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Jim Bernhard

JIM BERNHARD

  
Nationality:    USA
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    n/a

Jim Bernhard is the author of 14 produced Dramatic works, five of them musicals. With composer Ned Battista, he wrote Sir Jack, based on Shakespeare's Falstaff, which was produced at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston in 1971 and subsequently broadcast on Houston PBS television. Scrooge, with music by Mark Holden, has been produced by Theatre Under the Stars at Houston's Music Hall, Austin's Performing Arts Center, and Houston Arena Theatre in 1978, 1981, 1982, and 1999. With Battista and composer Don elam, Bernhard is the author of Ninfa!, a biographical musical at Miller Outdoor Theatre in 1982. With Alan Taylor, he co-authored the book for emergency Room, produced at the Tower Theatre in Houston in 1983, and he wrote book and lyrics for Zorro: the Musical, produced by Theatre Under the Stars in 1998 at Wortham Theater Center in Houston. His Dramas and comedies have been produced at Dean Goss Dinner Theatre, Playwrights Showcase, Curtains Theatre, Pasadena Little Theatre, and the Country Playhouse. also an actor, Bernhard has appeared in the United States, Canada, england and Germany in a variety of Shakespearean, contemporary, and musical roles. Bernhard is a crossword puzzle constructor, whose puzzles have appeared in the New York Times and other publications.

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below is a list of Jim Bernhard's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Associates         Author! Author!         Deadlock         Emergency Room         In Sickness And In Sickness         Maestri, The         Ninfa!         Not In Mixed Company         One Of the Family         Renaissance Voices         Reunion         Rigged For Murder         Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Alive And Well And Doing. Two Shows A Night In Blackpool         Scrooge         Sir Jack         Without A Clue         Zorro: the Musical

Associates

Synopsis:
George, visiting with John in his living room, discloses that he desperately needs a place to stay after a bizarre series of incidents that have left him puzzled and frightened. John offers him a position as an "associate" in his organization and subjects him to a strange application process. a number of psychological epiphanies lead to a climax that is extremely unsettling to George.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     1969

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Author! Author!

Synopsis:
Henry, president of a small, conservative New england liberal Arts college, is also the author (under a pseudonym) of sensational and sexually explicit best-selling novels. His wife, Ruth, tolerates his deception but thinks he ought to tell the truth. Bradley, a New York gossip columnist has learned his identity from Henry's publisher and arrives to interview Henry for an expose. Panicked, Henry tries various means to throw the columnist off the trail; but meanwhile Henry's daughter, Kay, falls for Bradley. an eccentric literature professor seeking Henry's help in publishing his poems, the strait-laced chairman of the college's board, and the arrival of Henry's tipsy publisher complicate matters.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Houston, Dean Goss Dinner Theatre     1979

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
3 act Comedy

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Deadlock

Synopsis:
Russell, a once-rich oil heir, is found murdered on a disused oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. It is rumored that he has a large sum of money hidden on the oil rig. Suspects include his handyman, Peewee; his housekeeper, Cassie; his girlfriend; Lenore; two visiting journalists, ed and Kim, a married couple; and Dudley, a hotshot helicopter pilot. the action takes place in reverse chronological order.

Notes:
Written under the name Herman J. Bird, with Eddie Cope

1st Produced:
Houston, Country Playhouse     1988

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
2 act Mystery

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Emergency Room

Emergency Room
the chaotic parade of patients, some tragic, some hilarious, in an urban hospital emergency room presided over by a fatuous administrator, Mr. Chumley, takes its toll on the resident doctors, Andy and Julie.

Notes:
Wriiten by Jim Bernhard; Book co-authored with Alan C. Taylor, And with music And lyrics by Alan C. Taylor

1st Produced:
Houston, Tower Theatre     1983

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
Studio cast recording: Tubo (TD 101-2) 1994

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
2 act Musical

Parts:
Male:  11            Female:  7            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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In Sickness And In Sickness

Synopsis:
a patient lies immobile in a hospital bed, attached to tubes and machines, while his wife, son, mistress, boss, priest, doctor, and nurse squabble over him.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Houston, Playwrights Showcase     1971

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Maestri, The

Synopsis:
a noted conductor troubled by professional burnout is visited by a mysterious young virtuosa.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Houston, Playwrights Showcase     1972

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Ninfa!

Synopsis:
the rise and fall and rise of an indomitable Mexican-American widow with five children who overcomes many adversities to establish a successful chain of restaurants.

Notes:
Wriiten by Jim Bernhard; Book co-authored with Frank M. Young, music by Ned Battista And Don elam

1st Produced:
Houston, Miller Outdoor Theatre, Theatre Under The Stars     1982

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
2 act Musical

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  4            Other:  chorus

Further Reference:
-

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Not In Mixed Company

Synopsis:
a couple getting a divorce get together with their new flames (a tennis pro and a cheerleader), joined by a lawyer and a psychiatrist, to sort out the terms of the divorce. In the course of a party, the couples re-combine.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Houston, Dean Goss Dinner Theatre     1985

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
2 act Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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One Of the Family

Synopsis:
a long-married couple with a missing son take in a young woman as a boarder, with disastrous consequences.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Houston, Playwrights Showcase     1970

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Two-act comedy/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Renaissance Voices

Synopsis:
a lively and disputatious exchange among Thomas aquinas, Thomas a Kempis, Henry VIII, Thomas More, Geoffrey Chaucer, Niccolo Machiavelli, Martin Luther, Joan of arc, the Wife of Bath, and others.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York, Christ Church Methodist Church     1979

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Two-act philosophical colloquy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Reunion

Synopsis:
an American architect and his wife are visited by an old english university classmate of the architect; the classmate proposes that the two men change places in life.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Houston, Playwrights Showcase     1972

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Two-act comedy/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Rigged For Murder

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Rewritten version of Deadlock, Written by Jim Bernhard under the name Herman J. Bird, with Eddie Cope

1st Produced:
Houston, Curtains Theatre     1993

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Alive And Well And Doing. Two Shows A Night In Blackpool

Synopsis:
Hamlet's two chums are working as vaudevillians in england, when they are visited by a stranger who wants to hire them to remove the last member of the Fortinbras family from the Danish throne.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Houston, Playwrights Showcase     1969

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Scrooge

Synopsis:
a re-telling of Dickens' a Christmas Carol, with a jive-talking, jazz-singing, tap-dancing Ghost.

Notes:
Music by Mark Holden

1st Produced:
Houston, Music Hall, Theatre Under The Stars     1978

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
2 act Musical

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  4            Other:  chorus

Further Reference:
-

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Sir Jack

Synopsis:
the outrageous antics and tragic fall from royal favor of the old reprobate Sir John Falstaff, drawn from Shakespeare's Henry IV Parts 1 and 2.

Notes:
Music by Ned Battista

1st Produced:
Houston, Miller Outdoor Theatre, Theatre Under The Stars     1972

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
2 act Musical

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Without A Clue

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Rewritten version of Author! Author!, Written by Jim Bernhard under the name Herman J. Bird, with Eddie Cope

1st Produced:
Pasadena, Texas, Pasadena Little Theatre     1996

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
2002, I. e. Clark, Schulenburg, Texas   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Zorro: the Musical

Synopsis:
the legendary hero of Spanish California defeats the villains and wins the girl.

Notes:
Based on the Curse of Capistrano by Johnston McCauley, written with Frank M. Young, with music by Randy Rogel And various composers

1st Produced:
Houston, 1998, Wortham Theatre Center, Theatre Under The Stars     1998

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  4            Other:  chorus

Further Reference:
-

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