About
Venue: the Booth Theatre
January 16, 1958 - October 31, 1959
Anne Bancroft made her Broadway debut as Gittel Mosca in William Gibson's Two For the Seesaw.
Two For the Seesaw was something of a tragicomedy involving a man and a woman, alone and lonely in New York City. Jerry Ryan (Henry Fonda), a dour a defeatist Midwesterner meets Gittel Mosca (Anne), a bouyant and neurotic Bronx-born dancer.
Obviously I haven't seen it, but according to Anne, this was the time in her life when she really started to stretch her acting legs. The part garnered her a Tony Award and much respect in the theatre community.
Plot Summary from Wikipedia:
Jerry Ryan is a lawyer from Nebraska who has recently separated from his childhood sweetheart. To get away from it all he has moved to a shabby apartment in New York. He is struggling with the divorce, which has been filed but is not final, and takes long walks at night.
At a party he meets Gittel Mosca, a flighty, needy, struggling dancer, who has yet to make it at 29. They instantly connect, and begin to fall in love. But the relationship is hampered by their differences in background and temperament.
Jerry gets a job with a New York law firm and prepares to take the bar examination. He helps Gittel rent a loft for a dance studio, which she rents out to other dancers. But their relationship is stormy. Gittel has a fling with an old boyfriend, and Jerry is constantly on the phone with his soon to be ex-wife.
They prepare to move in together nevertheless, but Gittel is upset when she learns that the divorce came through and Jerry did not tell her about it. Jerry explains that even though he is divorced from his former wife on paper, they continue bonded in many ways.
Jerry decides to return to Nebraska and begin again with his ex-wife.
Anne Bancroft with Henry Fonda on the original Playbill.
Anne Bancroft with Dana Andrews after he replaced Henry Fonda.
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