Nutley Little Theatre
UP POPS THE DEVIL
By Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
Directed by Julie Jin
NLT’s very first production is revived as a special event for our 75th anniversary celebration!
Performing at Grace Episcopal Church, where it all started with the Parish Players, we’ll stage this light-hearted, screwball comedy of the day, very much in the style of “Barefoot in the Park.”
Complete with fast-paced, witty dialogue, interesting characters and unusual role reversals, “Up Pops the Devil” will be NLT’s major fundraiser for the season.
Oct. 23, 24, 25*
*2 p.m. matinee
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Francis Goodrich (1890-1984) was born in Belleville, moved to Nutley at the age of two and grew up in the large family home at 187 Nutley Avenue. It was a home where she would later marry Albert Hackett. The couple wrote dozens of plays and scripts for Hollywood films. The first play they competed together, “Up Pops the Devil,” was the first staged production of the Nutley Little Theatre on Nov. 23, 1934.
Francis and Albert became well know for their screenplays on the three “Thin Man” films staring Myrna Loy and William Powell, and on Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life.” But Francis Goodrich and Albert Hackett’s crowning achievement came as playwrights on ”The Diary of Anne Frank” for which they won the Pulitzer Prize.
- Nutley Hall of Fame induction of Frances Goodrich.
