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James Kirkwood

JAMES KIRKWOOD  (1930 - 1989)

 Nationality:    USA
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Born in Los Angeles, Ca in 1930. He has been on radio, done nightclub satire with Lee Goodman, acted for four years on TV's Valiant Lady, and performed in many plays. He is the author of: there Must Be a Pony! (novel, Little, Brown & Co., 1960; currently avon Books paperback); Good Times/Bad Times (novel, Simon & Schuster, 1968; currently Fawcett Paperback); American Grotesque (non-fiction account of Clay Shaw-Jim Garrison conspiracy trial in New Orleans, Simon & Schuster, 1970); P.S. Your Cat is Dead! (novel, Stein & Day, 1972; currently Warner's Paperback); Some Kind of Hero (novel, T.Y. Crowell & Co., 1975); Hit Me with a Rainbow (Delacorte, 1980). Screenplay: Some Kind of Hero, Paramount. Member, actors equity, SaG., A.F.T.R.A., P.e.N., Dramatists Guild. Re-cipient: New York Drama Critics award for a Chorus Line (co-author of book), 1975; Tony award, 1976, Best Musical Book; Pulitzer Prize, 1976, for Best Drama. Died of aIDS in 1989.

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

         Chorus Line, A         Legends!         Ps Your Cat Is Dead         Stage Struck         Surprise         there Must Be A Pony!         Utbu (Unhealthy To Be Unpleasant)

Chorus Line, A

Chorus Line, A
he seminal musical conceived, directed, and choreographed by Michael Bennett about a group of dancers auditioning for a Broadway show

Notes:
Book: James Kirkwood & Nicholas Dante; Music: Marvin Hamlisch; Lyrics: edward Kleban; Conceived By: Michael Bennett

1st Produced:
Joseph Papp Public Theatre, New York    15 Apr 1975

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Knopf, NY,    -

Music:
Original cast recording: Columbia (SK 65282) 1975

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:  large cast

Further Reference:
-

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Legends!

Synopsis:
producer with sure fire commercial script but no credibility has difficulty attracting stars to play in his putative Broadway production

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1987   -

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

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Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Ps Your Cat Is Dead

Synopsis:
Jimmy Zoole, a 38-year-old actor, who has recently been robbed twice, the second robbery relieving him of the only copy of his first novel, is merely at the beginning of his run of bad luck. By New Year's eve, the run escalates to a full gallop. He is fired from a play, his cat is on the critical list, and he catches his girl friend, Kate, packing to leave him. after she's gone, Jimmy, on the brink of a breakdown, discovers a burglar, Vito, hiding under his bed about to rip him off for the third time. Jimmy Zoole sets out to avenge himself and all of us for the perverse breaks in life. He knocks the burglar out, ties him to the kitchen sink and keeps him prisoner over New Year's. What happens when he does this is the upbeat story - by turns hilarious, shocking and moving - as these two disparate characters develop a most unusual friendship, interrupted by the return of Kate with her new boyfriend and later on by a trio of merrymakers who turn out to have more on their minds than just making merry. a darkly hued comedy, it deals with surviving and opening oneself up to friendship and new experiences.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Studio arena Theatre, Buffalo, NY    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French Inc New York, 1976   -

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. - - Gay, theme/character full length

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Stage Struck

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Written by James Kirkwood And Jim Piaza

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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Surprise

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
John Drew Theatre, NY    -

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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there Must Be A Pony!

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
six summer theatres (Westport, Ogonquit, etc.)    -

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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Utbu (Unhealthy To Be Unpleasant)

Synopsis:
a whacky organization dedicated to righting the world's ills by summary extermination of all the nasty people in it. the leader is a blind man, and his present target is an erstwhile actor whose 94-year-old mother won't give him the money to pro-duce the play in which he wants to make a come back, and whose demise he therefore intends to hasten with an assortment of Gothic tortures. the UTBU leader has an arsenal of two devices: a devastating cane that's hard on shins, and some detonations which he is inspired to use on stage mothers and other assorted villains, and which have caused him to be headlined as the mad bomber. at the climax, the head-on confrontation of the UTBU leader and the actor is capital com-edy. We regret to advise the next of kin of both that neither survives the unhealthy encounter.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Helen Hayes Theatre, NYC    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, 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:
Farce

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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