George M!

Last updated

George M!
GeorgeM!.JPG
George M! Original Broadway Cast Album
Music George M. Cohan
LyricsGeorge M. Cohan
Mary Cohan
Book Michael Stewart
John Pascal
Francine Pascal
BasisThe life of George M. Cohan
Productions1968 Broadway
1970 NBC Television adaptation

George M! is a Broadway musical based on the life of George M. Cohan, the biggest Broadway star of his day who was known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway." The book for the musical was written by Michael Stewart, John Pascal, and Francine Pascal. Music and lyrics were by George M. Cohan himself, with revisions for the musical by Cohan's daughter, Mary Cohan.

Contents

The story covers the period from the late 1880s until 1937 and focuses on Cohan's life and show business career from his early days in vaudeville with his parents and sister to his later success as a Broadway singer, dancer, composer, lyricist, theatre director and producer. The show includes such Cohan hit songs as "Give My Regards To Broadway", "You're a Grand Old Flag", and "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

Productions

The musical opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on April 10, 1968, and closed on April 26, 1969, after 433 performances and 8 previews. The show was produced by David Black and directed and choreographed by Joe Layton. [1] The cast featured Joel Grey as George M. Cohan, Bernadette Peters, Jill O'Hara, Jamie Donnelly, and Betty Ann Grove. [2]

The play was profiled in the William Goldman book The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway . According to Goldman, before the musical opened "Everybody knew how bad George M! was, in spite of Layton's directing work. The show had had its share of troubles on the road. Everybody knew how disappointing Joel Grey was too." [3] Goldman wrote it and Little Foxes "were the "two most painful productions of the season as far as most of the skilled theatre professionals were concerned" as both "were patently rotten and got away with it" in terms of receiving excellent reviews. " A lot of bright, caring people are trying to earn a decent living on Broadway, and when crap sells, panic sets in. The serious pros didn't smile a lot after George M! opened." [4] However while the musical was expected to run for at least two years on the strength of its large advance sale and reviews it ended up only running a year.

A television adaptation, presented as a staged reading of the musical with the performers discussing Cohan's life and work between rehearsal-style song-and-dance routines, was broadcast by NBC on September 12, 1970. Grey and Peters were joined by Jack Cassidy, Nanette Fabray, Anita Gillette, and Blythe Danner.

Synopsis

Act I

Jerry and Nellie Cohan waste no time adding their young son to their travelling vaudeville act, "The Four Cohans", with sister Josie. By the time George is 20, they are playing the Columbia Theatre in Cedar Rapids, and George has landed an audition for the family with impresario E. F. Albee. But Albee doesn't make a good enough offer, and George books the act into the Adams Street Theatre in New York. There they meet singer Ethel Levey, and soon George and Ethel get married. Now George is determined to move "The Five Cohans" from vaudeville to musical comedy, and so he writes his first full-length show, The Governor's Son. The musical is a flop, but George is undeterred and opens his next show, Little Johnny Jones . After a momentary crisis of confidence, the company is on stage as George begins the song "Give My Regards to Broadway". By the time the song is over, the Yankee Doodle Kid is a hit.

Act II

George's career soars higher and higher. He is now a producer, and he and his partner, Sam H. Harris sign Fay Templeton to appear in their show, and we hear some of Cohan's most famous songs, "Mary", "Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway", and "So Long Mary". Ethel feels neglected by her high-flying husband, and the two are divorced. George is crushed, but later meets Agnes Nolan from the cast of Little Johnny Jones. Soon they are married and, together with Agnes, George writes some of his most enduring work, including the songs "Yankee Doodle Dandy", "Harrigan", "Over There", and "You're a Grand Old Flag." But George loses family members, and Broadway is changing – actors are unionizing, and Actors Equity is making demands. George first resists evolving and then retreats from the stage for many years. Eventually, though, Harris offers him a role in I'd Rather Be Right , and, lonely for the stage, he accepts. But his old style is no longer right for 1937, and George is used to being the boss, not just another actor. On stage, alone, George remembers his former glory, singing "Give My Regards to Broadway." He can still tap, after all, and his wife Agnes joins him to reprise "Yankee Doodle Dandy" before he leaves the theatre – at least he's on Broadway.

