The Gazebo (play)
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29 March 1960 (West End)
| The Gazebo | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Alec Coppel |
| Date premiered | 12 December 1958 (Broadway) 29 March 1960 (West End) |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | comedy-mystery |
| Setting | The living room of the Elliott Nash home near Roslyn, Long Island, New York. The present time |
The Gazebo is a play by Alec Coppel based on a story by Coppel and his wife Myra.
It opened at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre on 12 December 1958 and ran for 266 performances, closing on 27 June 1959. Walter Slezak and Jayne Meadows played Elliott and Nell, and the director was Jerome Chodorov.[1]
Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times claimed it was "as real as a TV crime play and a thousand times more diverting,"[2] though fellow critic Robert Coleman maintained that "There were times when a good gust of wind might have blown The Gazebo right off the Lyceum's stage."[3] The subsequent US tour starred Tom Ewell and Jan Sterling.
The production only recouped 50% of its investment but Coppel earned a reported $54,000 in royalties from the Broadway run plus $60,000 from the sale of the movie rights.[4]