Twentieth Century (2004) Production Files

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Identifier: TWENTIETHCENT2004
Inclusive Dates: 2003 - 2004
Extent:
Production Files documenting the 2004 production of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's Twentieth Century, in a new adaptation by Ken Ludwig, at the American Airlines Theatre.  Directed by Walter Bobbie, with set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski, sound design by ACME Sound Partners, and hair and wig design by Paul Huntley.

The production starred Alec Baldwin as Oscar Jaffe and Anne Heche as Lily Garland; with Dan Butler as Owen O'Malley, Julie Halston as Ida Webb, Kellie Overbey as Anita Highland, Jonathan Walker as Dr. Grover Lockwood, Robert M. Jimenez as Porter, Tom Aldredge as Matthew Clark, Terry Beaver as Conductor, Stephen DeRosa as Beard and Max Jacobs, Ryan Shively as George Smith, Patrick Boll as Detective, and Patrick Boll, Darian Dauchan, Bill English, and Virginia Louise Smith as Red Caps, Passengers, and Reporters.  Patrick Boll, Virginia Louise Smith, Todd Cerveris, Robert M. Jimenez, Bill English and Darian Dauchan acted as understudies.

2004 Awards and Nominations:
Tony Award, Best Actress in a Play, Anne Heche (nominee)
Tony Award, Best Featured Actor in a Play, Tom Aldredge (nominee)
Drama Desk, Outstanding Set Design of a Play, John Lee Beatty (winner)
Twentieth Century is a comedic play set in the late 1930s; it takes place in the observation car of the 20th Century Limited train, on its way from Chicago to New York City.  Aboard is egomaniacal theatre producer Oscar Jaffe, and coincidentally also aboard is his former protegee Mildred Plotka whom he transformed into actress Lily Garland, and who subsequently left him to acheive success as a Hollywood film star. Oscar is determined to re-establish their relationships (both personal and professional) and sign her to his new play, and Lily is just as determined to resist his advances.  

The play was written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, and is based on an unpublish play called Napoleon on Broadway by Charles Millholland, which in turn was inspired by eccentric Broadway impressario David Belasco.  The musical On the 20th Century, which Roundabout revived in 2015, is based on both this play and the film adaptation of it.
Production Files span two boxes consisting of 18 folders, two Playbills, a handful of marketing flyers, the cast/family photo, and four snapshots of the actors at curtain call.

Digital holdings on the Archive 1 server include the following folders:
Costume Images (Archive-produced photos of Anne Heche's dress)
Education (PDF of the Upstage study guide and scans of the research compiled for it)
Media (mp3 and mp4 files of interviews and video from a performance)
Playbill (23 jpeg scans)
Press (Archive-scanned press selects)
Production Photographs (Raw photo files and captioned selects)
Script
Set Design (Archive-scanned scenic renderings)
Show Art

There is a related collection of marketing materials on the Marketing shelves.  Contracts and other confidential documents have been removed and are stored in the Contracts cabinets (access is limited).  Anne Heche's (Lily Garland) salmon-colored dress is held in the Costume Collection; photographs are in the Archive 1 server. There is a hard copy of the poster from the production on the Poster Shelves.
Access Restrictions: Open and available to approved researchers by appointment only. See folder details for specific restrictions.
Preferred Citation: Twentieth Century 2004, Roundabout Theatre Company Archive
Related Staged Production

Twentieth Century

Related Playreading

Twentieth Century (Playreading)


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