Same Time, Next Year

"Same Time, Next Year" is an award-winning play from 1975, written by Bernard Slade, that was adapted into a Hollywood film in 1978. It was also the basis for a 1994 Hong Kong film, "I Will Wait for You" (年年有今日), directed by Clifton Ko.

Play

Infobox Play
name = Same Time, Next Year


image_size =
caption =
writer = Bernard Slade
characters = Doris, George
setting = A guest cottage of a country inn in Northern California. A day in February in 1951, 1956, 1961, 1965, 1970 and 1975.
premiere = March 14, 1975
place = Brooks Atkinson Theatre
orig_lang = English
subject =
genre =
ibdb_id = 7730

"Same Time, Next Year" is a play by Bernard Slade which tells the story of a man and a woman (George and Doris), married to others, who develop a relationship in which they meet each year at a country inn and spend a weekend together. The relationship evolves into emotional intimacy over the course of 24 years, and they become much more than clandestine lovers. Though they only meet once a year, they become important parts of one another's lives.

The show premiered on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, where it played from March 14, 1975 to May 16, 1978; it then moved to Ambassador Theatre before finally closing on September 3, 1978. Opening night featured Ellen Burstyn as Doris and Charles Grodin as George.

It had a London production at the Prince of Wales Theatre in 1976.

The Broadway production won two Drama Desk Awards and a Tony Award.

###@@@KEY@@@### s-achsuccession box
title=Tony Award for Best Actress
years=1975
Ellen Burstyn
before= Colleen Dewhurst in "A Moon for the Misbegotten"
after= Irene Worth in "Sweet Bird of Youth"succession box
title=Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New American Play
years=1974-1975
"Same Time, Next Year"
before= none
after= "Streamers"succession box
title=Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play
years=1974-1975
Ellen Burstyn
before= none
after= Rosemary Harris in "The Royal Family"

Film adaptations

Hollywood

Infobox Film
name = Same Time, Next Year


image_size =
caption =
director = Robert Mulligan
producer = Walter Mirisch
writer = Bernard Slade, based on his play
narrator =
starring = Ellen Burstyn, Alan Alda
music = Marvin Hamlisch
cinematography = Robert Surtees
editing = Sheldon Kahn
distributor = Universal Pictures
released =
runtime =
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0078199In 1978 "Same Time, Next Year" was made into a film starring Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda. The movie was adapted by Bernard Slade from his play, and was directed by Robert Mulligan. It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Ellen Burstyn), Best Cinematography, Best Music, Song (Marvin Hamlisch, Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman for "The Last Time I Felt Like This") and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

Exteriors for the film were shot at the Heritage House Inn, a Bed and Breakfast in Little River, California, south of Mendocino. The shell of the cottage was built on a temporary foundation overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Its interior was only skeletal as all interior photography was done on sound stages in Hollywood. After the film was completed, as a thank you to Heritage House, the studio paid for the cottage shell to be relocated to a new permanent foundation, and the interior was finished and outfitted with the studio sets. The "Same Time, Next Year" cottage became so popular as a vacation rental, that subsequently, a wall was built to divide the cottage into two private suites named "Same Time" and "Next Year". The cottage remains popular as a romantic get-a-way and requires advance reservations.

Paul McCartney contributed a title song to the film, though it was ultimately not used, and was released by McCartney as a b-side in the late 1980s.

Hong Kong

The play was also adapted by Hong Kong filmmaker Clifton Ko for the 1994 movie "I Will Wait for You" (年年有今日, Nian nian you jin ri), starring Tony Leung Ka-Fai and Anita Yuen.