Moon Over Buffalo

Moon Over Buffalo
Written by	Ken Ludwig
Characters	George Hay, Charlotte Hay, Rosalind, Howard, Paul, Ethel, Richard, Eileen
Setting	Buffalo, New York

Moon Over Buffalo is a 1995 comic play by Ken Ludwig set in Buffalo, New York in 1953. This play marked the return, after a 30-year absence, of Carol Burnett to the Broadway stage.

Moon Over Buffalo relies heavily on situation comedy for its humor, as well as some sexual innuendo and a little slapstick. The actor who plays George, in particular, must be able to deliver a highly physical performance; George engages in a mock fencing match with Charlotte, a wrestling match with Howard, and a stunt fall into the orchestra pit. The action and dialogue are fast-paced, as the characters are constantly bickering or frantically trying to resolve some confusion. It bears numerous similarities to Ludwig's previous farce, Lend Me A Tenor: period time-frame, Northeastern city, drinking-and-womanizing male star, justifiably jealous wife, young stage manager desperately trying to keep things together, important person(s) in the audience, at least one character who's passed out and is believed missing, non-actors forced to go onstage, etc.

George and Charlotte Hay, traveling actors, are performing Cyrano de Bergerac and Private Lives in a repertory theatre in Buffalo. Charlotte has grandiose dreams of becoming a Hollywood film star; George, on the other hand, is quite satisfied as a stage actor, and sees live theater as being superior to film.

George receives a phone call from Frank Capra, a very famous film director, who says that he needs replacements for Ronald Colman and Greer Garson, the two stars of his current film, The Twilight of The Scarlet Pimpernel, and that he plans to see one of George's shows and consider George and Charlotte for the parts. Charlotte, however, doesn't believe George when he gives the news; she has just learned that George has had an affair with one of their actors, Eileen, and that Eileen is pregnant with George's child. Charlotte tells George she plans to leave with Richard, a successful and charismatic lawyer. George, despondent, gives up hope and turns to alcohol to drown his misery.

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