The Playwrights Database
MOSS HART
(1904 - 1961)Nationality: USA
email: n/a Website: n/a
Literary Agent: ICM Partners UK: Alan Brodie Representation
Moss Hart's plays including theatres, agent, synopses, cast sizes, production and published dates
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below is a list of Moss Hart's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
American Way, The As Thousands Cheer Christopher Blake Climate Of Eden, The Fabulous Invalid, The Face the Music George Washington Slept Here Inside USA Jubilee Lady In the Dark Light Up the Sky Man Who Came To Dinner, The Men At Work Merrily We Roll Along Once In A Lifetime Winged Victory You Can't Take It With YouAmerican Way, The
Synopsis:
In 1896, Martin Gunther, a German immigrant, sends for his wife and children so that they may enjoy the advantages of America. the play covers fifty years of their life as Americans. Martin, a cabinet maker, proves to be a man of such strong principles that he gives up a $1,000 order rather than refuse to fill a $1.25 order of a scorned suffragette friend. Later he urges his son Karl to fight against his own German kin in World War I. Martin's honesty and skill are rewarded by prosperous years, but he sacrifices all in 1933 trying to save his benefactor's bank. In 1939, his grandson, Karl, embittered by his inability to find a job, is about to join an fascist organization, when Martin intervenes. While pleading for a renewed faith in Democracy, he is struck down by the mob. Martin dies, as he has lived, an American, fighting for that which gives meaning and richness to life-Freedom.
Notes:
written by Moss Hart And George S. Kaufman
1st Produced:
Center Theatre, NY
1939
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1939
Music:
-
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Booksellers:
Genre:
2 act Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 24 Female: 20 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageAs Thousands Cheer
Topical review satirising stories in the newspapers from the society pages to the funnies and man bites dog
Notes:
by Moss Hart; Music And lyrics by Irving Berlin
1st Produced:
Music Box Theater, New York
39/1933
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
-
Music:
Studio cast recording: Varese (VSD - 5999) 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: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageChristopher Blake
Synopsis:
Shows, in between realistic scenes just before and during the judge's decision on the divorce of Mr. and Mrs. Blake, how their son Christopher reacts to the situation. In his dream scenes, he imagines himself an international hero, a great actor, etc. In the end Christopher, facing the realities of a hard situation, makes his decision, realizing that this is something no one else can do for him.
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Music Box Theatre, New York
30 Nov 1946
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,
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:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 12 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageClimate Of Eden, The
Synopsis:
a family of missionaries live in the jungles of British Guiana, where they have worked out an unconventional philosophy of life based on a practical compromise with civilization. Religion and morality are tempered with humor and tolerance. To this happy household comes Gregory Hawke, a young man who suffers from various complexes and neuroses. He joins the family, hoping that their simple way of life will cure him. He falls in love with one of the daughters and ultimately takes her with him after his recovery. His relations with the younger daughter, while helpful in enabling her to grow from childhood into adulthood, are more complex and revealing. the bald plot gives one no idea of the rich complexity of the situations nor of the charm and excitement of many of the scenes. the basis of the philosophy of the play is that genuine love and affection go far toward solving some of the problems of modern civilization.
Notes:
Based on edgar Mittelholzer's novel, Shadows Move Among them
1st Produced:
-
1952
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,
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:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 8 Female: 5 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageFabulous Invalid, The
Synopsis:
a series of romantic and comic episodes glorifying show business on Broadway
Notes:
written by Moss Hart And George S. Kaufman
1st Produced:
Broadhurst Theatre, NY
1938
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1938
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 Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: 75 parts
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageFace the Music
a desperate New York producer is trying to find backers for his latest venture.
Notes:
book by Irving Berlin And Moss Hart; music And lyrics by Irving Berlin
1st Produced:
New Amsterdam Theatre, New York
17 Feb 1932
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
-
Music:
New York Concert cast: DRG (94781) 2007
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:
-
Top of PageGeorge Washington Slept Here
Synopsis:
the story chronicles the trials and tribulations of Newton Fuller who craves-and gets-"a little place in the country to call his own." Newton and his wife, annabell, and their daughter, Madge, are hypnotized into taking over one of those windowless, waterless, almost roofless houses that dot the countryside. the ensuing troubles may be summed up by a search for water, a quarrel with a neighbor who owns not only the brook but the very road that leads from the highway to the house, the attempted elopement of the daughter with a summer-theatre actor, and the usual invasion of the weekend guests, including a prodigal uncle who is assumed to be rich but turns out to be just another bankrupt. It is discovered that the neighbor really doesn't own Newton's roadway, and that Newton's wife, who began by showing disgust over her husband's idiocy in wanting to live in the country, decides that he was right all along.
Notes:
written by Moss Hart And George S. Kaufman
1st Produced:
Lyceum Theatre, NY
1940
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1940
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: 9 Female: 8 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageInside USA
Sketch by Moss Hart - a maid unsettles the star of a Broadway production on opening night
Notes:
Music by Arthur Schwartz; Lyrics by Howard Dietz; Sketches by Arnold Auerbach, Moss Hart And Arnold B. Horwitt; Suggested by the book by John Gunther
1st Produced:
New Century Theatre, NY
34/1948
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
-
Music:
Original cast recording: Sepia (1056) 1948
To Buy This Play:
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Booksellers:
Genre:
revue Musical
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageJubilee
the Royal family of a small european country hear that a revolution is impending so abandon their country to pursue their own interests. the King dallies with party girl eva Standing. the Queen takes up with a former Olympic swimmer turned Hollywood actor. the Princess with an actor/playwright and the Prince with a singer. When it is discovered that there was no impending revolution the Royal family is forced back to their royal duties. However, they manage to incorporate their new found friends into their royal lives
Notes:
Music And lyrics by Cole Porter; book by Moss Hart
1st Produced:
Imperial Theatre, New York
12 Oct 1935
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:
-
Top of PageLady In the Dark
Fashion magazine editor, Liza elliott is insecure and undergoing psychoanalysis. She has dreams of being in the circus; a glamour dream and a wedding dream.
