Written, arranged, and originally directed by Chip Deffaa
Published by Eldridge Plays
If you're looking for an intriguing, intimate Cohan show, Chip Deffaa's GeorgeM. Cohan & Co. may be just the show for you!
This popular work can be mounted with just two strong singing actors.
One actor portrays George M. Cohan, late in his career. The other portrays an inquisitive young interviewer, eager to get to know the man behind the mask.
There are terrific opportunities for song and dance (solo numbers, as well as duets). It's written as a two-man show; but the director can, if he wishes, add a handful of singing/dancing memory figures.
(These photos are taken from the Millbrook, Alabama, Community Players' recent production, directed by A. John Collier, and starring Dave Kelsen as George M. Cohan, and Kurt Geoppinger as his visitor/interviewer, Walter.)
GEORGE M. COHAN & CO. is published by Eldridge Plays (www.histage.com).
For information on purchasing copies of the script or licensing the play, go to:
The running-time for this musical play (including intermission) is one hour and forty-five minutes. A demo recording is available.
Historic background... GEORGE M. COHAN & CO. is based on actual occurrences....
Theater program for "I'd Rather Be Right," starring George M. Cohan
In 1937-38, Cohan enjoyed a tremendous success on Broadway in I'd Rather Be Right. While doing the show he received a request from an admiring young drama instructor at Catholic University, Walter Kerr, to meet with him; Kerr wanted to write and direct a play about Cohan. Cohan gave Kerr's project his full support; he said he simply had a good instinct about young Kerr--who would grow up to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning theater critic.
Jon Peterson as George M. Cohan, in the original New York production.
Reviewers have noted...
Jon Peterson (photo by Maryann Lopinto)
“Jonny Peterson wowed the crowd with 'You're a Grand Old Flag’--complete with the rarely heard, wonderfully syncopated original patter, giving the famous refrains heightened impact.... Cohan really had something. He wrote numbers that were brilliant theatrical tour-de-forces, numbers any actor would want to sink his teeth into because they are so big, so engaging,and so irresistibly rhythmic. Peterson sure has the feel for
those showmanly songs, and the fireworks go off. He roused the crowd to great enthusiasm.... A sensational portrayal.... The most affecting two-man show I've seen in years. It was something more than a collection of songs. It had a lot to say about life and aging, and show business.”
--Rob Adams, StageSpace.com
Jon Peterson
"[Jon Peterson has] an enjoyable stage presence, enthusiastic voice, and excellent command of the stiff-legged style of dancing Cohan was famous for. These attributes, along with Peterson's ability to spin a good yarn or two (or seven), helped make for an enjoyable evening. The play is set backstage at I'd Rather Be Right, George M.'s last Broadway show, circa 1938. Cohan has granted an audience to a young man named Walter (Dave Warren),who wants to write a musical about Cohan's life for his school.
Cohan at first grants a perfunctory interview, but bit by bit begins to warm to Walter, as he regales him, and the audience,with tales from life on the various vaudeville circuits to... his days of theatrical stardom.
The real highlight of the evening is the wonderful Cohan tunes sung by Peterson, such as 'Give My Regards to Broadway' 'Yankee Doodle Boy,' 'You're a Grand Old Flag,' and 'Harrigan,' among many others. The audience was also treated to the little-known second and third verses of some of these songs, as well as the dialog and patter that Cohan included in the tunes. For all his fame and impact on the theatre world,there have been precious few stage works about Cohan.... [George M. Cohan & Co.]is an enjoyable addition to the Cohan pantheon."
--Judd Hollander, The Off-Off-Broadway Review (OOBR.com)
George M. Cohan, late 1930s
The score includes rollicking ragtime numbers like "Belle of the Barber's Ball," "My Honey Babe," and "The American Ragtime," along with a haunting, little-known Cohan ballad "Won't You Come Back to Me?" As Brett Kristofferson--who was this show's original music director--noted, just performing these numbers makes you feel good.
Dave Warren, who played young Walter Kerr in our original New York production, with pianist Sterling Price-McKinney
GEORGE M. COHAN & CO. was written for two singing actors--and that is the way it was originally presented in New York.
But a director may, if he wishes, add a handful of other singers, who appear as memory figures in this musical play--as in these photos from a 2010 production by the Millville, Alabama, Community Players. The cast starred Dave Kelsen as George M. Cohan and Kurt Geoppinger as Walter.
The cast also included Daniel Harms as young George; Melanie Mulcahey as his sister,Josie; Augie Mitchell as George's mother, Nellie; Roger Humber as George's father, Jerry; and Teresa Young as Ethel Levy.
The ensemble, from the Millbrook Community Players' production of "George M. Cohan & Co."
When you decide to license a production of GEORGE M. COHAN & CO., be sure to ask the publishers, Eldridge Plays (www.histage.com), about available support materials, such as demo recordings, graphics and artwork for advertising, custom-made posters and tee-shirts. The publishers can help provide you with everything you need to make your production a success.
To license GEORGE M. COHAN & CO., contact THE ELDRIDGE PUBLISHING CO., INC.:
GEORGE M. COHAN & CO.is written as a two-character, two-act musical play (with an option of adding some additional memory figures). It is a tad darker and more reflective than the other shows about Cohan that Deffaa has written. Based on true events, this intimate musical depicts an aging Cohan’s encounter with a young interviewer who wants to write a play about him. Classic Cohan songs like “Mary’s a Grand Old Name,” “Harrigan,” “Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway,” and “Nellie Kellie I Love You,” are intermixed with fascinating Ragtime Era rediscoveries, including "I Guess I'll Have to Telegraph My Baby," and "Down by the Erie." By the play’s end, the older Cohan has let his persistent interviewer see a bit of the real man behind the jaunty public persona.
These photos are from the Millbrook, Alabama, Community Players' 2010 production of Chip Deffaa's GEORGE M. COHAN & CO., directed by A. John Collier and starring Dave Kelsen as Cohan and Kurt Geoppinger as Walter. (Photos courtesy of the Millbrook Community Players.)
The cast also featured Daniel Harms, Melanie Mulcahey, Angie Mitchell, and Roger Humber.
To license GEORGE M. COHAN & CO., contact THE ELDRIDGE PUBLISHING CO., INC.:
