Say Goodnight, Gracie provided the pre-recorded voice of Allen. Holmes was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play and Gorshin was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance. The production has toured extensively throughout the United States following its New York closing, with Joel Rooks, Don McArt, and Alan Safier taking over for Gorshin as George Burns. Jamie Farr filled in for Gorshin on tour for two months when he became ill in 2004, but Gorshin returned to the role before his death in 2005. Say Goodnight, Gracie Say Goodnight Gracie is a one-man play by Rupert Holmes. Adapted
Variety show viewer tastes have affected the popularity of variety shows in the United States. Despite this, their influence has still had a major effect on late night television whose late night talk shows and NBC's variety series "Saturday Night Live" (which originally premiered in 1975) have remained popular fixtures of North American television. The live entertainment style known as music hall in the United Kingdom and vaudeville in the United States can be considered a direct predecessor of the "variety show" format. Variety in the UK evolved in theatres and music halls, and later in Working Men's Clubs. British performers who