Show History

History

Inspiration


My Favorite Year is based on the motion picture of the same name.

My Favorite Year  is a 1982 American comedy film written by Dennis Palumbo and Norman Steinberg, and directed by Richard Benjamin. It stars Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper and Joseph Bologna. O'Toole was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Alan Swann.

Although there are some necessary differences in the musical adaptation, My Favorite Year stays fairly close to the source material.

Productions

My Favorite Year opened on Broadway at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater on December 10, 1992, and closed on January 10, 1993, after 36 performances and 45 previews. The cast included: Evan Pappas, Tim Curry, Tom Mardirosian, Katie Finneran, Andrea Martin, Josh Mostel and Lainie Kazan. The show was directed by Ron Lagomarsino and choreographed by Thommie Walsh, with scenic design by Thomas Lynch, costume design by Patricia Zipprodt and lighting design by Jules Fisher with associate lighting designer, Peggy Eisenhauer.

Musicals Tonight! in New York City presented a staged concert of My Favorite Year in April 2003.

A March 2007 production in Chicago at the Bailiwick Repertory Theatre included two new songs.

Cultural Influence

  • As Artistic Director of the Off-Broadway theatre organization, Playwrights Horizons, Andre Bishop had nurtured the careers of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, producing their first show, Lucky Stiff, in 1988 and their subsequent hit, Once on This Island, which moved to Broadway. When Bishop was named Artistic Director of Lincoln Center Theater, one of his first ventures there was to produce My Favorite Year.
  • An original cast recording was released on the RCA Victor label in 1993.

Trivia


  • Tim Curry was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal as Alan Swann. The show also received Drama Desk Award nominations for Oustanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Josh Mostel) and Outstanding Orchestrations.
  • Lynn Ahrens, who wrote lyrics for My Favorite Year, is the songwriter and singing voice of many of those memorable educational ditties on ABC-TV's Schoolhouse Rock.
  • Lainie Kazan was the only member of the cast who reprised her film role for 1992's Broadway musical version of My Favorite Year.
  • My Favorite Year marked Andrea Martin's Broadway debut.
  • Josh Mostel, who played Sy Benson in the original production, is the son of acting legend Zero Mostel.

  • In My Favorite Year, "The King Kaiser Comedy Cavalcade" is based on Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows," and the swashbuckling Alan Swann is based on movie legend Errol Flynn.