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I've done this play, way back in New York, in the spring of 1973, if you can believe that one.
"Heat Wave" is in the stage directions, and refers to a dance they all used to do together at Fire Island.
But the movie is pretty much the play, with all the language intact, as well as a great cinematic device of a sudden rainstorm forcing them all inside, when the later elements of the plot kick in. Then, at the end, they see the detritus after the storm, a visual metaphor for what's been going on.
Great play. Very influential. Took New York by storm when it opened in 1967. Got a bad rep by the current gay fashionistas. (Although, I've always thought that if you substitute coke for liquor, it would be more contemporary.)
Mart Crowley (correct spelling) never really wrote much of note later. Met a former acquaintance of his in West Hollywood years ago, who said Crowley was always jotting down lines he overheard during his time there, and most of them ended up in the play.
When I was in the NYU Acting School, now called Tisch School of the Arts, we had an acting teacher named Edward Zang, who was the understudy for Harold in the original cast, and who told a number of fun stories about the production of the play.
Also, Crowley wrote a sequel to BOYS, called "The Men From the Boys," which was later performed in both San Francisco and L.A., where I saw it. Takes place about 20 years later or so. Michael is now clean and sober in AA (about time; funny, so am I... ha ha), Larry has died, and the plot hinges around a younger gay guy, who seems to be influencing the action of the piece. Had some nice ideas, but the dramatic pacing felt more stop-and-start, and the characters just weren't as well written. Too bad. I never heard of it being produced anywhere since.
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"I hear if you put a knife under the bed it cuts the pain."
"I heard if you put a knife under your chin it cuts your throat!"
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Love the play, love the movie - can't do it at this point, but I also love plays on disc.
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Some more behind-the-scenes tales from Ed Zang, understudy for Harold in the original cast, and one of my former acting teachers at NYU School of the Arts (now more fancily named as Tisch School of the Arts.):
- Regarding the inscription on the photo Michael gives Harold. When asked, Harold just says, "There's an inscription from him and the date." And when pressed for what the inscription says, Harold demurs, saying, "It's just something personal." This actually refers to the fact that author Crowley was a horrendous drunk, and used to say mean things to everyone. Then, the next day, 'midst hangovers and "icks," as he calls them in the play, he'd send telegrams to the people he hurt the night before. which consisted of the plea, "Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?" Ed added that, at the opening night cast party, held at the Oak Bar at the Plaza Hotel, reputedly the oldest gay bar in New York, he saw Crowley sitting next to the man who was the basis for Harold, with a silver-framed photo of the two of them, signed by Crowley, with the inscription, "Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"
- The original prototype for Harold was not a former ice skating performer, but a choreographer, Howard Jeffrey. Ed related a story of another friend of his, who was acquainted with Crowley in New York, who happened to live in the apartment beneath this choreographer in L.A. Knowing that the friend was flying back to L.A., Crowley asked him to deliver a copy of the manuscript to this man, long before it was produced. So the man dutifully carried it back with him, and took it to the man in the apartment above his. The door was answered by Mr. Jeffrey, in a haze of marijuana smoke, who took the package, almost without comment. So our friend went back downstairs to his own place. Not too long after, reportedly, he heard one long, loud, resounding shriek...
- Mr. Jeffrey choreographed, among other things, the original cast of the Broadway flop, "Georgy," a musical based on the movie, "Georgy Girl," which I actually saw, when it was trying out in Boston. Had some lovely moments, and a few good songs. But not enough, I guess to make it a success. As I recall, it played the Winter Garden, though apparently not for long. Was finally able to find an "independent" recording of the music, and have played it a few times. I remember it starred John Castle, in the role Alan Bates played in the movie. (Castle is probably best known for playing the middle brother in the movie of THE LION IN WINTER.)
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