# The Show-Off
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{{Short description|1924 play}}
{{Other uses|The Show-Off (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox play
| name = The Show-Off
| image = The-Show-Off-FC.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = First edition dust jacket featuring Louis John Bartels in the original Broadway production
| writer = [George Kelly](/source/George_Kelly_(playwright))
| characters =
| setting =
| premiere = {{Start date|1924|02|05}}
| place = [Playhouse Theatre](/source/Playhouse_Theatre_(New_York_City))
[New York City](/source/New_York_City)
| orig_lang = English
| subject =
| genre = [Comedy](/source/Comedy)
}}
'''''The Show-Off''''' is a 1924 [stage play](/source/stage_play) by [George Kelly](/source/George_Kelly_(playwright)) about a working-class [North Philadelphia](/source/North_Philadelphia)n family's reluctance to accept their daughter's suitor Aubrey Piper, an overly confident [Socialist](/source/Socialism) buffoon. The play has been revived five times on Broadway and adapted for film four times; it is Kelly's most frequently produced play.[{{cite news |last=Gussow |first=Mel |title=A Lout, but a Lout Who Means Well |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/06/theater/review-theater-a-lout-but-a-lout-who-means-well.html |work=The New York Times |date=November 6, 1992 |access-date=June 1, 2025}}]
==Production history==
The characters and basic premise of ''The Show-Off'' first appeared in ''Poor Aubrey'', a one-act [vaudeville](/source/vaudeville) sketch written by George Kelly that premiered in 1919 and "toured the country before and even during the run of ''The Show-Off''."{{sfn|Lynch|1999|p=166}} Expanded into a three-act [comedy of manners](/source/comedy_of_manners), the play opened on Broadway on February 5, 1924 at the [Playhouse Theatre](/source/Playhouse_Theatre_(New_York_City)) with [Louis John Bartels](/source/Louis_John_Bartels) as Aubrey Piper, [Helen Lowell](/source/Helen_Lowell) as Mrs. Fisher, and a 25-year-old [Lee Tracy](/source/Lee_Tracy) making his Broadway debut in the role of Joe. Kelly directed the play himself and demanded that the actors mimic his line readings; Tracy later recalled, "We used to beg [Helen Lowell] during rehearsals to make mistakes in her lines, so Kelly would get up and show her how it ought to be done. We loved to watch him. He acted the whole part right out for her.{{sfn|Hirsch|1975|p=29}}
Kelly envisioned the play as a "transcript of life," and critics praised his naturalistic dialogue, with [Robert Benchley](/source/Robert_Benchley) writing, "The way in which every-day small talk and idioms are strung together, with scarcely a wisecrack or a gag-line to lend artificial brilliance, is just about as smooth a piece of work as we ever remember seeing."{{sfn|Lynch|1999|p=170 }}{{sfn|Hirsch|1975|p=63}} The show was a "monster hit" and played 571 performances before closing in June 1925.[{{cite news |last=Gerard |first=Jeremy |title=The Show-Off |url=https://variety.com/1992/legit/reviews/the-show-off-1200430960/ |work=Variety |date=November 12, 1992 |access-date=June 1, 2025}}] Jurors voted to award the 1924 [Pulitzer Prize for Drama](/source/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Drama) to ''The Show-Off'', but "the prize's administrator, Columbia University, overruled the jury in favor of" ''[Hell-Bent Fer Heaven](/source/Hell-Bent_Fer_Heaven)'', a play written by a Columbia professor; the suggestion of [cronyism](/source/cronyism) prompted an uproar.[{{cite book |last=Mordden |first=Ethan |title=All That Glittered: The Golden Age of Drama on Broadway, 1919–1959 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=2007 |page=101 |isbn=978-0-312-32044-7}}][{{cite book |editor=Fischer, Heinz-D. |title=Chronicle of the Pulitzer Prizes for Drama: Discussions, Decisions and Documents |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=2008 |page=5 |isbn=978-3-598-44120-2}}]
==Revivals==
[[File:The-Show-Off-4.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[Dooley Wilson](/source/Dooley_Wilson) (standing center) starred as Aubrey Piper in the 1937 Federal Theatre Project production of ''The Show-Off''.]]
A Broadway revival opened at the [Hudson Theatre](/source/Hudson_Theatre) on December 12, 1932, closing in March 1933 after 119 performances. The revival was directed by [Raymond Walburn](/source/Raymond_Walburn), who also starred as Aubrey Piper.
