Off-Broadway Comedy Room Service Extends Through 3/25

The current off-Broadway revival of Room Service will extend for two months at the SoHo Playhouse, through March 25. The show, directed by Dan Wackerman, opened to strong reviews on November 28.

A classic screwball comedy, Room Service centers around the efforts of an unscrupulous producer to find a backer for his new show. Holed up in a Times Square hotel with 19 hungry actors and a ballooning room service bill, he tries to forestall eviction by convincing the show's gullible young playwright to fake his own death. Meanwhile, an emissary from one of the country's wealthiest businessmen turns up with money to invest in the show; that is, until he discovers the hotel doctor bound and gagged in the bathroom. The situation goes from bad to worse as the much-abused hotel manager threatens to have the entire show confiscated by the sheriff on opening night.

The wily producer is being played by David Edwards national tour of The Producers. The cast also includes Fred Berman, Dale Carman, Sterling Coyne, Scott Evans, Blythe Gruda, Robert O'Gorman and Kim Rachelle Harris. Scenic design is by Chris Jones, costume design by Gail Cooper-Hecht and lighting design by Jeffrey E. Salzberg. The production is presented by the Peccadillo Theater Company along with Jonathan Reinis Productions, Jeffrey Sine and the StoryLine Project.

First produced on the Broadway stage in 1937 and directed by George Abbott, Room Service featured Sam Levene, Eddie Albert and Betty Field in its original cast. In 1938, it was made into a movie starring the Marx Brothers and in 1944, it became the musical film Step Lively, starring Frank Sinatra. Room Service was last seen in New York 20 years ago when the Roundabout Theater Company produced a revival starring Mark Hamill.