Light Up the Sky 1948

Opened: November 18, 1948

Light Up the Sky - 1948 - Broadway History , Info & More

Royale Theatre
242 W. 45th St. New York, NY 10036

The comedy revolves around a group of New York theatre-folk who attend the opening of their new play in Boston. The lead actress, the backer, and several others, are in seventh heaven at the prospect of a tremendous success which they hope for in the work of a young unknown writer. Gathered in a hotel room, these people go through their paces with tremendous gusto and many exhibitions of temperament. The opening of the play, which is a very earnest and experimental work, is such as to lead the cast, director and backer to believe it a flop. Instantly they turn against themselves, the production, the author and savagely proceed in what looks like an attempt to destroy themselves and all their former hopes. It turns out, however, that in spite of the curious reception by the first night audience, the play has made a deep impression, and when news spreads that the reviews are on the whole favorable, the tables are turned. But the playwright who has suffered both from the enthusiasm and pessimism of his associates has decided that he is through with the theater, and he is captured by the backer only at the moment he is about to take a plane back home. He is persuaded to play ball with his associates, but he is so disgusted with the temperamental shenanigans of those who were presumably his friends that he turns on them and lays down the law to them.

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by Stephi Wild - Mar 15, 2023


The Resident Theatre at Edge of the Wood presents Light Up the Sky, Moss Hart's valentine to the theatre and the eccentric but lovable artists that craft it.

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Citadel Theatre's will open its 2017-18 season with a revival of Moss Hart's 1948 comedy set behind the scenes of a Broadway-bound play during its Boston tryout.

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by BWW News Desk - Aug 25, 2017


Citadel Theatre's will open its 2017-18 season with a revival of Moss Hart's 1948 comedy set behind the scenes of a Broadway-bound play during its Boston tryout.

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The Shaw Festival is known for dusting off old chestnuts and breathing new life into them. Unfortunately, its new production of Moss Hart's LIGHT UP THE SKY is  a chestnut better left in the attic to continue gathering dust.  Compared to his successful plays, like THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER  (with 739 Broadway performances) and YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (838 performances), LIGHT UP THE SKY is a second string comedy that seems stale and dated. It's initial run on Broadway was only a modest success, running 200 performances, and revivals have not fared much better.

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'Light up the Sky' would have been more interesting as a show that functioned on two levels: a fun period farce and a smart satire about a play that's a smart satire. Instead, 'Light up the Sky' is fluffy and pointless; a superficial farce too unrelatable to be mindlessly funny, and not self-aware enough to be satirically comical.

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by BWW News Desk - Mar 4, 2015


The Theatre Group at SBCC will present the hilarious comedy by Moss Hart, LIGHT UP THE SKY, directed by R. Michael Gros, in the Garvin Theatre, tonight, March 4-21, 2015.

Theatre Group at SBCC to Continue Season with LIGHT UP THE SKY, 3/4-21
by Anna Bencivengo - Feb 18, 2015


The Theatre Group at SBCC will present the hilarious comedy by Moss Hart, LIGHT UP THE SKY, directed by R. Michael Gros, in the Garvin Theatre, March 4-21, 2015.

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Light Up the Sky FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What productions of Light Up the Sky have there been?
Light Up the Sky has had 1 productions including Broadway which opened in 1948.

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