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A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE
Full-Length Play, Comedy / 14w, 24m
Moss Hart, George S. Kaufman
A down-on-their-luck vaudeville troupe decide to make their fortune by going to Hollywood. The only problem is: they don’t know what they’re going to do out there.
It’s winter of 1928 and the biggest news in entertainment is the whopping success of Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer, the first all-talking picture. So, a down-on-their-luck vaudeville troupe – the acerbic May Daniels, the fast-talking Jerry Hyland and their slightly dopey cohort George Lewis – decide to make their fortune by going Hollywood. The only problem is: they don’t know what they’re going to do out there. That’s all right though: no one knows anything in Hollywood either.
The trio pretends to be a team of skilled vocal coaches and, with the help of gossip columnist Helen Hobart, they find themselves working for Herman Glogauer, the volatile producer behind Glogauer Pictures. Glogauer makes George the head of production, and George obliges him by making the worst picture ever made. Even this pointed, sharp satire has a Hollywood ending, though. Success comes to those who have no idea how to get it.
Once in a Lifetime opened on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre on 24 September 1930 and ran for 305 performances. It was produced by Sam H. Harris.
GEORGE LEWISMARY DANIELSJERRY HYLANDTHE PORTERHELEN HOBARTSUSAN WALKERCIGARETTE GIRLCOAT CHECK GIRLPHYLLIS FONTAINEFONTAINE MAIDFONTAINE CHAUFFEURFLORABEL LEIGHLEIGH MAIDLEIGH CHAUFFEURBELLBOYMRS. WALKERERNESTHERMAN GLOGAUERMISS LEIGHTONLAWRENCE VAILWEISSKOPFMEYERSTEINFIRST PAGESECOND PAGESCENARIO WRITERS (3)RUDOLPH KAMMERLINGELECTRICIANS (2)VOICE PUPILMR. FLICKMISS CHASENFIRST CAMERAMANTHE BISHOPSIXTH BRIDESMAIDSCRIPT GIRLGEORGE’S SECRETARY
Doubling is essential for this large cast play, which contains a wide range of eccentric comic types.
A living-room, an hotel room, a reception room, a film set, a Pullman car. Hollywood.
“A lovely play...Gracefully insane.” – New York Post
““Nobody knows anything,” was William Goldman’s acerbic comment on the movie industry. And that was the conclusion reached by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman in this 1930 satire on Hollywood: a play which still has a certain period charm and a vindictive wit.” – The Guardian
“Ideal summer theatre with comic climaxes that distinguish the humor of the 30s...Grand chains of lunacy.” – The New York Times
Moss Hart (1904-1961) began his career as a playwright, director and producer in 1930 when, with George S. Kaufman, he wrote Once in a Lifetime. Subsequent Kaufman and Hart successes include Merrily We Roll Along, You Can't Take It With You and The Man Who Came To Dinner, amo ...
George S. Kaufman was born in Pittsburgh in 1889. During his early career as a reporter and drama critic , he began to write for the theatre. For 40 years, beginning in 1921 with the production of Dulcy, there was rarely a year without a Kaufman play — usually written in coll ...