Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Movie Poster

Last night was a date night, with dinner and a show. We dined at Cyrano’s, which was unusually crowded. There was even a wait, a first, plus there wasn’t a chair to be had in the bar. Still, we got in and out, with plenty of time. We even had sufficient time before the show to exchange tickets for some of the forthcoming shows at the box office window.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is a new play that was based upon the Academy award-winning screenplay, written by William Rose. In both the movie and the play, parent’s Matt and Christina Drayton are a couple whose liberal attitudes are challenged when their daughter brings home a fiancé who is black. In addition to best screenplay, the 1967 film of the same name also won best picture and Katharine Hepburn won best actress for her role in this picture. Her co-star and close friend, Spencer Tracy, was gravely ill during the filming of the movie and died just ten days after shooting ceased. Lead, Sidney Poitier, was on a roll back then, with starring roles in back-to-back best pictures. His In the Heat of the Night role helped that movie, win best picture in 1968.

It has been a long time since I had seen the movie, so I only faintly remembered the bare outlines of the story. Combine this fact with the fact that the Reps season’s January slot is usually reserved for their more artsy, read less commercially successful productions and I was expecting a scold. Last year, was the worst year for race relations in the thirty plus years that I have lived in this city. When I saw this play on the schedule, I thought that it was added to the schedule in response to the problems in Ferguson. It was actually picked last spring, before the difficulties began. I’m pleased to say that I was very happily surprised with the play. It was an excellent show.

Dan went bi-coastal today. He landed in NYC early this morning or late last night, depending upon your perspective. The boy who never sleeps meets the city that never sleeps. All I know is that he is attending a wedding in Virginia. I will go on record here saying that if Dan would ever brings someone home, I would welcome them.