The Good Doctor

The Good Doctor is a comedy with music written by Neil Simon. It consists of a series of short plays, based on short stories and other works of Russian writer Anton Chekhov, framed by a writer making comments on them. Productions The Good Doctor opened on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on November 27, 1973, and closed on May 25, 1974, after 208 performances and eight previews. Produced by Emanuel Azenberg and directed by A.J. Antoon, it starred René Auberjonois, Barnard Hughes, Marsha Mason, Christopher Plummer, and Frances Sternhagen. Frances Sternhagen won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, and the play received three additional Tony Award nominations: Best Original Score (Peter Link and Neil Simon), Best Featured Actor in a Play (René Auberjonois), and Best Lighting Design (Tharon Musser). Clive Barnes wrote in The New York Times that "There is much fun here-or at least here and there. It is, however, too anecdotal, with most stories closing with the dramatic ring of a punch-line. Mr. Simon's comic fancy is admirable." Simon met his second wife, Marsha Mason during auditions for this play.