Theater News

Room Service, Basis of the 1937 Marx Brothers Comedy, Aims for Broadway

Producers Michael Pressman and Andrew Ames have optioned the play through Samuel French.

Michael Pressman is set to direct an upcoming Broadway production of Room Service.
Michael Pressman is set to direct an upcoming Broadway production of Room Service.
(© Joseph Marzullo)

Room Service, Allen Boretz and John Murray's 1937 comedy, has been optioned by producers Michael Pressman and Andrew Ames through Samuel French. Pressman and Ames are aiming for a production of the play — which is perhaps best known for the film adaptation starring the Marx Brothers — in the 2017-2018 Broadway season. Pressman (Come Back, Little Sheba) is also set to direct.

Room Service tells the story of a desperate and nimble-witted producer, living on credit with several actors in a Broadway hotel. He finds his script, and, by great good luck, he also finds an angel with $15,000. During a hectic few days, the producer plays hide-and-seek with the angel who wants to withdraw his financial support, manages to outwit creditors, and open his play in spite of ludicrous and unexpected obstacles.

Onstage, Room Service debuted in 1937 at the Cort Theatre on Broadway. One year following the play's Broadway debut, RKO released a 1938 film starring The Marx Brothers, Lucille Ball, Ann Miller, and Frank Albertson. The most recent New York production opened at The Bank Street Theatre in 2006 before moving to off-Broadway's SoHo Playhouse.