Notes:
Music by Kurt Weill; lyrics by Ira Gershwin; book by Moss Hart
1st Produced:
Alvin Theatre, New York
1941
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Random House 1941
Music:
Original cast recording: aeI (003) 1950
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:
-
Top of PageLight Up the Sky
Synopsis:
the comedy revolves around a group of New York theatre-folk who attend the opening of their new play in Boston. the lead actress, the backer, and several others, are in seventh heaven at the prospect of a tremendous success which they hope for in the work of a young unknown writer. Gathered in a hotel room, these people go through their paces with tremendous gusto and many exhibitions of temperament. the opening of the play, which is a very earnest and experimental work, is such as to lead the cast, director and backer to believe it a flop. Instantly they turn against themselves, the production, the author and savagely proceed in what looks like an attempt to destroy themselves and all their former hopes. It turns out, however, that in spite of the curious reception by the first night audience, the play has made a deep impression, and when news spreads that the reviews are on the whole favorable, the tables are turned. But the playwright who has suffered both from the enthusiasm and pessimism of his associates has decided that he is through with the theater, and he is captured by the backer only at the moment he is about to take a plane back home. He is persuaded to play ball with his associates, but he is so disgusted with the temperamental shenanigans of those who were presumably his friends that he turns on them and lays down the law to them.
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Royale Theatre, New York
18 Nov 1948
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,
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
Parts:
Male: 9 Female: 4 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageMan Who Came To Dinner, The
Synopsis:
Sheridan Whiteside, having dined at the home of the Stanleys, slips on their doorstep, breaking his hip. a tumultuous six weeks of confinement follow. the Stanley living room is monopolized by the irascible invalid; ex-convicts are invited to meals; and transAtlantic calls bring a $784 phone bill. the arrival of strange gifts from his friends further destroys domestic tranquility. It would take a stoical housewife to harbor penguins in her library, an octopus in her cellar, and 10,000 cockroaches in her kitchen. When Maggie, his secretary, falls in love with the reporter, Bert Jefferson, Whiteside summons a glamorous actress, Lorraine, to win the affections of the young man. Knowing the girl's charms, Maggie enlists the aid of a clever impersonator who, affecting the voice of Lord Bottomley, whom the actress hopes to marry, asks her by phone to return to him and be married. the ruse almost works, but Whiteside, becoming suspicious, finds that no calls have come through from London. In revenge, Lorraine suggests a three-week rewrite on a play of Bert's in which she feigns great interest. Lake Placid is to furnish the quiet for his inspiration, and she is to be his collaborator. the unexpected arrival of a mummy case, just as the relenting Whiteside is frantically seeking to get rid of Lorraine, furnishes a malicious idea. Tricking her into stepping into the case, he shuts the lid and blackmails his host into having the case carried to the airport, preparatory to a round-the-world cruise. Whiteside departs from the Stanley's home triumphantly, but a second later a crash is heard-he has again slipped and fallen!
Notes:
written by Moss Hart And George S. Kaufman
1st Produced:
Music Box Theatre
1939
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1939
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: 15 Female: 9 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageMen At Work
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
Written by Moss hart And George S Kaufman
1st Produced:
-
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Contained in: "Six Plays by Kaufman and Hart" published by the Modern Library 1942
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:
-
Top of PageMerrily We Roll Along
Synopsis:
Told in reverse order starting in 1934 and the opening night of playwright Richard Niles latest success and going back to 1916 and his college graduation. How he used his wife a famous actress to further his career. How he drove his best friend Julia to drink
Notes:
written by George S Kaufman And Moss Hart
1st Produced:
Music Box Theatre
29 Sep 1934
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, 1934
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 Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 35 Female: 22 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageOnce In A Lifetime
Synopsis:
Period 1920's, three down and out troupers go to Hollywood and try their luck with the newly invented 'talkies'
Notes:
written with George S Kaufman
1st Produced:
Music Box Theatre, NY
1930
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1930
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: 24 Female: 14 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageWinged Victory
a group of recruits going through pilot training in World War Two
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
44th Street Theatre, New York
20 Nov 1943
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Contained in: "the Best Plays of 1943 - 1944" published by Dodd Mead 1944
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:
-
Top of PageYou Can't Take It With You
Synopsis:
at first the Sycamores seem mad, but it is not long before we realize that if they are mad, the rest of the world is madder. In contrast to these delightful people are the unhappy Kirbys. the plot shows how Tony, attractive young son of the Kirbys, falls in love with Alice Sycamore and brings his parents to dine at the Sycamore home on the wrong evening. the shock sustained by the Kirbys, who are invited to eat cheap food, shows Alice that marriage with Tony is out of the question. the Sycamores, however, though sympathetic to alice, find it hard to realize her point of view. Meantime, Tony, who knows the Sycamores are right and his own people wrong, will not give her up, and in the end Mr. Kirby is converted to the happy madness of the Sycamores, particularly since he happens in during a visit by an ex-Grand Duchess, earning her living as a waitress. No mention has as yet been made of the strange activities of certain members of the household engaged in the manufacture of fireworks; nor of the printing press set up in the parlor; nor of Rheba the maid and her friend Donald; nor of Grandpa's interview with the tax collector when he tells him he doesn't believe in the income tax.
Notes:
written by Moss Hart And George S. Kaufman
1st Produced:
Booth Theatre, NY
1936
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1937
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: 9 Female: 7 Other: 3 men extras
Further Reference:
-
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