted—that the current Broadway revival is using on much of its marketing—does not actually appear in the stage play. "Always be closing" became forever linked with the work via its 1992 film adaptation, for which Mamet also wrote the screenplay. Directed by James Foley, the screen version features a starry cast led by Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, and Jonathan Pryce. But Glengarry on screen adds a character. After being passed over for Pacino for the role of Richard Roma, Alec Baldwin was cast in a new role, a top-performing salesman sent in to give the office a pep talk. It's that character's iconic opening speech where "always be closing" became a favorite quote forever associated with Glengarry Glen Ross.
The film version of Glengarry helped cement the work in the public consciousness, and it has remained an oft-produced title on Broadway and at theatres worldwide ever since. Revivals have become a vehicle for a veritable who's who of male actors, with a 2005 Broadway revival featuring Alan Alda, Frederick Weller, Gordon Clapp, Jeffrey Tambor, Liev Schreiber, Tom Wopat, and Jodan Lage. A 2012 staging featured Pacino (now as Shelley Levene), David Harbour, John C. McGinley, Richard Schiff, Bobby Cannavale, Jeremy Shamos, and Murphy Guyer. The similarly starry current Broadway revival boasts Bob Odenkirk, Donald Webber Jr., Bill Burr, Michael McKean, Kieran Culkin, John Pirruccello, and Howard W. Overshown. Reports have emerged that we might see an all-female version of the play after the current cast plays their final performance June 28, but that remains to be seen. Stay tuned!
Take a look at the original Broadway production of Glengarry Glen Ross in the gallery below. And learn what other theatrical events occurred on March 25 by visiting the Playbill Vault.
