Prelude to a Kiss is a 1988 play by Craig Lucas

Craig Lucas

Craig Lucas is an American playwright, screenwriter, theatre director, musical actor, and film director.-Biography:...

. It tells the story of a couple that falls in love despite the girl's pessimistic outlook on life. Shortly after their wedding, a supernatural event tests the strength of their love and commitment to each other.

The title is taken from the 1938 torch song

Torch song

A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship...

 of the same title

Prelude to a Kiss (song)

"Prelude to a Kiss" is a 1938 song composed by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills, with lyrics by Irving Gordon.In 1989, saxophonist Nelson Rangell covered the song from his self-titled album.-Notable Recordings:...

 by Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

.

Plot synopsis

Immediately after a young couple named Peter and Rita have exchanged wedding vows, an unknown elderly man asks to kiss the bride. As he does, Rita's soul and the old man's magically exchange bodies.

Neither Peter nor the wedding guests grasp what has happened. Peter leaves the wedding with a woman he believes is Rita. During their honeymoon, he comes to realize that Rita's body is no longer inhabited by Rita's true personality. He must find the old man and keep his love for Rita alive despite the fact that she is now in an unattractive body.

Dramatic analysis

Playwright Lucas is openly gay, and critics widely interpreted the story as a symbol for AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

, which had ravaged the gay community. Because of AIDS, many gay men found that their formerly young handsome lovers had become frail, weak, and helpless. In effect, many gay men found that they were now in relationships with men who'd grown old long before their time. Peter's quest may symbolize the efforts of gay men to continue to love the souls and personalities that now lay inside sick, decrepit bodies. Critic Frank Rich

Frank Rich

Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...

 wrote: "...this play can be taken as an indirect treatment of the same subject[AIDS]. The epidemic is to Mr. Lucas what Babi Yar was to D. M. Thomas, and Peter's fidelity to his true love's soul, even as that soul is trapped in a dying male body, is a transparent metaphor." Critic James Hebert wrote: "When it premiered in 1990 it was widely presumed to be an oblique response to the ravages of AIDS. Long removed from that time, it becomes a broader commentary on eternal topics like the limits of love and the meaning of commitment."

Productions

The play was commissioned and originally staged by South Coast Repertory

South Coast Repertory

South Coast Repertory is a professional theatre company located in Costa Mesa, California.Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, founded in 1964 by David Emmes and Martin Benson and now under the leadership of Artistic Director Marc Masterson and Managing Director Paula Tomei, is widely...

, Costa Mesa, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 in January 1988. It opened 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...

 at Circle Repertory Company

Circle Repertory Company

The Circle Repertory Company, originally named the Circle Theater Company, was a theatre company in New York City that ran from 1969 to 1996. It was founded on July 14, 1969, in Manhattan, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by director Marshall W...

 on March 14, 1990 (February 20 previews) starring Alec Baldwin

Alec Baldwin

Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...

, Mary-Louise Parker

Mary-Louise Parker

Mary-Louise Parker is an American actress, known for her current lead role on Showtime's television series Weeds portraying Nancy Botwin, for which she has received several nominations and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 2006...

, Debra Monk

Debra Monk

Debra Monk is an American actress, singer, and writer.Monk was born in Middletown, Ohio. She was voted "best personality" by the graduating class at Wheaton High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. She graduated from Frostburg State University in 1963...

, and John Dossett

John Dossett

John Dossett is an American actor and singer.-Early life and education:Dossett attended Mount Pleasant High School in Wilmington, Delaware from 1972 through 1976, where he was an announcer for the school's radio station, WMPH, and appeared in student theater productions.-Career:Dossett made his...

, and directed by Norman René

Norman René

Norman René was an American theatre and film director and film producer who frequently collaborated with playwright Craig Lucas.-Biography:...

, who had directed at South Coast Repertory.

After receiving rave reviews, the production moved to the Helen Hayes Theatre

Helen Hayes Theatre

Helen Hayes Theatre with 597 seats is the smallest Broadway theatre and is located at 240 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan....

 on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

, on May 1, 1990, with Timothy Hutton

Timothy Hutton

Timothy Tarquin Hutton is an American actor. He is the youngest actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at the age of 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People . He currently stars as Nathan "Nate" Ford on the TNT series Leverage.-Early life:Timothy...

 replacing Baldwin. Other cast members 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...

