Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (play)

Synopsis

An all-female fan club called the Disciples of James Dean meets at a Woolworths five-and-dime branch in McCarthy, Texas. According to a 2014 interview with playwright Ed Graczyk, the setting of the play is actually a H.L. Kressmont & Co. Five and Dime. The group reunites in 1975 to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Dean's death. (In 1955, the actor was filming Giant in Marfa, not far from where the store stands.)

Cast

Development

Ed Graczyk originally wrote and directed Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean for the Players' Theater in Columbus, Ohio, which also produced it. At the time of the Ohio production, he said of its development:

It was also produced by the Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta GA in 1977, starring Fanny Flagg and Dana Ivey.

Broadway version

Jimmy Dean had a short run in New York City in 1980. Early that same decade, while turning his attention from Hollywood to the stage, filmmaker Robert Altman acquired the rights to Graczyk's work. While securing options on another two works—The Hold-Up by Marsha Norman and The Diviners by Jim Leonard—he negotiated to direct Jimmy Dean on Broadway, with the intention to film it as a theatrical release.{{#tag:ref|Altman stated that "the initial press report that it was made for cable is not true".

During the casting process, Altman considered a role for Shelley Duvall, a star of his previous film Popeye. But, in his words, "the balance wasn't correct" this time around. Altman found out that pop singer Cher was in New York at the time, but he did not feel sure she would land a part. "If you're really serious," he advised her, "read for it." Thanks to his encouragement, she landed the part of the waitress Sissy—her first major role on stage. Another of the performers, Karen Black, previously appeared in Altman's 1975 film Nashville.

The first Broadway preview of Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean took place on February 8, 1982 (which would have been the actor's 51st birthday, had he lived). Between February 18 and April 4, 1982, it ran for 52 performances at the Martin Beck Theater. Altman had requested that Graczyk delay collecting his royalties so that the production could run longer. Graczyk declined, later recalling that the actresses were not asked to make similar financial sacrifices.

Some time later, Altman directed a film adaptation of the same name, which won the Best Film Award at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Reception

The Broadway version of Jimmy Dean was not well-received with critics. The New York Times' Frank Rich commented that "Neither the gimmicky plot nor its cliched participants are credible." John Simon of New York wrote, "Although the play becomes a little less boring in the second act, it is too little too late, and at the cost of some whopping improbabilities. Hit-and-miss directorial bravura and an expensive production are not enough to justify so much ado."

Notes

References

Bibliography

References

1. (2000). "Video Versions: Film Adaptations of Plays on Video". [[Greenwood Publishing Group]].
2. Rich, Frank. (1982-02-19). "STAGE: ROBERT ALTMAN DIRECTS CHER". [[The New York Times]].
3. O'Brien, Daniel. (1995). "Robert Altman: Hollywood Survivor". Continuum.
4. "Playwright Ed Graczyk Interview / 2014".
5. "''Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean'': The Playwright". [[Saint Louis University (United States).
6. Hirschhorn, Joel. (2004-10-18). "Stage review of ''Come Back to the Five & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean''". [[Variety (magazine).
7. Plecki, Gerard. (1985). "Robert Altman". Twayne Publishers ([[G.K. Hall & Company]]/[[ITT Corporation.
8. Allen, Jennifer. (1982-02-01). "Cher and Altman On Broadway". [[New York (magazine).
9. "Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean".
10. (November 11, 2014). "Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (Blu-Ray): Interview with Playwright Ed Gracyzk". Olive Films.
11. (March 30, 1982). "'Jimmy Dean' Will End After Sunday's Matinee". The New York Times.
12. Graczyk, Ed. (1989). "A Murder of Crows: A Play in Two Acts". Samuel French, Inc.
13. Simon, John. (1982-03-01). "The Deans' September". New York.