On February 4, 1963, Little Rock native Ben Piazza joined the cast of the original Broadway production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? replacing George Grizzard.

Grizzard had left the show to play Hamlet during the Guthrie Theatre’s first season.  He had accepted that role prior to the Albee play opening on Broadway and becoming a runaway hit.

Piazza, a friend of Albee’s, had been involved in the play since its early days. At the play’s first read-through, he read the part of Nick (which he would play on Broadway) with Albee and producers Richard Barr and Clinton Wilder reading the other three parts.

Piazza stayed in the role of Nick for the rest of the run of the show until it closed on May 16, 1964. His fifteen months in the role is the longest that anyone has ever played a role in an Albee play on Broadway (or perhaps anywhere).

He joined original cast members Arthur Hill, Uta Hagen and Melinda Dillon (a native of Hope).  Dillon was the next to leave the cast and was followed by Rochelle Oliver in the role of Honey.  As Martha, Hagen was followed by Nancy Kelly, returned to the role, and then left it to star in the London production. Piazza would then play opposite future Little Rock resident (and Arkansas Rep performer) Mercedes McCambridge for the last five months of the run.

As George, Arthur Hill was succeeded by Shepperd Strudwick a month after Hagen left. He returned to the play when Hagen did and joined her in London.  Donald Davis, who had played George in the matinee cast, took over the part in the evenings for the last five months.