Broadway producer Leland Hayward acquired the rights for the play and hired Heggen and Joshua Logan for the adaptation.

Mister Roberts opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on February 18, 1948, starring Henry Fonda, David Wayne, Robert Keith, and Jocelyn Brando, who replaced Eva Marie Saint before the show opened.

The original production also featured Harvey Lembeck, Ralph Meeker, Steven Hill, Lee Van Cleef, and Murray Hamilton.

A book dramatizing the play, co-authored by Heggen and Logan and also titled Mister Roberts, was published by Random House in 1948.

Also in the 1963 Mister Roberts play were Chris Noel, Will Hutchins, Vincent Gardenia, Tony Mordente, Alan Yorke, Vince O'Brien, Bill Fletcher, and John J. Martin.