Years before he was the Sundance Kid, Robert Redford played an Inquirer music critic at Walnut Street Theatre
Very early on in his career, Redford starred in the Broadway play "Sunday in New York." It played Philly before it played New York.
Years before Robert Redford became the superstar he was, he, like many actors, cut his teeth on the Broadway stage.
Among his first leading roles was Mike Mitchell in the newspaper-comedy, Sunday in New York. Mitchell, a young, dashingly handsome man, was the music critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer, who had the hots for fellow music critic Eileen Taylor (Pat Stanley) after a trip to the Big Apple.
The two meet on a Fifth Avenue bus. Stanley’s Eileen invites Redford’s Mike to her brother’s New York apartment to avoid the rain, and the two writers are soon entwined in a romance.
The play debuted on Broadway on Nov. 29, 1961, but just weeks earlier, the Redford-led romantic comedy played at the Walnut Street Theatre.
Redford, who was an emerging talent fresh off roles in the 1960 TV film The Iceman Cometh and the Ireland-set play Little Moon of Alban, was based in California when he learned of the Broadway role.
He sold a tract of land he owned in California to afford the flight to New York. He auditioned for Sunday in New York director Garson Kanin and landed the role of the leading man.
Peter Schmitz, a theater historian and professor at Temple University, said Philadelphia was one of several “tryout cities” for Broadway productions in need of refinement. Many of the classic “tryout” theaters were owned by the Shubert Organization, including the Walnut during the 1960s.
Schmitz said the Walnut was a premier incubator for pre-Broadway dramas and comedies, and Sunday in New York benefited from playing in its corridors.
The theater is where Kanin, Redford, and playwright Norman Krasna primed the romantic comedy for New York audiences.
During its one-week engagement at the Walnut, Schmitz said the play wasn’t quite as polished as other Broadway productions that came out of the Philly theater house. But as is usual in the news industry, controversy surrounding the production drew in the crowds.
The play began its journey in Washington, where it saw a “bit of a scandal,” Schmitz said.
A high school group from Sicklerville came to watch the play, and after realizing they were watching “‘a sex comedy,’ a teacher said, ‘This is not a show for children,’ and walked out.”
The producers were “thrilled,” Schmitz said. “Nothing sells like controversy. That made a lot of newspapers.”
The buzz, however, didn’t translate to stellar reviews, with Inquirer drama critic Henry T. Murdock calling the comedy a “one-joke play” and one that’s “embroidered this joke with all the variations possible.”
Of Redford he said, “He isn’t sure whether he is supposed to be a Philadelphia gentleman or a Philadelphia rogue, and the perplexity which Robert Redford gives the part is a joy to watch.” The actor would go on to win a Theatre World Award for his performance.
Redford didn’t think too highly of the play, either. In his 1996 biography, he said he liked the jokes, but the play wasn’t “up to the standard of a Kanin-Gordon script,” a reference to the later collaborations by Kanin and his wife, Ruth Gordon.
Despite the mixed reviews from Redford and drama critics, the play had moderate success on Broadway.
Sunday in New York ran for five months in New York, closing in May 1962 after more than 188 performances. A year later, it was adapted into a film starring Jane Fonda as Eileen Taylor and Rod Taylor as Mike Mitchell.
While it would be years until Redford rose to Hollywood stardom with 1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the 1961 role helped him land other productions.
Redford was cast as Paul in Neil Simon’s romantic comedy play Barefoot in the Park alongside Elizabeth Ashley. It had a pre-Broadway run under the title Nobody Loves Me at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, and went on to have a four-year run on Broadway from 1963 to 1967.
The play was adapted into a 1967 movie of the same name, with Redford and Fonda in the leading roles.
Redford, who died Tuesday at age 89 in his Utah home, later starred in the classics All the President’s Men (1976) and Three Days of the Condor (1975).
Staff writer Michael Klein contributed to this article.