The House of Blue Leaves is a 1987 television play adapted from the John Guare play of the same title.

Summary

The telefilm is set in Sunnyside, Queens in 1965, the day of Pope Paul VI's visit to New York City. The black comedy focuses on Artie Shaughnessy, a zookeeper who dreams of making it big in Hollywood as a songwriter, and his wife Bananas, a schizophrenic destined for the institution that provides the play's title. Artie wants to take his girlfriend Bunny with him to Hollywood. The story features nuns eager to see the Pope, a political bombing, and Ronnie, Artie's son, a GI headed for Vietnam who goes AWOL.

Cast and characters

Source:IMDb;^[1] tv.com^[2]

• Swoosie Kurtz – Bananas Shaughnessy
• John Mahoney – Artie
• Christine Baranski – Bunny Flingus
• Julie Hagerty – Corrinna Stroller
• Ben Stiller – Ronnie Shaughnessy
• Richard Portnow – Billy Einhorn
• Debra Cole – Little Nun
• Patricia Falkenhain – Head Nun
• Jane Cecil – Second Nun
• Ian Blackman – MP / El Dorado bartender
• Brian Evers – The White Man / El Dorado bartender

Production

The telefilm was directed by Kirk Browning and Jerry Zaks, and was filmed on-stage before a live audience at the Plymouth Theatre. The telefilm was broadcast in May 1987 on the PBS series American Playhouse.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}