Songs

Cast and characters

CharacterBroadway (1968) [5]
George M. Cohan Joel Grey
Jerry CohanJerry Dodge
Ethel Levy Jamie Donnelly
Nellie Cohan Betty Ann Grove
Agnes Nolan Jill O'Hara
Josie Cohan Bernadette Peters
Fay Templeton Jacqueline Alloway
Sam Harris Harvey Evans

Critical response

William Goldman wrote about this production in his 1968 book The Season: "Everybody knew how bad George M! was, in spite of Joe Layton's directing work. The show had its troubles on the road...the problem all along was to try to warm up the central figure. George M! was one of the two most painful productions of the season..." [6]

Clive Barnes, reviewing for The New York Times , wrote that while the musical "has a lot going for it", it was "burdended" by its book. "The musical is a scrappy, ill-prepared mediocrely written account of George M. Cohan..." He praised the use of many of Cohan's songs, and praised Joel Grey's performance: "Sharp as a whiplash, either with his derby tilted down to his nose, ... or his arms thrown out...he danced with a frenetic passion, and a God-given sense of timing..." He also praised Joe Layton's choreography: "the dancing is as good, if not better as any in town." [7]

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResult
1968 Outer Critics Circle Awards [5] Outstanding MusicalWon
Outstanding Performance Joel Grey Won
Theatre World Awards [5] Bernadette PetersHonoree
1969 Tony Awards [5] Best Choreography Joe Layton Won
Best Leading Actor in a Musical Joel Grey Nominated

1971 Television Adaptation

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResult
1971 Primetime Emmy Awards [8] Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy, Variety or Music Walter C. Miller & Martin Charnin Nominated

Related Research Articles

<i>Id Rather Be Right</i> Musical by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

I'd Rather Be Right is a 1937 musical with a book by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and music by Richard Rodgers. The story is a Depression-era political satire set in New York City about Washington politics and political figures such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The plot centers on Peggy Jones and her boyfriend Phil, who needs a raise in order for them to get married. The President steps in and solves their dilemma.

<i>Yankee Doodle Dandy</i> 1942 film by Michael Curtiz

Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp, Jeanne Cagney, and Vera Lewis. Joan Leslie's singing voice was partially dubbed by Sally Sweetland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Grey</span> American actor, singer, dancer, director, and photographer (born 1932)

Joel Grey is an American actor, singer, dancer, photographer, and theatre director. He is best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the musical Cabaret on Broadway as well as in the Bob Fosse directed 1972 film adaptation. He has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award. He earned the Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Foy</span> 19th and 20th-century American actor

Edwin Fitzgerald, known professionally as Eddie Foy and Eddie Foy Sr., was an American actor, comedian, dancer and vaudevillian.

Forbidden Broadway, Volume 2 is the second album released for Forbidden Broadway (FB), an off-Broadway musical that spoofs Broadway's latest musicals. The album was recorded and mixed in February 1991 in New York at Sear Sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Yankee Doodle Boy</span> Song composed by George M. Cohan performed by Billy Murray

"The Yankee Doodle Boy", also known as "(I'm a) Yankee Doodle Dandy" is a patriotic song from the Broadway musical Little Johnny Jones, written by George M. Cohan. The play opened at the Liberty Theater on November 7, 1904. The play concerns the trials and tribulations of a fictional American jockey, Johnny Jones, who rides a horse named Yankee Doodle in the English Derby. Cohan incorporates snippets of several popular traditional American songs into his lyrics of this song, as he often did with his songs. The song was performed by James Cagney in the 1942 film Yankee Doodle Dandy, in which he played Cohan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Give My Regards to Broadway</span> Song by George M. Cohan

"Give My Regards to Broadway" is a song written by George M. Cohan for his musical play Little Johnny Jones which debuted in 1904 in New York.

<i>Forty-five Minutes from Broadway</i> Musical by George M. Cohan

Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway is a three-act musical by George M. Cohan written about New Rochelle, New York. The title refers to the 45-minute train ride from New Rochelle to Broadway.

<i>Little Johnny Jones</i>

Little Johnny Jones is a musical by George M. Cohan. The show introduced Cohan's tunes "Give My Regards to Broadway" and "The Yankee Doodle Boy." The "Yankee Doodle" character was inspired by real-life Hall of Fame jockey Tod Sloan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. F. Albee</span> American vaudeville impresario

Edward Franklin Albee II was an American vaudeville impresario.

