The Ritz is a play by Terrence McNally. Rita Moreno won a Tony Award for her performance as Googie Gomez in the 1975 Broadway production, which she and many others of the original cast reprised in a 1976 film version directed by Richard Lester.
The farce is set in a gay bathhouse in Manhattan, where unsuspecting heterosexual Cleveland businessman Gaetano Proclo has taken refuge from his homicidal mobster brother-in-law, Carmine Vespucci. There Gaetano stumbles across an assortment of oddball characters, including a rabid chubby chaser, go-go boys, a squeaky-voiced detective, and Googie Gomez, a third-rate Puerto Rican entertainer with visions of Broadway glory who mistakes him for a famous producer and whom he mistakes for a man in drag. Further complications arise when Gaetano's wife Vivian tracks him down and jumps to all the wrong conclusions about his sexual orientation.
The Ritz premiered on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre on January 20, 1975, and closed after 398 performances and ten previews. Directed by Robert Drivas, the cast included Jack Weston, Rita Moreno, Jerry Stiller, F. Murray Abraham, Stephen Collins, and George Dzundza.
Ritz or The Ritz may refer to:
The Ritz is a 1976 American film directed by Richard Lester based on the play of the same name by Terrence McNally. Actress Rita Moreno, who had won a Tony Award for her performance as Googie Gomez in the 1975 Broadway production, and many others of the original cast like Jack Weston, Jerry Stiller, and F. Murray Abraham, reprise their onstage roles in the film version. Also in the cast were Kaye Ballard and Treat Williams. The film, Jack Weston, and Rita Moreno all received Golden Globe nominations in the comedy category. It opened to mixed reviews.
The farce is set in a gay bathhouse in Manhattan, where unsuspecting heterosexual Cleveland businessman Gaetano Proclo has taken refuge from his homicidal mobster brother-in-law, Carmine Vespucci. There Gaetano stumbles across an assortment of oddball characters, including a rabid chubby chaser, go-go boys, a squeaky-voiced detective, and Googie Gomez, a third-rate Puerto Rican entertainer with visions of Broadway glory who mistakes him for a famous producer and whom he mistakes for a man in drag. Further complications arise when Gaetano's wife Vivian tracks him down and jumps to all the wrong conclusions about his sexual orientation.
The Ritz is a barbershop quartet from the Johnny Appleseed District of the Barbershop Harmony Society (comprising Ohio, West Virginia, and the western half of Pennsylvania. Each member of the quartet is a vocal music teacher at the high school and university levels. After coming in fourth at the San Francisco convention in 1990, the quartet won the international championship in 1991. The quartet has traveled internationally and has appeared on two PBS specials, Keep America Singing (in 1994) and World's Largest Concert (in 1996).
They also appear on First Recording (CD, cassette) with the Pride of Toledo Chorus.