George M!
Encyclopedia
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, of course, by George M. Cohan himself, with revisions for the musical by Cohan's daughter, Mary Cohan.
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
."
, opened on April 10, 1968 at the Palace Theatre
, where it ran for 433 performances. The cast included Joel Grey
as George M. Cohan, Bernadette Peters
, Jamie Donnelly
, and Betty Ann Grove
. William Goldman
writes 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..."
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
.
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.
Act II
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
based on the life of George M. Cohan
George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan , known professionally as George M. Cohan, was a major American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and producer....
, 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
Michael Stewart (playwright)
Michael Stewart was an American playwright and librettist.Born Michael Stuart Rubin in Manhattan, Stewart attended Queens College, and is a graduate of Yale School of Drama with a Master of Fine Arts from 1953. Michael Stewart (August 1, 1924 – September 20, 1987) was an American playwright...
, John Pascal
John Pascal
John Pascal was an American playwright, screenwriter, author, and journalist.-Career:His works included collaboration on the book for the Broadway musical George M!, which was also released on NBC, and on scripts for the ABC Daytime soap opera The Young Marrieds.Mr...
, and Francine Pascal
Francine Pascal
Francine Pascal is an author best known for creating the Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High was the backbone of the collection, and was made into a popular television series. There were also several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University...
. Music and lyrics were, of course, by George M. Cohan himself, with revisions for the musical by Cohan's daughter, Mary Cohan.
The story covers the period from the late 1880s until 1937 and focuses on Cohan's life and show business
Show business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
career from his early days in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
with his parents and sister to his later success as a Broadway singer, dancer, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
, theatre director and producer. The show includes such Cohan hit songs as "Give My Regards To Broadway
Give My Regards to Broadway
"Give My Regards to Broadway" is a song written by George M. Cohan for his musical play Little Johnny Jones ....
", "You're A Grand Old Flag", and "Yankee Doodle Dandy
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owns Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp and Jeanne Cagney.The movie was written by...
."
Productions
After eight previews, the Broadway production, produced by Emanuel Azenberg and directed and choreographed by Joe LaytonJoe Layton
Joe Layton was an American director and choreographer known primarily for his work on Broadway.-Biography:Born Joseph Lichtman in Brooklyn, New York, Layton began his career as a dancer in Wonderful Town , and he appeared uncredited in the ensemble of the original live TV production of Rodgers and...
, opened on April 10, 1968 at the Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre, New York
The Palace Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1564 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.-History:Designed by architects Kirchoff & Rose, the theatre was built by Martin Beck a California vaudeville entrepreneur and Broadway impresario. The project experienced a number of business problems before...
, where it ran for 433 performances. The cast included Joel Grey
Joel Grey
Joel Grey is an American stage and screen actor, singer, and dancer, best known for his role as the Master of Ceremonies in both the stage and film adaptation of the Kander & Ebb musical Cabaret. He has won the Academy Award, Tony Award and Golden Globe Award...
as George M. Cohan, Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
, Jamie Donnelly
Jamie Donnelly
Jamie Donnelly is an American actress.Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, Donnelly is best known as Jan, one of the Pink Ladies from the film version of Grease, a role she got at the age of 30...
, and Betty Ann Grove
Betty Ann Grove
Betty Ann Grove is an American actress and singer. A petite redhead with a powerful voice, she recorded in the 1950s. In 1950, she debuted on Broadway in the 1948 original production of Kiss Me Kate, playing Lois Lane/Bianca, a lead role that was originated by Lisa Kirk...
. William Goldman
William Goldman
William Goldman is an American novelist, playwright, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.-Early life and education:...
writes 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..."
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
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
on September 12, 1970. Grey and Peters were joined by Jack Cassidy
Jack Cassidy
John Joseph Edward “Jack” Cassidy was an American actor of stage, film and screen.His frequent professional persona was that of an urbane, super-confident egotist with a dramatic flair, much in the manner of Broadway actor Frank Fay...
, Nanette Fabray
Nanette Fabray
Nanette Fabray is an American actress, comedienne, singer, dancer, and activist. She began her career performing in vaudeville as a child and then became a musical theatre actress during the 1940s and 1950s, winning a Tony Award in 1949 for her performance in Love Life...
, Anita Gillette
Anita Gillette
Anita Gillette is an American actress, most notable for her work on Broadway and as a celebrity guest on various game shows....
, and Blythe Danner
Blythe Danner
Blythe Katherine Danner is an American actress. She is the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.-Early life:...
.
