Show Synopsis
"THE GEORGE M. COHAN REVUE" IS COMING!"
Celebrate the life and times of the original "Yankee Doodle
Dandy." "THE GEORGE M. COHAN REVUE" is strutting into town!
And just in time for George's birthday--the Fourth of July!
The place to be, as the run begins, will be Danny's Skylight Room.
Conceived and directed by Chip Deffaa--perhaps the foremost living
authority on Cohan's work--this unprecedented revue will pack 40
Cohan songs into 75 fast-moving minutes. "You'll hear not just
the hits everyone loves, like 'Give My Regards to Broadway' and
'Mary's a Grand Old Name,' but some wonderful rediscoveries from
this master showman's pen--ragtime, hot time, stop time;
surprise-filled, syncopated music bursting with life!" Deffaa
promises. "And in tryouts we've also found that the patriotism
Cohan so famously expressed in classics like 'You're a Grand Old
Flag' and 'Over There' resonates strongly with post 9/11 audiences."
Portraying Cohan once again will be the dazzling Jon Peterson,
the British musical song-and-dance star. He came to the US to
play the emcee in the national tour of "Cabaret," then covered that role on
Broadway (and will reprise it this fall at the Westchester
Broadway Theater). Peterson played Cohan--to rave reviews--in
the Equity Showcase of Deffaa's 16-character, full-length book
musical, "George M. Cohan: In His Own Words." That musical is
just being published by Samuel French Inc., and Deffaa hopes to
bring it to off-Broadway eventually.
In the meantime, Deffaa has gathered the six key players from
the cast of that show to offer this Cohan revue for the summer.
Then Deffaa plans to bring his Cohan repertory company back for a
one-act family show about Cohan, then premiere a Cohan
one-man-show. "We're going to explore Cohan's life and work from
multiple angles," Deffaa says.
In his day, Cohan owned Broadway. A consummate entertainer,
songwriter, dancer, actor, and producer, he dominated American
theater in a way no other man before or since ever has. "He was
the founder of modern American musical comedy--which got its start
with Cohan's first Broadway hit, 'Little Johnny Jones,' 100
years ago. What better way to mark the centennial than with a
new Cohan revue?"
The author of eight books on music and pop culture, Deffaa, has
also been an entertainment critic for some 20 years. "In that
time period, I've never seen a revue of Cohan's songs. And he
was the first major songwriter of the 20th century--the first, prime
influrence on Irving Berlin. So I went through my personal
collection of hundreds of pieces of Cohan sheet music, and
created this tribute. We're presenting facets of Cohan never
displayed in 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' or 'George M!' It's just a
joy to hear this jaunty, all-American music! Peterson, with
his rare music-hall flair, was born to sing these songs. And Justin
Boccitto, who so buoyantly choreographed 'Cohan: In his Own Words,'
has some real treats in store."
This show, like most of Deffaa's works, also includes a few
engaging new songs written by Deffaa as well, to help
move the story along. "In one case, I've adapted part of a
charming melody Cohan wrote, for which he never got
around to writing words, and added lyrics--a posthumous
collaboration with one of my favorite writers. So a fragment of
melody he left us is now transformed into a song."
The show also features such pros of stage and screen as Hal
Blankenship, Joan Jaffe, Dawne Swearingen, and Catherine Remmert.
"The actors playing Cohan's family in this show --Hal Bankenship,
Joan Jaffe, Dawne Swearingen, Jon Peterson--have played their
characters for about two years now, in readings and performances,
and truly feel like a family," Deffaa says.
The revue is narrated by Michael Townsend Wright (who portrayed Walter
Winchell in the film "The Rat Pack" and Jake Lansky in "Lansky").
The musical accompanist (who'll also be heard as a singer) is the
esteemed Michael Lavine, whose close rapport with Peterson is
understandable; they've worked together on other shows, going
back some 10 years, in Peterson's natve England.
"Cohan's music makes any day feel like a holiday," Deffaa says.
"He was a one-of-a-kind talent--the first man in show business
ever awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor. Come celebrate the
Fourth of July with us, as we honor the man who owned Broadway.
His statue stands in Times Square. There's a fund-raising drive
on now to erect a second statue in his honor, in Great Neck,
where he once lived. Come see our show, and understand why!
He's due for a rediscovery. With our cycle of Cohan
shows, we're doing our bit to wave the flag for him."
A drive is currently underway (with the support of Cohan's granddaughters,
Mary Ronkin Ross and Penny Ronkin Lofoo) to raise funds to
commission a statue of Cohan on the Cohan Meadow parkland in
Great Neck, Long Island. (That waterfront property, now part of the
Great Neck parks system, was once part of Cohan's estate.) For more
information about that project, contact Neil D. Marrin at 516-487-7665.
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