A delicatessen in a foggy, rainswept city. In this lively and very funny long one act, set in November of 1928 at Lindy's Delicatessen in New York City, where Arnold Rothstein, the notorious gambler, the man who fixed the 1919 World Series, has his unofficial office. On the rainy night before he is to be murdered, Rothstein tries to straighten out his relationship with his girlfriend Inez and deal with the likes of Walter Winchell, Damon Runyon, Ring Lardner, and a gangster named Moe who will only eat female lobsters. Lardner is drunk and increasingly abusive of Rothstein, whom he blames for destroying the love of his life, baseball, and who seems to represent to him everything that's gone wrong with America, and Leo and Clara, the owners, are trying desperately to keep everybody happy. Clara hates Rothstein but Leo thinks he's good for business, and Abe, the cashier, is in a lot of trouble, because Clara has ordered him not to take any more of Rothstein's phone calls, and Rothstein is waiting for the call that will ultimately summon him to his death, as Lardner gets more and more insulting, Winchell and Runyon make sarcastic comments, and Inez, who loves Rothstein, tries desperately to keep him from going to a very dangerous meeting. A rich slice of old New York.
Published in Rainy Night At Lindy's & Other Plays.