Stage
As a "playable novel", it was performed by the Theater Union of San Francisco as written. This version opened on May 21, 1937 – less than three months after the novel's publication – and ran for about two months.[16]
To create a Broadway production, Steinbeck adapted and slightly revised his original text and this version, produced by Sam H. Harris and directed by George S. Kaufman, opened on November 23, 1937, in the Music Box Theatre on Broadway and ran for 207 performances.[28] It starred Wallace Ford as George and Broderick Crawford as Lennie.[28] The role of Crooks was performed by Leigh Whipper, the first African-American member of the Actors' Equity Association.[29] (Whipper repeated this role in the 1939 film version.[30]) The production was chosen as Best Play in 1938 by the New York Drama Critics' Circle.[31]
In 1939 the production was moved to Los Angeles, still with Wallace Ford in the role of George, but with Lon Chaney, Jr., taking on the role of Lennie. Chaney's performance in the role resulted in his casting in the movie.
In 1958, a musical theater adaptation by Ira Bilowit (1925–2016) was produced Off-Broadway in New York City. The cast included several in-demand performers of their day, including Art Lund and Jo Sullivan, re-teamed after performing together in the hit musical The Most Happy Fella, as well as Leo Penn.[32] However, a newspaper strike negatively affected the production and it closed after six weeks.[33] A revival of the work was mounted at the Western Stage in Salinas, California in 2019.[33]
The play was revived in a 1974 Broadway production in the Brooks Atkinson Theatre starring Kevin Conway as George and James Earl Jones as Lennie.[34] Noted stage actress Pamela Blair played Curley's Wife in this production.
In 1970 Carlisle Floyd wrote an opera based on this novella. One departure between Steinbeck's book and Floyd's opera is that the opera features The Ballad Singer, a character not found in the book.[35]
A new version of the play opened on Broadway at The Longacre Theater on March 19, 2014 for a limited 18-week engagement, starring James Franco, Chris O'Dowd, Leighton Meester and Jim Norton.[36][37]
A ballet adaptation was created by Cathy Marston with original music by Thomas Newman. It debuted on April 27, 2022 at the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago.[38]
Film
Poster for the 1939 filmThe first film adaptation was released in 1939, two years after the publication of the novella, and starred Lon Chaney Jr. as Lennie, with Burgess Meredith as George, and was directed by Lewis Milestone.[30] It was nominated for four Academy Awards.[30]
A TV version, produced by David Susskind in 1968, starred George Segal as George, Nicol Williamson as Lennie, Will Geer as Candy, Moses Gunn as Crooks, and Don Gordon and Joey Heatherton as Curley and his wife, respectively.[39]
In 1981, a TV movie version was released, starring Randy Quaid as Lennie, and Robert Blake as George, and directed by Reza Badiyi.[40]
Another theatrical film version was made in 1992, directed by Gary Sinise, who was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes.[41] Sinise played George, and the role of Lennie was played by John Malkovich, both reprising their roles from the 1980 Steppenwolf Theatre Company stage production.[42]
The 1992 Malayalam film Soorya Manasam directed by Viji Thampi is also based on the novel.[43]
Radio
Of Mice and Men was adapted by Donna Franceschild as a radio play directed by Kirsty Williams starring David Tennant and Liam Brennan broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 7 March 2010.[44] Earlier BBC productions were aired in 1966 and 1992.
