The Ritz (play)
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The Ritz is a play by Terrence McNally.
The slapstick comedy is set in a gay bath house in Manhattan, where unsuspecting heterosexual Cleveland businessman Gaetano Proclo has taken refuge from his homicidal mobster brother-in-law, Carmine Vespucci. As Gaetano battles to preserve both his life and his manhood, he stumbles across an assortment of deranged characters, including a rabid chubby chaser, go-go boys, a squeaky-voiced detective, and Googie Gomez, a third-rate Puerto Rican entertainer with visions of Broadway glory who mistakes him for a famous producer . . . and who he mistakes for a man in drag. Further complications arise when Gaetano's wife Vivian tracks him down and jumps to all the wrong conclusions.
After ten previews, the Broadway production, directed by Robert Drivas, opened on January 20, 1975 at the Longacre Theatre, where it ran for 398 performances. The cast included Jack Weston, Rita Moreno, Jerry Stiller, F. Murray Abraham, Stephen Collins, and George Dzundza.
Moreno was nominated for both the Tony and Drama Desk Award for her performance, and the play received a Drama Desk nomination as Outstanding New American Play.
Weston, Moreno, Stiller, and Abraham all reprised their stage roles in the 1976 film version directed by Richard Lester. Also in the cast were Kaye Ballard and Treat Williams. The film, Weston, and Moreno all received Golden Globe nominations in the comedy category.