Synopsis
Act IJerry 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
Little Johnny Jones
For the blues pianist, see Little Johnny Jones 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.-Background:The...
. 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
Fay Templeton
Fay Templeton was an American stage actress.Her parents were actors/vaudevillians and she followed in their footsteps, making her Broadway debut in 1900. She continued to appear there until 1934...
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
I'd Rather Be Right
I'd Rather Be Right is a 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 Roosevelt...
, 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.
Song list
Act I- Musical Moon—Jerry Cohan and Nellie Grove
- Oh, You Wonderful Boy—Josie Cohan
- All Aboard for Broadway—George M. Cohan and Four Cohans
- Musical Comedy Man—Four Cohans and Full Company
- All Aboard for Broadway (Reprise) -- Four Cohans and Full Company
- I Was Born in Virginia—Ethel Levey
- Twentieth Century Love—Four Cohans and Ethel Levey
- My Town—George M. Cohan
- Billie—Agnes Nolan
- Push Me Along in My Pushcart—Ethel Levey and Pushcart Girls
- Ring to the Name of Rose—Josie Cohan and Bell Ringers
- Popularity—Willie and Full Company
- Give My Regards to BroadwayGive My Regards to Broadway"Give My Regards to Broadway" is a song written by George M. Cohan for his musical play Little Johnny Jones ....
-- George M. Cohan and Full Company
Act II
- Forty-five Minutes from Broadway—George M. Cohan and Rose
- So Long, Mary—George M. Cohan, Sam Harris, Rose, Freddie and Ma Templeton
- Down by the Erie—Secretary, Politicians, Little Girl in Templeton scene and Full Company
- Mary—Fay Templeteon
- All Our Friends—Sam Harris and Full Company
- Yankee Doodle DandyYankee Doodle DandyYankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owns Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp and Jeanne Cagney.The movie was written by...
-- George M. Cohan and Full Company - Nellie Kelly I Love You—George M. Cohan and Full Company
- HarriganHarrigan (song)"Harrigan" is a song written by George M. Cohan for the 1907 Broadway musical, Fifty Miles From Boston. It celebrates, and to some extent mocks, his own Irish heritage....
-- George M. Cohan and Full Company - Over ThereOver There"Over There" is a 1917 song popular with United States soldiers in both world wars.It was written by George M. Cohan during World War I. Notable early recordings include versions by Nora Bayes, Enrico Caruso, Billy Murray, and Charles King....
-- George M. Cohan and Full Company - You're a Grand Old FlagYou're a Grand Old Flag"You're a Grand Old Flag" is a patriotic song of the United States. The song, a spirited march written by George M. Cohan, is a tribute to the U.S. flag. In addition to obvious references to the flag, it incorporates snippets of other popular songs, including one of his own...
-- George M. Cohan and Full Company - The City—Full Company
- I'd Rather Be RightI'd Rather Be RightI'd Rather Be Right is a 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 Roosevelt...
-- George M. Cohan and Company - Give My Regards to BroadwayGive My Regards to Broadway"Give My Regards to Broadway" is a song written by George M. Cohan for his musical play Little Johnny Jones ....
(Reprise) -- George M. Cohan - Dancing Our Worries Away—Full Company
- The Great Easter Sunday Parade—Full Company
- Hannah's a Hummer—Full Company
- Barnum and Bailey Rag—Full Company
- The Belle of the Barber's Ball—Full Company
- The American Ragtime—Full Company
- All in the Wearing—Full Company
- I Want to Hear a Yankee Doodle Tune—Full Company
Characters and original cast
- George M. Cohan – Joel Grey
- Jerry Cohan (George's father) – Jerry Dodge
- Ethel Levey (George's first wife) – Jamie Donnelly
- Nellie Cohan (George's mother) – Betty Ann Grove
- Agnes Nolan (George's second wife) – Jill O'Hara
- Josie Cohan (George's sister) – Bernadette Peters
- Fay Templeton – Jacqueline Alloway
- Sam Harris (producer) – Harvey Evans
Awards and nominations
- Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
Winner for Best Choreography (Joe Layton) - Tony Award Nomination for Best Actor in a Musical (Joel Grey)
- Theatre World AwardTheatre World AwardThe Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
Winner (Bernadette Peters) - Emmy AwardEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
Nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy, Variety or Music (TV adaptation: Walter C. MillerWalter C. MillerWalter C. Miller is a television producer and director, whose works span from the mid 1960s until the present day. He has won numerous Emmy Awards throughout his career....
& Martin CharninMartin CharninMartin Charnin is an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director and lyricist of the hit musical Annie....
)