, Debra Monk, John Dossett, and Larry Bryggman

Larry Bryggman

Larry Bryggman is an American actor.-Early life:Bryggman was born in Concord, California of Swedish descent; his father worked for a neon sign company and his mother was a piano teacher. Bryggman attended the City College of San Francisco as well as the American Theatre Wing in New York...

. The play closed on May 19, 1991, after 440 performances, received a Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

 nomination as Best Play, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Pulitzer Prize for Drama

The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...

.

A revival opened on Broadway at the American Airlines Theatre

American Airlines Theatre

The American Airlines Theatre is a Broadway theatre, located at 227 West 42nd Street, New York City.-Design:Originally named the Selwyn Theatre, it was constructed by the Selwyn brothers, Edgar and Archie, in 1918. It was one of three theatres they built and controlled on 42nd Street, along with...

 on March 8, 2007, produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company

Roundabout Theatre Company

The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in New York City.-History:The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist and Elizabeth Owens and now operates five theatres, all in Manhattan: the American Airlines Theatre ; Studio 54 ; the Stephen Sondheim Theatre The...

. Alan Tudyk

Alan Tudyk

Alan Wray Tudyk is an American actor known for his roles as Simon in the British comedy Death at a Funeral, as Steve the Pirate in DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, as Sonny in the science fiction drama I, Robot, as Doc Potter in 3:10 to Yuma, as Tucker in the Tucker & Dale vs Evil and as Hoban...

, Annie Parisse

Annie Parisse

Anne Marie Cancelmi , known as Annie Parisse, is an American television, film, and theater actress, known for playing Alexandra Borgia on the television drama Law & Order, a role she played from 2005 until 2006 in 33 episodes. Parisse is also known for her role of Julia Lindsey Snyder on the...

 and John Mahoney

John Mahoney

John Mahoney is a British born American actor, known for playing Martin "Marty" Crane, the retired police officer, father of Kelsey Grammer's Dr...

 starred in the lead roles, with Robin Bartlett

Robin Bartlett

Robin Bartlett is an American actress who grew up in Switzerland.She was formerly married to the actor Alan Rosenberg....

, James Rebhorn

James Rebhorn

James Robert Rebhorn is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 television shows, feature films and plays.-Personal life:...

, and Matthew Rauch in the featured supporting cast. The show was directed by Daniel Sullivan

Daniel J. Sullivan

Daniel J. Sullivan is an American theatre and film director and playwright.-Life and career:Sullivan was born in Wray, Colorado, the son of Mary Catherine and John Martin Sullivan. He was raised in San Francisco, where he graduated from San Francisco State University...

 with original music by John Gromada

John Gromada

John Gromada is a prolific, award-winning composer and sound designer. He is best known for his many scores for theatrical productions in New York on and off-Broadway and in regional theatres...

, scenery by Santo Loquasto

Santo Loquasto

Santo Richard Loquasto is a Sicilian-Italian-American production designer, scenic designer and costume designer for stage, film, and dance. He is a descendant of Libertino lo Guasto of Serradifalco, Caltanissetta, Sicily. Indy race car driver Al Loquasto was his first cousin...

, costumes by Jane Greenwood

Jane Greenwood

Jane Greenwood is a costume designer for the stage, television, film, opera, and dance. Born in Liverpool, England, she works both in England and the United States. She has been nominated for the Tony Award for costume design seventeen times.-Biography:Greenwood attended Liverpool Art School and...

, and lighting by Donald Holder

Donald Holder

Donald Holder is an American lighting designer in theatre, opera, and dance based in New York. He has been nominated for eight Tony Awards, winning the 1998 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for The Lion King. He won a second Tony in...

.

A film version

Prelude to a Kiss (film)

Prelude to a Kiss is a 1992 American romantic fantasy film directed by Norman René and starring Alec Baldwin, Meg Ryan and Sydney Walker. The screenplay by Craig Lucas is based on his 1988 play of the same title.-Plot synopsis:...

came out in 1992.