Hot L Baltimore
Encyclopedia
The Hot l Baltimore is a play by Lanford Wilson
. Set in the lobby of the Hotel Baltimore, it focuses on the residents of the decaying property who are faced with eviction
when the structure is condemned. The play draws its title from the hotel's neon
marquee with a burned-out letter "e" which was never replaced.
The Off-Broadway
Circle Repertory Company
's production, directed by Marshall W. Mason
, opened on 22 March 1973, at Circle in the Square Downtown, where it ran for 1666 performances. The cast included Trish Hawkins, Conchata Ferrell
, Judd Hirsch
, and Jonathan Hogan
. It won the New York Drama Critics' Circle
Award for Best American Play of 1972–73, the John Gassner Playwriting Award, an Obie Award
, and an Outer Critics Circle Award
.
adapted the play for a half-hour ABC
sitcom
. The cast included Conchata Ferrell
, James Cromwell
, Richard Masur
, Al Freeman, Jr.
, Gloria LeRoy
, Jeannie Linero
and Charlotte Rae
. The series had several controversial elements, including two primary characters who were prostitutes, one of whom was an illegal immigrant and one of the first gay
couples to be depicted on an American television series. The network supported the show and gave it a full publicity campaign, but it failed to win an audience and was canceled after thirteen episodes.
In 1976, a version with the title Hôtel Baltimore was produced for television in France. The series, which featured Dora Doll
, lasted for only a single season.
Lanford Wilson
Lanford Wilson was an American playwright who helped to advance the Off-Off-Broadway theater movement. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1980, was elected in 2001 to the Theater Hall of Fame, and in 2004 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters...
. Set in the lobby of the Hotel Baltimore, it focuses on the residents of the decaying property who are faced with eviction
Eviction
How you doing???? Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, eviction may also be known as unlawful detainer, summary possession, summary dispossess, forcible detainer, ejectment, and repossession, among other terms...
when the structure is condemned. The play draws its title from the hotel's neon
Neon
Neon is the chemical element that has the symbol Ne and an atomic number of 10. Although a very common element in the universe, it is rare on Earth. A colorless, inert noble gas under standard conditions, neon gives a distinct reddish-orange glow when used in either low-voltage neon glow lamps or...
marquee with a burned-out letter "e" which was never replaced.
The Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
Circle Repertory Company
Circle Repertory Company
The Circle Repertory Company, originally named the Circle Theater Company, was a theatre company in New York City that ran from 1969 to 1996. It was founded on July 14, 1969, in Manhattan, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by director Marshall W...
's production, directed by Marshall W. Mason
Marshall W. Mason
Marshall W. Mason is an American theater director, the founder and for eighteen years, artistic director of the Circle Repertory Company in New York City....
, opened on 22 March 1973, at Circle in the Square Downtown, where it ran for 1666 performances. The cast included Trish Hawkins, Conchata Ferrell
Conchata Ferrell
Conchata Galen Ferrell is an American actress. She is best known for playing Berta the housekeeper in the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, for which she received two Emmy Award nominations in 2005 and 2007.-Personal life:...
, Judd Hirsch
Judd Hirsch
Judd Hirsch is an American actor most known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series Taxi, John Lacey on the NBC series Dear John, and Alan Eppes on the CBS series Numb3rs.-Early life and education:...
, and Jonathan Hogan
Jonathan Hogan
Jonathan Hogan is an American actor.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Hogan made his New York City stage debut in the off-Broadway Circle Repertory Company's highly successful production of Hot L Baltimore...
. It won the New York Drama Critics' Circle
New York Drama Critics' Circle
The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 24 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization was founded in 1935 at the Algonquin Hotel by a group that included Brooks Atkinson, Walter Winchell, and Robert Benchley...
Award for Best American Play of 1972–73, the John Gassner Playwriting Award, an Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
, and an Outer Critics Circle Award
Outer Critics Circle Award
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
.
Adaptations
In 1975, producer Norman LearNorman Lear
Norman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude...
adapted the play for a half-hour ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
. The cast included Conchata Ferrell
Conchata Ferrell
Conchata Galen Ferrell is an American actress. She is best known for playing Berta the housekeeper in the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, for which she received two Emmy Award nominations in 2005 and 2007.-Personal life:...
, James Cromwell
James Cromwell
James Oliver Cromwell is an American film and television actor. Some of his more notable roles are in Babe , for which he earned Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Star Trek: First Contact , L.A...
, Richard Masur
Richard Masur
Richard Masur is an American actor who has appeared in more than 80 movies during his career. From 1995-1999, he served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild . Masur sits on the Corporate Board of the Motion Picture & Television Fund.-Biography:Masur was born in New York City to a...
, Al Freeman, Jr.
Al Freeman, Jr.
Al Freeman, Jr., M.Ed. is an African-American actor and director....
, Gloria LeRoy
Gloria LeRoy
Gloria LeRoy is an American character actress best remembered for having played voluptuous Mildred "Boom-Boom" Turner in classic 1970s sitcom All in the Family, as well as Bobbi Jo Loomis, wife of army-airforce buddy "Duke" Loomis in the earlier All in the Family episode "The Threat"...
, Jeannie Linero
Jeannie Linero
Jeannie Linero , is an actress best known for playing Lucy Mancini in The Godfather and The Godfather: Part III...
and Charlotte Rae
Charlotte Rae
Charlotte Rae is a prolific American character actress of stage, comedienne, singer and dancer, who in her six decades of television is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life...
. The series had several controversial elements, including two primary characters who were prostitutes, one of whom was an illegal immigrant and one of the first gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
couples to be depicted on an American television series. The network supported the show and gave it a full publicity campaign, but it failed to win an audience and was canceled after thirteen episodes.
In 1976, a version with the title Hôtel Baltimore was produced for television in France. The series, which featured Dora Doll
Dora Doll
Dora Doll is a French actress. She was born Dorothea Feinberg in Berlin.One of her first screen appearances was as Juliette in Henri-Georges Clouzot's Manon . She appeared as Lola in Jacques Becker's Touchez pas au grisbi and as Genisse in Jean Renoir's French Cancan...
, lasted for only a single season.
Awards
- 1973 Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play
- 1973 Obie Award for Best American Play
External links
- The Hot l Baltimore at ThatTheatreSite