A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Once in a Lifetime

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  19w, 20m

"Ideal summer theatre with comic climaxes that distinguish the humor of the 30s...Grand chains of lunacy." - The New York Times

"A lovely play...Gracefully insane." - New York Post

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    19w, 20m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Parody / Spoof, Romantic Comedy
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for all audiences

Details

Summary

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. A down-at-heels vaudeville troupe — the ascerbic 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: no one knows anything in Hollywood either. The trio pretends to be a team of skilled vocal coaches and, with the help of Lotusland’s greatest 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.  Yet, even this comedic satire has a Hollywood ending: George makes the studio a success despite himself and finds the girl of his dreams, while May and Jerry fall into each other’s arms. Fade-out: The End.

History

Once in a Lifetime opened at the Music Box Theatre on September 24, 1930 and ran for 305 performances. It was produced by Sam H. Harris.

20 men, 19 women, plus extras.  Please request a reduced casting scheme. Doubling essential. Wide range of eccentric comic types.

  • Time Period 1920s
  • Features Elaborate / High Volume Costumes, Period Costumes
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • No Special Cautions

Media

"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.
London Guardian

"Ideal summer theatre with comic climaxes that distinguish the humor of the 30s...Grand chains of lunacy."  —The New York Times

"A lovely play...Gracefully insane."
New York Post

 

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $130 per performance

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Authors

Moss Hart

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 ...

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George S. Kaufman

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 ...

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