Hogan's Goat
Encyclopedia
Hogan's Goat is an award-winning 1965 play by William Alfred
.
The blank-verse drama
concerns a mayor
al contest between Irish American
s in Brooklyn, New York in 1890. The play's focus is on the personal life of Matthew Stanton, the dynamic leader of the Sixth Ward, who hopes to unseat corrupt incumbent
Ned Quinn. Stanton's wife Kathleen fears campaign publicity will reveal that they never were married in the Catholic Church, a fact uncovered by Quinn, who also discovers Stanton was once the "kept man" (known as a "goat" in the lexicon
of the time) of Agnes Hogan, Quinn's ex-girlfriend who is now on her deathbed. Blinded by ruthless ambition, Stanton ignores Quinn's threats to reveal his past and forges ahead with the race, ultimately destroying not only his political career, but his marriage as well.
Directed by Frederick Rolf, the off-Broadway
production opened on November 11, 1965 at the Theater at St. Clement's Church, then moved to the East 74th Street Theatre where it ran for 607 performances. The original cast included Ralph Waite
as Stanton, Faye Dunaway
as Kathleen, and Tom Ahearne as Quinn, with Cliff Gorman
and Conrad Bain
in supporting roles. Replacements later in the run included Barnard Hughes
and Richard Mulligan
.
Alfred won the Drama Desk Award
for Best Playwright and Dunaway and Mulligan earned the Theatre World Award
for their performances http://www.ibdb.com/advancesearchaward.asp?AwdAliasNo=5697&AwdCatNo=&AwdSxDate=1966&cmd=Award+Search.
In 1970, Alfred wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book for a musical adaptation entitled Cry for Us All
, which proved to be a critical and commercial failure. The following year he wrote the teleplay for a television movie
directed by Glenn Jordan. The PBS broadcast starred Robert Foxworth
as Stanton, Dunaway as Kathleen, and George Rose
as Quinn, with Philip Bosco
, Kevin Conway, and Rue McClanahan
in supporting roles. It is available in VHS
and DVD
formats.
William Alfred
William Alfred was a playwright and Professor of English literature at Harvard University.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Alfred served in the Army tank corps in World War II, received a B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1948, and received an M.A. in English from Harvard in 1949. He earned his Ph.D...
.
The blank-verse drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
concerns a mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
al contest between Irish American
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
s in Brooklyn, New York in 1890. The play's focus is on the personal life of Matthew Stanton, the dynamic leader of the Sixth Ward, who hopes to unseat corrupt incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Ned Quinn. Stanton's wife Kathleen fears campaign publicity will reveal that they never were married in the Catholic Church, a fact uncovered by Quinn, who also discovers Stanton was once the "kept man" (known as a "goat" in the lexicon
Lexicon
In linguistics, the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. A lexicon is also a synonym of the word thesaurus. More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes. Coined in English 1603, the word "lexicon" derives from the Greek "λεξικόν" , neut...
of the time) of Agnes Hogan, Quinn's ex-girlfriend who is now on her deathbed. Blinded by ruthless ambition, Stanton ignores Quinn's threats to reveal his past and forges ahead with the race, ultimately destroying not only his political career, but his marriage as well.
Directed by Frederick Rolf, the off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
production opened on November 11, 1965 at the Theater at St. Clement's Church, then moved to the East 74th Street Theatre where it ran for 607 performances. The original cast included Ralph Waite
Ralph Waite
Ralph Waite is an American actor, whose most notable role was playing John Walton Sr. on the 1970s CBS TV series The Waltons, which he also occasionally directed...
as Stanton, Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
as Kathleen, and Tom Ahearne as Quinn, with Cliff Gorman
Cliff Gorman
Cliff Gorman was an American stage and screen actor. He won an Obie award in 1968 for the stage presentation of The Boys in the Band, and went on to reprise his role in the 1970 film version....
and Conrad Bain
Conrad Bain
Conrad Stafford Bain is a Canadian-American actor. His television credits include a leading role as Phillip Drummond in the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes and as Dr. Arthur Harmon on Maude.-Personal life:...
in supporting roles. Replacements later in the run included Barnard Hughes
Barnard Hughes
Bernard Aloysius Kiernan “Barnard” Hughes was an American actor of theater and film. Hughes became famous for a variety of roles; his most notable roles came after middle age, and he was often cast as a dithering authority figure or grandfatherly elder.-Personal life:Hughes was born in Bedford...
and Richard Mulligan
Richard Mulligan
Richard Mulligan was an American television and film actor best known for his role as Burt Campbell in the 1970s sitcom Soap and later as Dr. Harry Weston on The Golden Girls and its spin-off Empty Nest.-Early life:He was born in New York City, the younger brother of director Robert Mulligan...
.
Alfred won the Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Best Playwright and Dunaway and Mulligan earned the Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for their performances http://www.ibdb.com/advancesearchaward.asp?AwdAliasNo=5697&AwdCatNo=&AwdSxDate=1966&cmd=Award+Search.
In 1970, Alfred wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book for a musical adaptation entitled Cry for Us All
Cry for Us All
Cry for Us All is a musical with a book by William Alfred and Albert Marre, lyrics by Alfred and Phyllis Robinson, and music by Mitch Leigh. In response to poor advance sales, the title was...
, which proved to be a critical and commercial failure. The following year he wrote the teleplay for a television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
directed by Glenn Jordan. The PBS broadcast starred Robert Foxworth
Robert Foxworth
Robert Heath Foxworth is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life and career:Foxworth was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Erna Beth , a writer, and John Howard Foxworth, a roofing contractor...
as Stanton, Dunaway as Kathleen, and George Rose
George Rose (actor)
\...
as Quinn, with Philip Bosco
Philip Bosco
-Personal life:Bosco was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of Margaret Raymond , a policewoman, and Philip Lupo Bosco, a carnival worker. Bosco went to high school at St. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City. He attended the Catholic University of Washington, D.C. Bosco married Nancy...
, Kevin Conway, and Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan was an American actress, best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on Maude, Fran Crowley on Mama's Family, and Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1987.-Early life:McClanahan was born Eddie Rue...
in supporting roles. It is available in VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
formats.