Chip Deffaa
Encyclopedia
Chip Deffaa is an author, jazz historian, playwright, songwriter and director. 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
.
Deffaa has written eight books, including Swing Legacy (IBN=0-8108-2282-2), Voices of the Jazz Age (ISBN=0-252-01681-5), In the Mainstream (ISBN=0-8108-2558-9), Traditionalists and Revivalists in Jazz (ISBN=0-8108-2704-2), Jazz Veterans (ISBN=1-879384-28-0), F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Princeton Years (ed.) (ISBN=1-879384-29-9),Blue Rhythms (ISBN=0-306-80919-2), and (with David Cassidy) C'Mon Get Happy (ISBN=0-446-39531-5). He has contributed chapters to the books Harlem Speaks (ISBN-13= 978-1-4022-0436-4, ISBN-10=1-4022-0436-1) and Roaring at One Hundred (ISBN=0-914703-01-3). He has written and directed in New York such plays as George M. Cohan: In his Own Words (published by Samuel French Inc., ISBN=0-573-63039-9), Yankee Doodle Boy (Drama Source), The George M. Cohan Revue (Baker's Plays, ISBN=978-0-87440-080-9), George M. Cohan & Co. (Eldridge Plays), The Seven Little Foys
, The Johnny Mercer Jamboree, and Theater Boys.
George M. Cohan Tonight!
, which Deffaa wrote and directed off-Broadway in New York at the Irish Repertory Theatre, was called "brash, cocky, energetic and endlessly euphoric" by the New York Times. The cast album was released in 2006 by Sh-K-Boom / Ghostlight Records. George M. Cohan Tonight! opened September 21, 2010 at the New Players Theater on the West End in London. "A great US entertainer lives again..." wrote The Times (September 28, 2010).
Deffaa's most recent plays include The Family that Sings Together... (published by Drama Source), Song-and-Dance Kids, and One Night with Fanny Brice. (The cast album of One Night with Fanny Brice was released in September 2010 by Original Cast Records.) After several regional productions, One Night With Fanny Brice was produced Off-Broadway in New York at St. Luke's Theatre, 308 W. 46th Street; previews began on March 16, 2011, with an official opening night set for April 3, 2011. All of Deffaa's plays are available for licensing. He is represented by the Fifi Oscard Agency in New York.
Deffaa also lectures on theater and jazz. His 2007 lectures in Korea, timed to coincide with the opening of one of his plays there, were sponsored by the US State Department.
Deffaa has written liner notes for many CDs, including those of such artists as Miles Davis, Benny Goodman, Ray Brown, Diane Schuur, Ruth Brown, Tito Puente, Dick Hyman, Randy Sandke, Scott Hamilton, and the Count Basie Orchestra. Deffaa has won an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award, a New Jersey Press Association Award, and an IRNE Award (Independent Reviewers of New England). Deffaa is a member of the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers, the Dramatists Guild, ASCAP, NARAS, the Jazz Journalists Association, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society, the Drama Desk, and the American Theatre Critics Association. Deffaa is a trustee of the Princeton Tiger magazine.
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, covering jazz, cabaret, and theater. He has contributed to Jazz Times, The Mississippi Rag
The Mississippi Rag
The Mississippi Rag was an internationally influential monthly newspaper about traditional jazz and ragtime music published by Leslie Johnson since 1973....
, Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
, Cabaret Scenes, England's Crescendo, and Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
.
Deffaa has written eight books, including Swing Legacy (IBN=0-8108-2282-2), Voices of the Jazz Age (ISBN=0-252-01681-5), In the Mainstream (ISBN=0-8108-2558-9), Traditionalists and Revivalists in Jazz (ISBN=0-8108-2704-2), Jazz Veterans (ISBN=1-879384-28-0), F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Princeton Years (ed.) (ISBN=1-879384-29-9),Blue Rhythms (ISBN=0-306-80919-2), and (with David Cassidy) C'Mon Get Happy (ISBN=0-446-39531-5). He has contributed chapters to the books Harlem Speaks (ISBN-13= 978-1-4022-0436-4, ISBN-10=1-4022-0436-1) and Roaring at One Hundred (ISBN=0-914703-01-3). He has written and directed in New York such plays as George M. Cohan: In his Own Words (published by Samuel French Inc., ISBN=0-573-63039-9), Yankee Doodle Boy (Drama Source), The George M. Cohan Revue (Baker's Plays, ISBN=978-0-87440-080-9), George M. Cohan & Co. (Eldridge Plays), The Seven Little Foys
The Seven Little Foys
The Seven Little Foys is a 1955 film starring Bob Hope as Eddie Foy. James Cagney reprises his role as George M. Cohan for an energetic tabletop dance showdown sequence. In addition to the famous film, the story of Eddie Foy, Sr...
, The Johnny Mercer Jamboree, and Theater Boys.
George M. Cohan Tonight!
George M. Cohan Tonight!
George M. Cohan Tonight! is a 2006 musical, conceived, written and arranged by Chip Deffaa, with music and lyrics by George M. Cohan, and additional material by Chip Deffaa. It is a one-man show depicting the life and music of Cohan utilizing his songs, dance routines, memoirs, and the stories of...
, which Deffaa wrote and directed off-Broadway in New York at the Irish Repertory Theatre, was called "brash, cocky, energetic and endlessly euphoric" by the New York Times. The cast album was released in 2006 by Sh-K-Boom / Ghostlight Records. George M. Cohan Tonight! opened September 21, 2010 at the New Players Theater on the West End in London. "A great US entertainer lives again..." wrote The Times (September 28, 2010).
Deffaa's most recent plays include The Family that Sings Together... (published by Drama Source), Song-and-Dance Kids, and One Night with Fanny Brice. (The cast album of One Night with Fanny Brice was released in September 2010 by Original Cast Records.) After several regional productions, One Night With Fanny Brice was produced Off-Broadway in New York at St. Luke's Theatre, 308 W. 46th Street; previews began on March 16, 2011, with an official opening night set for April 3, 2011. All of Deffaa's plays are available for licensing. He is represented by the Fifi Oscard Agency in New York.
Deffaa also lectures on theater and jazz. His 2007 lectures in Korea, timed to coincide with the opening of one of his plays there, were sponsored by the US State Department.
Deffaa has written liner notes for many CDs, including those of such artists as Miles Davis, Benny Goodman, Ray Brown, Diane Schuur, Ruth Brown, Tito Puente, Dick Hyman, Randy Sandke, Scott Hamilton, and the Count Basie Orchestra. Deffaa has won an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award, a New Jersey Press Association Award, and an IRNE Award (Independent Reviewers of New England). Deffaa is a member of the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers, the Dramatists Guild, ASCAP, NARAS, the Jazz Journalists Association, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society, the Drama Desk, and the American Theatre Critics Association. Deffaa is a trustee of the Princeton Tiger magazine.
External links
- www.GeorgeMCohan.org
- [ Allmusic: Chip Deffaa Biography]