Thanks for the reminder of this play. I saw it in New York in 1979 and one of the actors was a known TV performer. It was about the time it was recorded and for a while you could get a video tape of the play. I understand that Sylvester Stallone was in it in its early days and those Playbill programs are quite the collector's item. It would be fun to see who performed in the play and what they went on to do professionally. The "Taking Off the Robe" segment was just so straightforward and to the point as each cast member came on stage in a big white bathrobe and then one by one and bit by bit they revealed themselves in many fun ways until they all dropped their robes. Once that was done, the nudity was less the focus but incorporated into the skits that were more sexually charged. When the traveling show came to Anchorage, Alaska there were major protests about the nudity on stage and the press made it very clear that the show had been challenged many times and as a piece of performance art the advice was if nudity offends you please do not attend. Easy.
Among the first shows I ever saw on Broadway. It sure was something!!!
Oh wow! What year would that have been?
1985. Saw it again around 1988 which was shortly before it closed.
The title, "Oh! Calcutta!" is a pun on the French phrase, "Oh! Quel cul t'as!", meaning, "Oh! What an ass you have!"
Thanks for sharing that bit of info. Always fun to find information like that.
Great article on an almost forgotten influential play.
Thanks for the reminder of this play. I saw it in New York in 1979 and one of the actors was a known TV performer. It was about the time it was recorded and for a while you could get a video tape of the play. I understand that Sylvester Stallone was in it in its early days and those Playbill programs are quite the collector's item. It would be fun to see who performed in the play and what they went on to do professionally. The "Taking Off the Robe" segment was just so straightforward and to the point as each cast member came on stage in a big white bathrobe and then one by one and bit by bit they revealed themselves in many fun ways until they all dropped their robes. Once that was done, the nudity was less the focus but incorporated into the skits that were more sexually charged. When the traveling show came to Anchorage, Alaska there were major protests about the nudity on stage and the press made it very clear that the show had been challenged many times and as a piece of performance art the advice was if nudity offends you please do not attend. Easy.