Once in a Lifetime (play)
Encyclopedia
Once in a Lifetime is a play by Moss Hart
and George S. Kaufman
, the first of eight on which they collaborated in the 1930s.
comedy
focuses on the effect talking pictures
have on the entertainment industry. When the New York City vaudeville
an team of Jerry Hyland, May Daniels, and George Lewis find themselves in a faltering vaudeville act, they decide to head west and present themselves as elocution
experts in the hope someone will hire them to train actors unaccustomed to speaking on screen. On the train they meet gossip columnist Helen Hobart, who introduces them to megalomania
c film mogul Herman Glogauer when they arrive in Hollywood.
The trio's misadventures include encounters with Lawrence Vail, a New York City
playwright driven to distraction and eventually a sanatorium
by studio bureaucracy
and a lack of work to keep him busy; silent screen
beauties Phyllis Fontaine and Florabel Leigh, whose voices sound like nails on a blackboard; two pages in 18th century dress who periodically arrive carrying placards with announcements about Glogauer's latest doings; a ditzy receptionist who wears an evening gown to work; and aspiring actress (and proverbial dumb blonde
) Susan Walker and her chaperoning stage mother
.
Dimwitted George becomes a director who shoots the wrong script, forgets to turn on the soundstage lights, and audibly cracks nuts during filming, yet his movie is called a masterpiece and he's declared a genius by trend-conscious journalists who believe he's ahead of his time.
production, directed by Kaufman, opened at the Music Box Theatre
on September 24, 1930 and ran for 406 performances. The cast included Grant Mills as Jerry Hyland, Jean Dixon
as May Daniels, Hugh O'Connell as George Lewis, Spring Byington
as Helen Hobart, Charles Halton
as Herman Glogauer, Janet Currie as Phyllis Fontaine, Eugenie Frontai as Florabel Leigh, Sally Phipps
as Susan Walker, and Kaufman as Lawrence Vail, a role Moss Hart essayed later in the run.
A Broadway revival directed by Tom Moore
opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre
on June 15, 1978 following 21 previews and ran for 85 performances. The cast included John Lithgow
as George Lewis, Deborah May
as May Daniels, Treat Williams
as Jerry Hyland, Jayne Meadows
as Helen Hobart, George S. Irving
as Herman Glogauer, Lee Meredith
as Florabel Leigh, Julia Duffy
as Susan Walker, Michael Jeter
as one of the pages, and Max Wright
, who won the Theatre World Award
for his portrayal of Lawrence Vail.
In 1979, Trevor Nunn
directed a Royal Shakespeare Company
production at the Aldwych Theatre
in London, with a cast that included David Suchet
, Richard Griffiths
, Zoë Wanamaker
, Peter McEnery
, Ian Charleson
, Juliet Stevenson
, and David Bradley
. Gillian Lynne
notably staged the elaborate John Napier
scene changes and an unforgettable fifteen minute tap-dancing finale. Nunn was nominated for an Olivier Award for his direction.
A London
production directed by Edward Hall
opened at the Royal National Theatre
on December 5, 2005 and ran until March 11, 2006. It featured David Suchet
as Herman Glogauer, Adrian Scarborough
as George Lewis, and Victoria Hamilton
as May Daniels.
in 1932, starring Jack Oakie
, Sidney Fox
, Louise Fazenda
, Aline MacMahon
, and Zasu Pitts
.
Moss Hart
Moss Hart was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway.-Early years:...
and George S. Kaufman
George S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals, notably for the Marx Brothers...
, the first of eight on which they collaborated in the 1930s.
Plot
The satiricalSatire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
focuses on the effect talking pictures
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
have on the entertainment industry. When the New York City vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
an team of Jerry Hyland, May Daniels, and George Lewis find themselves in a faltering vaudeville act, they decide to head west and present themselves as elocution
Elocution
Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone.-History:In Western classical rhetoric, elocution was one of the five core disciplines of pronunciation, which was the art of delivering speeches. Orators were trained not only on proper diction, but on the proper...
experts in the hope someone will hire them to train actors unaccustomed to speaking on screen. On the train they meet gossip columnist Helen Hobart, who introduces them to megalomania
Megalomania
Megalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...
c film mogul Herman Glogauer when they arrive in Hollywood.
The trio's misadventures include encounters with Lawrence Vail, a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
playwright driven to distraction and eventually a sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
by studio bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
and a lack of work to keep him busy; silent screen
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
beauties Phyllis Fontaine and Florabel Leigh, whose voices sound like nails on a blackboard; two pages in 18th century dress who periodically arrive carrying placards with announcements about Glogauer's latest doings; a ditzy receptionist who wears an evening gown to work; and aspiring actress (and proverbial dumb blonde
Dumb blonde
The blonde stereotype, the stereotypical perception of blond-haired women, has two aspects. On one hand, over the history, blonde hair in women has been considered attractive and desirable...
