"The Ritz" opened on Broadway on January 20, 1975 at the Longacre Theatre and closed after 398 performances and ten previews.F. Murray Abraham, Rita Moreno, Jerry Stiller, Jack Weston, Paul B. Price, Tony De Santis, Christopher J. Brown, and John Everson play the roles they created in the original Broadway production. Treat Williams replaced Stephen Collins as Brick, and Dave King replaced George Dzundza as Abe Lefkowitz.
Despite the setting, no male nudity is visible or implied. All of the actors, particularly Treat Williams, are wearing jockey shorts under their towels.
F. Murray Abraham, who plays the very flamboyant Chris, remarked after the film came out he never got hit on by women so much trying to convert him. "And it worked every single time," Abraham jokingly said. He has been married to his wife since 1962. Eight years after this film, he played Antonio Salieri in Amadeus (1984), which he won the Academy award for Best Actor. He also won a Golden Globe that year for the role.