The Negro Theatre Unit of the [Federal Theatre Project](/source/Federal_Theatre_Project) of the [WPA](/source/Works_Progress_Administration) produced a revival that opened at the [Lafayette Theatre](/source/Lafayette_Theatre_(Harlem)) in [Harlem](/source/Harlem) on March 5, 1937, closing on May 8, 1937.[{{cite news |date=May 8, 1937 |title=News of the Stage: Three Plays Are Listed to Close After Tonight's Performances |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/05/08/archives/news-of-the-stage-three-plays-are-listed-to-close-after-tonights.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 1, 2025}}]
The third Broadway revival of ''The Show-Off'' opened at the [Arena Theatre](/source/Arena_Theatre_(New_York_City)) on May 31, 1950, closing on June 17 after 21 performances. Lee Tracy, who had appeared in the original Broadway production, returned to the play in the role of Aubrey Piper, and the cast also featured [Jane Seymour](/source/Jane_Seymour_(Canadian_actress)) as Mrs. Fisher.
A Broadway revival opened at the [Lyceum Theatre](/source/Lyceum_Theatre_(Broadway)) on December 5, 1967, closing on June 22, 1968 after 69 performances. Playing in repertory with stagings of ''[Exit the King](/source/Exit_the_King)'', ''[The Cherry Orchard](/source/The_Cherry_Orchard)'', and ''[Pantagleize](/source/Pantagleize)'', the production featured [Clayton Corzatte](/source/Clayton_Corzatte) as Aubrey Piper and [Helen Hayes](/source/Helen_Hayes) as Mrs. Fisher. A return engagement of this production, playing in repertory with ''Pantagleize'', returned to the Lyceum Theatre from September 13–28, 1968.
The most recent Broadway revival of ''The Show-Off'' was produced by the [Roundabout Theatre Company](/source/Roundabout_Theatre_Company) and opened at [Criterion Center Stage Right](/source/Olympia_Theatre_(New_York_City)) on November 5, 1992, closing on December 13, 1992 after 45 performances. The cast included [Boyd Gaines](/source/Boyd_Gaines) as Aubrey Piper and [Pat Carroll](/source/Pat_Carroll) as Mrs. Fisher.
The play has been frequently produced regionally and Off-Broadway. A 1984 production at the [Paper Mill Playhouse](/source/Paper_Mill_Playhouse) in [Millburn, New Jersey](/source/Millburn%2C_New_Jersey) starred [Orson Bean](/source/Orson_Bean) as Aubrey Piper and [Jean Stapleton](/source/Jean_Stapleton) as Mrs. Fisher.[{{cite news |last=Klein |first=Alvin |title='The Show-Off' at the Paper Mill |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/04/nyregion/theater-in-review-the-show-off-at-the-paper-mill.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 4, 1984 |access-date=June 1, 2025}}] In 2017, an Off-Broadway revival starred [Ian Gould](/source/Ian_Gould_(actor)) as Aubrey Piper and [Annette O'Toole](/source/Annette_O'Toole) as Mrs. Fisher; critics dismissed the play as a museum piece and likened the character of Aubrey, "a noisy know-it-all whose sense of truth is only marginally anchored in reality," to [Donald Trump](/source/Donald_Trump).[{{cite web |last=Stewart |first=Zachary |title=Reviews: The Show-Off |url=https://www.theatermania.com/off-broadway/reviews/the-show-off_82573.html |website=TheaterMania |date=September 28, 2017 |access-date=June 1, 2025}}][{{cite news |last=Sommers |first=Michael |title=Peccadillo's Tone-Deaf Revival of George Kelly's "The Show-Off" Is Nothing to Brag About |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/09/29/peccadillos-tone-deaf-revival-of-george-kellys-the-show-off-is-nothing-to-brag-about/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929211552/https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/09/29/peccadillos-tone-deaf-revival-of-george-kellys-the-show-off-is-nothing-to-brag-about/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 29, 2017 |work=The Village Voice |date=September 29, 2017 |access-date=June 1, 2025}}]
==Screen adaptations==
In 1926, [Famous Players–Lasky](/source/Famous_Players%E2%80%93Lasky) adapted ''The Show-Off'' into a [silent movie of the same name](/source/The_Show-Off_(1926_film)) starring [Ford Sterling](/source/Ford_Sterling), [Lois Wilson](/source/Lois_Wilson_(actress)), and [Louise Brooks](/source/Louise_Brooks); the film was shot in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) and [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia). A 1930 remake titled ''[Men Are Like That](/source/Men_Are_Like_That)'' followed, starring [Hal Skelly](/source/Hal_Skelly) and [Clara Blandick](/source/Clara_Blandick). [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer](/source/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) subsequently acquired the film rights to the play and remade it [in 1934](/source/The_Show-Off_(1934_film)), as a vehicle for [Spencer Tracy](/source/Spencer_Tracy), and [in 1946](/source/The_Show-Off_(1946_film)), as a vehicle for [Red Skelton](/source/Red_Skelton).
==Context and influence==
In 1992, ''The New York Times'' critic [Mel Gussow](/source/Mel_Gussow) observed that "''The Show-Off'' was very much of its period, a time of expanding economic opportunity with ample room for go-getters to get ahead. In telling the story of the brash Aubrey, Kelly also struck a universal theme: the obstreperous outsider breaking into a closed society."