Chip Deffaa is an American author, playwright, screenwriter, jazz historian, singer, songwriter, director, and producer of plays and recordings. For 18 years, he wrote for the New York Post, covering jazz, cabaret, and theater. He has contributed to Jazz Times, The Mississippi Rag, Down Beat, Cabaret Scenes, England's Crescendo, and Entertainment Weekly. He's written nine books and 20 plays, and has produced more than 40 albums. As D.A. Bogdnov noted in a lengthy profile of Deffaa published in TheaterScene.net on December 5th, 2022, Deffaa "has produced more recordings of George M. Cohan songs than anyone living, just as he's produced more recordings of Irving Berlin songs than anyone living. And having produced more than 40 albums in total now, Deffaa has surely recorded more members of New York's theater/cabaret community than anyone living." He was born in New Rochelle, New York. Mentored by former vaudevillian Todd Fisher and studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in his youth, Deffaa became hooked on show business while performing as a child actor. His interests evolved into writing. He wrote his first play and first song at age 17. He graduated from Princeton University. He freelanced for various publications before finding a longtime home at The New York Post, where editors V.A. Musetto, Matt Diebel, Steve Cuozzo, and Faye Penn gave him wide latitude to write about jazz, cabaret, classic pop, and theater.

<i>The Seven Little Foys</i> 1955 film by Melville Shavelson

The Seven Little Foys is a Technicolor in VistaVision 1955 comedy film directed by Melville Shavelson starring Bob Hope as Eddie Foy. One highlight of the film is an energetic tabletop dance showdown sequence with Bob Hope as Eddie Foy and James Cagney as George M. Cohan. The story of Eddie Foy Sr. and the Seven Little Foys inspired a TV version in 1964 and a stage musical version, which premiered in 2007.

<i>The Phantom President</i> 1932 film

The Phantom President is a 1932 American pre-Code musical comedy and political satire film. It was directed by Norman Taurog, starred George M. Cohan, Claudette Colbert, and Jimmy Durante, with songs by Richard Rodgers (music) and Lorenz Hart (lyrics).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George M. Cohan</span> American actor, singer, composer and playwright (1878–1942)

George Michael Cohan was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer.

Mary Cohan (1909–1983), aka Mary Cohan Ronkin, was an American Broadway composer and lyricist, and the middle daughter of vaudeville and Broadway entertainer George M. Cohan. George's mother's middle name was Mary, and it is believed that his daughter was named after her.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam H. Harris</span> American theatre owner and producer

Sam H. Harris was a Broadway producer and theater owner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Armstrong (director)</span> American theatre director

David Armstrong is the host and producer of "David Armstron's Broadway Nation" podcast which is part of the Broadway Podcast Network. From 2000 to 2018 he served as the Executive Producer and artistic director of The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle. During his tenure there he has guided The 5th Avenue to a position as one of the nation's leading musical theater companies, acclaimed for both its development and production of new works and its innovative stagings of classic musicals. As a director, he staged 5th Avenue productions of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well & Living in Paris; A Room With a View; Oliver!, Candide, Sweeney Todd, HAIR, A Little Night Music, Company, Hello, Dolly!, Anything Goes, MAME, Pippin, The Secret Garden, Vanities, White Christmas, The Rocky Horror Show, Yankee Doodle Dandy and Saving Aimee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LeRoy Prinz</span> American film director and choreographer

LeRoy Jerome Prinz was an American choreographer, director and producer, who was involved in the production of dozens of motion pictures, mainly for Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers, from 1929 through 1958, and choreographed Broadway musicals. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Dance Direction in the 1930s, and won the Golden Globe in 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethel Levey</span> American actress, dancer, and singer in musical theatre

Ethel Levey, born Grace Ethelia Fowler, was an American actress, dancer, and singer in musical theatre and on the vaudeville stage. She was the first wife of George M. Cohan, and the second wife of aviator Claude Grahame-White.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgette Cohan</span> American actress

Georgia Ethelia Cohan Southern Rowse, known as Georgette Cohan, was an American actress, daughter of George M. Cohan and Ethel Levey. She played Peter Pan in London in 1919, and appeared in several Broadway productions.

References

  1. "A Guide to Critical Reviews: Part II: The Musical, 1909–1989, 3rd edition", page 213, by James M. Salem, The Scarecrow Press, 1991
  2. "'George M!' Broadway" ibdb.com. Retrieved July 4, 2022
  3. Goldman p 372
  4. Goldman p 373-373
  5. 1 2 3 4 " 'George M!' Broadway' " Playbill. Retrieved July 4, 2022
  6. Goldman, William. The Season: A Candid Look At Broadway (2004, paperback), p. 372, Limelight Editions, ISBN   978-0-87910-023-0
  7. Barnes, Clive. "The Theater: 'George M!': Joel Grey Plays Cohan in Musical at Palace", The New York Times, April 11, 1968, p. 48
  8. "Outstanding Directing For A Variety Series, 'George M!' Bell System Family Theatre" emmys.com. Retrieved May 30, 2016