David Sheffield, creator of “The Heartbreak Henry”
Michael Fagans, Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Mississippi, has produced a documentary of David Sheffield’s comedy “The Heartbreak Henry: The Show Must Go On” containing scenes from the 2021 Theatre Oxford production at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts.
Mississippi Public Broadcasting has scheduled the production to air on:
Aug. 9, 2 p.m.
Aug. 12, 7:30 p.m.
University of Mississippi alumnus David Sheffield was head comedy writer at Saturday Night Live and co-screenwriter of the Coming To/2 America movies, The Nutty Professor, Boomerang, and other Eddie Murphy films, but never forgot his experiences as student manager of Oxford’s Henry Hotel in 1967.
“This is a coming-of-age story set in the late Sixties, a period of great change when free love, civil rights and Vietnam were happening,” Sheffield said. “I went to Ole Miss for an education, but the real education took place at the Henry Hotel. I saw things at the Henry I never saw at home.”
Sheffield’s play is about the cranky, contentious and confused patrons who frequented the run-down hotel when he was the manager. The play enjoyed a six-show run at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in 2021.
To hear Sheffield discuss the play, visit https://vimeo.com/547692332
