John Cassavetes' dramatic film Opening Night was released on December 22, 1977. It stars Gena Rowlands, Joan Blondell, Ben Gazzara and John Cassavetes. It was nominated for the Best Motion Picture Actress in a Drama and Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role Golden Globe Awards.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079672/

Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) is a troubled and aging actress who has just agreed to do a new play with her friend and playwright, Sarah (Joan Blondell). Already struggling with getting older, Myrtle is deeply distressed that her latest role is that of a woman older then herself. Unfortunately, the play and Myrtle face a series of setbacks and disasters that may end up destroying not only the play, but also Myrtle’s physical and mental well being. Things get even worse for Myrtle as a young teenage fan runs across the street to meet her and is killed right before Myrtle’s eyes. She sadly begins to feel responsible for the young girls death. Eventually Myrtle’s alcoholism becomes transparent to virtually everyone at the theater and begins to get in the way of the production. Myrtle denies her alcoholic addiction to herself and everyone around her, all the members of the cast and crew indulge her fantasy to one level or another. There is no denying Myrtle’s addiction, but on opening night she still hasn't arrived at the theater when call time has come and gone. The curtain goes up and she is still not there, but moments later she comes staggering into the theater only to fall flat on her face. The crew gets her ready to go on stage, and through the whole first act one of the supporting cast has to keep her on her feet. http://www.allmovie.com/work/opening-night-36518

"As with his other films, Cassavetes, who wrote and directed, puts a slice of life under the microscope. Across the board, he culls stunning performances from the entire cast, especially Joan Blondell as the writer whose play is being mounted. But it is such a demanding work, so draining, that one must question whether more than a handful of moviegoers are interested in the effort."—Variety http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117793753.html?categoryid=31&cs=1

"I love his films with the kind of personal urgency that you feel toward a beloved friend who is destroying himself. The films, taken together, are portraits of a crackup that is sustained, through courage and resiliency, for as long as humanly possible. Recovering alcoholics talk about "what it used to be like, what happened, and what it is like now." All of Cassavetes's films are about what it used to be like, and for his doomed characters, nothing ever happens to make it any different now."—Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19770101/REVIEWS/701010312/1023

"For all of John Cassavetes's concern with acting, this 1977 film is the only one of his features that takes it on as a subject; it also boasts his most impressive cast."—Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/opening-night/Film?oid=1061368