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Susan Birkenhead

SUSAN BIRKENHEAD

  
Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

Susan Birkenhead's plays including theatres, agent, synopses, cast sizes, production and published dates

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Research:    Member of the Dramatists Guild of America (as at 2015)

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

         Jelly's Last Jam         Love         Minsky's         Pieces Of Eight         Triumph Of Love         What About Luv?         Working
Jelly's Last Jam

Jelly's Last Jam
Based on the life of the jazz great, Jelly Roll Morton

Notes:
Music by Luther Henderson; Jelly Roll Morton; lyrics by Susan Birkenhead; book by George C Wolfe

1st Produced:
Virginia Theater, New York     26 Apr 1992

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Nick Hern Books, London,    

Music:
Original cast recording: Mercury (510846) 1992

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Love

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
by Jeffrey Sweet; Music by Howard Marren; lyrics by Susan Birkenhead

1st Produced:
Audrey Wood Theater, New York     1984

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
Studio cast recording: TeR (1171) 1989

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Minsky's

Synopsis:
Billy Minsky is struggling to keep his burlesque theatre open during the Depression. Politician Randolph Sumner wants to close it down. Billy meets and falls in love with Mary then he finds out she is the daughter of Sumner. He pretends that he is not Minsky but a political activist. He invites them to see a show at his theatre in the hopes of getting a compromising photo of Sumner. Which he succeeds in doing

Notes:
Music by Charles Strous; lyrics by Susan Birkenhead; book by Bob Martin. Based on the movie "The Night They Raided Minsky's" screenplay by Norman Lear; Sidney Michaels; Arnold Schulman

1st Produced:
-    

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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Pieces Of Eight

Synopsis:
Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum

Notes:
Music by Jule Styne; lyrics by Susan Birkenhead; book by Michael Stewart; book by Mark Bramble. Based on "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson

1st Produced:
Citadel Theatre, Edmonton     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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Triumph Of Love

Triumph Of Love
Princes Leonide, in disguise, arrives in the garden of the philosopher, Hermocrate. She has come to try and win some time in his retreat for she has fallen in love, from afar, with Hermocrate's student, agis, who is the "legitimate" prince of the realm over which Leonide rules. Knowing that Hermocrate is steadfastly against women joining the retreat (except for his sister, Leontine, who helps run the place), Leonide puts on the disguise of a man, calling herself Phocion, and brings along her servant Corine, under the alias Hermidas. Phocion proceeds to woo all the people at the retreat depending on what they figure out about her/him. Hermocrate sees through the disguise so Phocion convinces him she has fallen in love with him and until Hermocrate gives her some time to prove herself, she will not leave. When Phocion meets up with Leontine, who buys the disguise, Phocion persuades her he is in love with her so she will petition Hermocrate to let Phocion stay. all the while, the jester and gardener, who now know of the disguise, are being bought off by Leonide and wooed by Corine. all of this just so Leonide can find some time alone with agis. Once she corners agis, she first wins him over as a friend, then later reveals she is a woman. Since he has been taught to loathe love, and women as the object of love, he is at first resistant; but soon, attracted to Phocion, and he so very innocent, he is won over and falls in love. Now all the major players in the retreat prepare to marry Phocion (who by now calls herself by all different names). When they all meet in the courtyard, in wedding attire, Leonide not only reveals to Leontine that she is a woman, but reveals to all that she is the illegitimate ruler-so often feared and reviled-she is not hateful, loves agis, and wants to abdicate the crown to him. the two young lovers go off together, leaving the older philosopher and his sister stunned and silent.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Marivaux; Book by James Magruder; Music by Jeffrey Stock; Lyrics by Susan Birkenhead

1st Produced:
Royale Theater, New York     23 Oct 1997

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
Original cast recording: Jay (1315) 1998

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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What About Luv?

Synopsis:
Harry is about to throw himself off a bridge when he is saved by an old half-forgotten school friend - Milt. Milt wants to get married but his wife wont let him. So if Harry could seduce the wife Milt can get what he wants. . ..

Notes:
written by Howard Marren, Susan Birkenhead, Jeffrey Sweet. Original title "Love". Based on the play "Luv" by Murray Schisgal

1st Produced:
Holland Park, London     1992

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Working

Synopsis:
the cast of six actors portrays 36 ordinary Americans as they strive to transcend the everyday and to find significance in their jobs. WORKING is based on the 1974 bestseller Working: People Talk About What they Do All Day and How they Feel About What they Do by the noted oral historian and radio broadcaster Studs Terkel. 2012 is Terkel's centenary year.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
Book By: Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, with additional contributions by Gordon Greenberg; Music & Lyrics By: by Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Rodgers & Susan Birkenhead, Stephen Schwartz, and James Taylor

1st Produced:
46th Street Theatre     14 May 1978

Organisations:
Prospect Theater Company

1st Published:
the cast of six actors portrays 36 ordinary Americans as they strive to transcend the everyday and to find significance in their jobs. WORKING is based on the 1974 bestseller Working: People Talk About What they Do All Day and How they Feel About What they Do by the noted oral historian and radio broadcaster Studs Terkel. 2012 is Terkel's centenary year.   

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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