The Playwrights Database
JEROME KASS
(1937 - )Nationality: USA
email: n/a Website: n/a
Literary Agent: Richland, Wunsch, Hohman
Born in Chicago, IL on April 21, 1937, raised in New York City. B.A. and M.A. from N.Y.U., doc-toral work at Brandeis University. Taught in the English Departments of Brandeis, Queens Col-lege. For the past several years, he has written mostly for TV and films: Young Marrieds at Play (for Hollywood Television Theatre); a Brand New Life (aBC Movie of the Week); Queen of the Star-dust Ballroom (CBS Special); My Old Man (CBS). Recipient: Winner of Writer's Guild award, Best Original Teleplay 1975, for Queen of the Stardust Ballroom; emmy nominee, 1975; Tony nominee, 1978.
address (in 1981) : 2023 Greenfield avenue, Los Angeles, Ca 90025
agent (in 1981) : Bill Robinson, Robinson & assoc., 132 South Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, Ca 90210 (213) 275-6114
Research: Member of the Dramatists Guild of America (as at 2015)
Buy Plays with Doollee
Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.AbeBooks.co.uk AbeBooks.com Stageplays.com amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.
download WORD submission template
below is a list of Jerome Kass's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Ballroom Eulogy Of Jacob Herman Garfinkle, The Liberation Make Like A Dog Miracle Of the Magazine Men, The Princess Rebecca Birnmaum Resurrection Of Bernard Mandlebaum, The Saturday Night Suburban Tragedy Young Marrieds At PlayBallroom
Bea has been widowed for a year. Her friend angie insists she should go out and takes her to the Stardust. Bea had been expecting a disco - but the Stardust is a ballroom. She meets mailman al and they get along well together - but Bea refuses to go back home with him. Love grows between the two and despite her children and sister-in-law trying to prevent it she carries on seeing al. One night he tells that he is married - he does not love his wife - but he will never leave her. and it is this night that her family have all gathered to try to get Bea to stop seeing al and going to the ballroom. Bea throws them out. She much prefers her new life - and even sharing al is better than nothing
Notes:
by Jerome Kass; Music by Billy Goldenberg; lyrics by Alan And Marlyn Bergman
1st Produced:
Majestic Theater, New York 28838
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
Original cast recording: Sony (35762) 1979
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 PageEulogy Of Jacob Herman Garfinkle, The
Synopsis:
Jacob's wife has died and Jacob has locked himself in his apartment, waiting to join her in death. His two old friends, Oscar, the intellectual and spiritualist, and Izzie, the sensualist, force their way into the apartment and use every means possible to bring Jacob back to life. In the end, the three old men decide to move in together and spend the rest of their lives as roommates.
Notes:
-
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:
Play One act
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageLiberation
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
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:
-
Top of PageMake Like A Dog
Synopsis:
To relieve the tedium of their childless, suburban existence, elvira suggests that Stanley should have a hobby-but what he wants is a dog, and this elvira will not allow in their spotless, dust-free house. But, to humor him, she agrees to make-believe that she is a dog-and he its master-barking and rolling over as directed. then Stanley takes his turn, and the game begins to be more farcical and yet, at the same time, rather menacing and even cruel. Behind their antic behavior there are hints of resentments and frustrations, and the threat of ugliness and disorder should the game get out of hand. So it is abandoned, somewhat sheepishly, and Stanley and elvira retreat to their former, more normal behavior, where boredom leads only to talk, rather than the disquieting risks that action can bring.
Notes:
produced under the omnIbus title Monopoly
1st Produced:
The Establishment Theatre Co. At Stage 73; -
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 One act
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageMiracle Of the Magazine Men, The
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
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:
-
Top of PagePrincess Rebecca Birnmaum
Synopsis:
In the living room of the Birnbaum's Bronx apartment, Rebecca's mother, her married sister and her piano teacher wait eagerly for Rebecca's appearance in the dress she has chosen for her first prom. When she whirls in they are distressed to find that she has picked an ultra-simple white frock, which may complement her natural, fresh charm but, in their view, does nothing to "gild the lily." First they suggest a little make-up here and there-which leads to mascara, false eyelashes and a total obliteration of Rebecca's girlish complexion. then a few other touches are pressed on the reluctant girl; a bright colored sash, a bunch of artificial flowers, a high fashion red wig to cover her "too plain," carefully combed hairdo. the final touch is her mother's mink stole, and then Rebecca turns nervously to greet her escort, transformed into her well-meaning family's idea of a young girl of taste and status. But her boyfriend has also gone through the same ordeal. Whereas he too had agreed that simplicity was to be the keynote, he turns up with a pink tuxedo jacket, a plaid cummerbund, patent leather shoes and a bunch of red roses sprayed white for the occasion.
Notes:
produced under the omnIbus title Monopoly
1st Produced:
The Establishment Theatre Co. At Stage 73; -
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 One act
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 4 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageResurrection Of Bernard Mandlebaum, The
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
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:
-
Top of PageSaturday Night
Synopsis:
Two lonely women, leading dull and uneventful lives, spend Saturday nights together spinning poetic and erotic fantasies. they are often so carried away that they can no longer distinguish reality from fantasy. On the Saturday night of the play, one of the women, Rochelle Harris, is forced to confront the tragic reality of her life when certain very real events in-terrupt her night of fantasy.
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Sheridan Square Playhouse, NYC -
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:
Drama, full length
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageSuburban Tragedy
Synopsis:
Bored with the routine of suburban housekeeping, Mrs. Goldman has taken a summer english course-and has fallen in love with her instructor, Mr. Stein, a soft-spoken, highly intelligent young man who has opened her eyes to the joy of learning. after the final exam, Mrs. Goldman and Mr. Stein at last have a moment alone and, overcoming her reserve, Mrs. Goldman draws him into a conversation that becomes increasingly personal and impassioned, as Mrs. Goldman confesses her loneliness, her sense of futility, and the desires which Mr. Stein has aroused within her. Touched, but reluctant to encourage her, Mr. Stein does however admit that his own life has not been without problems. But while their mutual unhappiness is real to both of them it does not, and cannot, draw them together-and they part with the bittersweet knowledge that their differences are too great to be reconciled in a clandestine affair.
Notes:
produced under the omnIbus title Monopoly
1st Produced:
The Establishment Theatre Co. At Stage 73; -
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 One act
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageYoung Marrieds At Play
Synopsis:
Joe and adam, two boyhood friends who grew up together in the slums, meet by chance and decide to get together, with their wives, for a social evening. But the pleasant memories of old times are soon submerged in the differences which the years have brought. Joe is now a teacher, married to a rich wife who also teaches, and drawn to drinking more than he should. adam, still a rough diamond, and given to remarks which are offensive to Joe's wife, works in his father-in-law's furniture store, and vents his frustrations on his inane, but long-suffering wife, ava. their evening of Monopoly turns into a trial for all as the game becomes a source of selfish triumph for the loutish adam, and his wife's attempts to make him behave trigger off outbursts of invective and even physical violence. But the strains that underlie the marriage of Joe and Ruth are also felt-in Joe's drinking, in Ruth's snide patronizing of her husband's friend, and in the discomfort they experience in living amidst the luxury provided by her father's money. as the evening progresses the antagonisms and near-hatreds that assail both marriages surge forward with increasing Dramatic thrust, subsiding, as the couples part, to a kind of armed truce-troubled, uncertain, and fraught with peril for the future.
Notes:
produced under the omnIbus title Monopoly
1st Produced:
The Establishment Theatre Co. At Stage 73; -
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 One act
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page