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Wikipedia
Hughie is a short two-character play by Eugene O’Neill set in the lobby of a small hotel on a West Side street in midtown New York during the summer of 1928. The play is essentially a long monologue delivered by a small-time hustler named Erie Smith to the hotel’s new night clerk Charlie Hughes, lamenting how Smith’s luck has gone bad since the death of Hughie, Hughes' predecessor. O’Neill wrote Hughie in 1942, although it did not receive its world premiere until 1958, when it was staged in Sweden at the Royal Dramatic Theatre with Bengt Eklund as Erie Smith. It was first staged in English at the Theater Royal in Bath, England in 1963 with Burgess Meredith as Erie.
The play was first presented on Broadway in 1964 starring Jason Robards as Erie and directed by José Quintero. Robards received a Tony Award nomination for his performance, and revived the production in 1975 in Berkeley, California with Jack Dodson as Charlie Hughes. Robards and Dodson returned to perform it at the Hyde Park Festival Theatre in 1981 and the Trinity Repertory Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island in 1991, also televising their performances in 1984 for PBS.
Hughie has been produced on Broadway twice since the 1964 Robards/Quintero production. In 1975 it was paired in repertory with another short play, Duet, this time with Ben Gazzara as Erie (who also won a Tony Award nomination for the role), and in 1996 by the Circle in the Square Theatre in a production directed by and starring Al Pacino. The designers for that production were David Gallo (sets), Donald Holder (lights), Candice Donnelly (costumes) and John Gromada (sound). The Goodman Theater in Chicago put on the play in January and February 2010, with Brian Dennehy in the title role. The production was variously well-reviewed, with emphasis on Dennehy's strong performance. The play was revived in 2013 at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. with Richard Schiff as Erie. It is returning for a fourth time to Broadway with Forest Whitaker as Erie Smith in February 2016. The 2016 revival is being directed by Michael Grandage with Darren Bagert as a lead producer.
Hughie has been televised at least four times in addition to the 1984 Robards/Dodson version: in 1959 (for Swedish television), 1960 (Norwegian television), 1963 (Dutch television) and 1983 (French television).
Hughie is a masculine given name or nickname (usually of Hugh). People named Hughie include:
Usage examples of "hughie".
And Hughie, no-account, taken-in-out-of-kindness Hughie, who had lived for years on the fringe of the raucous, brawling Masseys, watched and waited as the tension mounted.
So Hughie had been taken into the Massey household, and his shy nature had blossomed in the warm, rough atmosphere, until he was fourteen .
Rosie had always liked Hughie, perhaps because he was so different from the- other men in the family.
But no, the reason went farther back, before Hughie could have proved his cleverness in one way or another.
He took off his coat as he entered the room, then went towards the stove and held his hands above it as Hughie mashed the tea.
His face wore a keen, sharp look, and when he turned it towards Hughie the expression was tight and the eyes hard.
You know, Hughie, the way she turned around and looked at me was an insult in itself.
Again Hughie looked through the door to the line of shoes, and his expression took on a sadness that buried itself deep in his brown eyes.
At this, Hughie put his hand over his mouth, bowed his head and began to laugh.
It was Hughie who sobered first He released her hands, and, getting up, reached out and picked up a towel from a rail to the side of the desk and rubbed his face vigorously with it.
She only hoped that Hughie was listening and had not gone straight through the kitchen and into the living-room so he would know what to say if he was questioned.
As she glanced at Hughie sitting now at the farther end of1 the table, his head bowed, she thought that, although they did not look alike, they were like enough in nature to be father and son, more so than the other four men at the table.
All except Broderick and Hughie, one after the other, Ac men reproached her, but Broderick looked at his wife, a look that brought her to her senses quicker than all reasonable talk could have done.
But Rosie was in the house when, later on Tuesday, Hughie told her mother.
Rosie went into the kitchen, and as she opened the oven door the back door opened and Hughie entered.