George Francis Abbott was born on June 25, 1887 in Forestville, New York. He was born to an alcoholic father and a mother who “[scorned] pretense in any form” (Folkart). After his father’s business failed, they all moved to Wyoming, where young George worked as a cowboy on nearby ranches in order to help with income. Another business failure sent George and his family to Hamburg, New York. Here, George became the captain of the high school football team, as well as the best actor on campus. He worked in a steel mill and later as a delivery boy for Western Union during his summers. After high school, he went on to the University of Rochester to become a journalist. As Folkart puts it, “that plan soon gave way to drama.” Perfectly Harmless – his first play – was produced by the university’s dramatic club. After graduating from Rochester in 1911, he continued to study playwriting at Harvard with Professor George Pierce Baker for an additional year. In 1913, as Abbott reached his mid-twenties, he was cast as the drunken college boy in The Misleading Lady on Broadway. This began an acting career that lasted through the 1920s.
Also in the ‘20s, Abbott began working as a playwright and director. The Fall Guy is the name of the first play that Abbott received authorial credit for in 1925 while working for producer John Golden. He then co-wrote and directed Broadway and Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em, and directed Chicago and Cowboy Crazy the following year. Things changed in 1932, when Abbott produced the play 20th Century with Philip Dunning; the writing and producing of this play signaled an important change in Abbott’s writing: a move from melodramas to farces.
Abbott’s shift to the farce genre is what made him so unique. He went on to write,...
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...ars old. There is no doubt that he left his mark on American theatre, and that through his “industrious and extensive career,” he showed everyone that “entertainment values overshadowed artistic virtue” (Stoner-Hawkins, 1, 9).
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Just as actors are famous in America today, they were also famous in America’s 1880s. Back then movies and online videos did not exist, instead dramas and stage play occupied the American’s leisure time; well to do Americans that is. Everyone who knew anything about theater knew John Wilkes Booth. Born to actor parents, the stage’s spotlight became natural for John who debuted on stage at a young age. Now, in his thirties, people see a handsome, eloquent celebrity capable of delivering any line. Unfortunately, they don’t notice his didactic confederate sympathy or bubbling rage.
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George Gershwin was arguably the greatest influence on 20th century music. Gershwin’s music was composed of both popular and classical musical genres, but his most popular refrains are extensively known. Gershwin’s work have been used and heard in many movies, plays including Broadway, and fit for television. George Gershwin today remains one of the greatest and most influential musical composers and pianists of all time.
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Hugh Wheeler was one of the most unique playwrights of all time. He was innovative in his storytelling skills and could challenge the most prolific writer. In his life, he wrote numerous plays and over 30 mystery novels under three different pseudonyms. However, his award winning works included the play Sweeney Todd, Candide, and A Little Night Music. Take a look at Wheeler’s life and also, look at each of these works. See inside the man and the brilliant playwright.
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George Gershwin was one of America's most well-known composers and respected pianists that introduced the sounds of Broadway and Hollywood together. He coordinated the elements of classical music style and the robust sounds of American jazz; Gershwin created a musical style that made the music of jazz acceptable to the classical listeners, and brought in American music into the mix. “Gershwin wrote mainly for the Broadway musical theatre.” He blended, in different variations, techniques and forms of classical music with the stylistic hints and techniques of popular music and jazz.
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