) Susan Walker and her chaperoning stage mother
Stage mother
In the performing arts, a stage mother is a term for the mother of a child actor. The mother will often drive her child to auditions, make sure he or she is on the set on time, etc...
.
Dimwitted George becomes a director who shoots the wrong script, forgets to turn on the soundstage lights, and audibly cracks nuts during filming, yet his movie is called a masterpiece and he's declared a genius by trend-conscious journalists who believe he's ahead of his time.
Productions
Hart had written the play himself in 1929 and invited Kaufman to work with him on several rewrites. The original BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production, directed by Kaufman, opened at the Music Box Theatre
Music Box Theatre
The Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...
on September 24, 1930 and ran for 406 performances. The cast included Grant Mills as Jerry Hyland, Jean Dixon
Jean Dixon
Jean Dixon was an American actress.-Career:Born Jean Jacques, she was educated in France. While there, she studied dramatics under Sarah Bernhardt. She was on the Broadway stage a number of years before making her screen debut. Her style of "brittle comedy" was seen in plays like June Moon by...
as May Daniels, Hugh O'Connell as George Lewis, Spring Byington
Spring Byington
Spring Byington was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a key MGM contract player appearing in films from the 1930s through the 1960s.-Early life:Byington was born Spring Dell Byington in Colorado Springs,...
as Helen Hobart, Charles Halton
Charles Halton
Charles Halton was a stern-faced American character actor who appeared in over 180 films.One of his most memorable portrayals was as Carter, the bank examiner in It's a Wonderful Life...
as Herman Glogauer, Janet Currie as Phyllis Fontaine, Eugenie Frontai as Florabel Leigh, Sally Phipps
Sally Phipps
Sally Phipps was an American actress.-Early life and career:Born Nellie Bernice Bogdon in Oakland, California, Phipps was a 1927 WAMPAS Baby Star who was discovered by Frank Borzage...
as Susan Walker, and Kaufman as Lawrence Vail, a role Moss Hart essayed later in the run.
A Broadway revival directed by Tom Moore
Tom Moore (director)
Tom Moore is an American theatre, television, and film director.Born in Meridian, Mississippi, Moore graduated with a BA from Purdue University where he received the alumni distinction as an Old Master. Moore began his career in the late 1960s, directing Loot at Brandeis University and Oh, What a...
opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre
Circle in the Square Theatre
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre in midtown Manhattan on 50th Street in the Paramount Plaza building.The original Circle in the Square was founded by Paul Libin, Theodore Mann and Jose Quintero in 1951 and was located at 5 Sheridan Square in Greenwich Village...
on June 15, 1978 following 21 previews and ran for 85 performances. The cast included John Lithgow
John Lithgow
John Arthur Lithgow is an American actor, musician, and author. Presently, he is involved with a wide range of media projects, including stage, television, film, and radio...
as George Lewis, Deborah May
Deborah May
Deborah May is a television and film actress. She has appeared in such TV shows as ER, The Golden Girls, Days of our Lives, The Larry Sanders Show, Murder One, St...
as May Daniels, Treat Williams
Treat Williams
Richard Treat Williams is a Screen Actors Guild Award–nominated American actor and children's book author who has appeared on film, stage and television...
as Jerry Hyland, Jayne Meadows
Jayne Meadows
-Early life:Jayne Meadows was born as Jayne Cotter in Wu-ch'ang, in Heilongjiang, China, to Episcopal missionary parents, the Rev. Francis James Meadows Cotter and his wife, the former Ida Miller Taylor, who had married in 1915. Meadows is the older sister of the late actress Audrey Meadows. She...
as Helen Hobart, George S. Irving
George S. Irving
George S. Irving is an American actor, known primarily for his character roles on Broadway. Born George Irving Shelasky in Springfield, Massachusetts, he made his debut in the original 1943 production of Oklahoma!, only to be drafted days later to serve in World War II...
as Herman Glogauer, Lee Meredith
Lee Meredith
Lee Meredith is an American actress. She was born Judith Lee Sauls and grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. She is married to Burt Stratford....
as Florabel Leigh, Julia Duffy
Julia Duffy
Julia Duffy is an American actress from Minneapolis, Minnesota, specializing in character roles, best known as the spoiled rich girl and Dick Loudon's inn maid, Stephanie Vanderkellen, on the 1980s sitcom, Newhart.-Career:Duffy's early caeer included parts in soap operas such as One Life to Live,...
as Susan Walker, Michael Jeter
Michael Jeter
Michael Jeter was an American actor.- Early life :Michael Jeter was born in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. His mother, Virginia , was a housewife...
as one of the pages, and Max Wright
Max Wright
George Edward Maxwell "Max" Wright is an American actor, best known for his role as Willie Tanner in the sitcom ALF.-Biography:Wright was born George Edward Maxwell Wright in Detroit, Michigan....
, who won the Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for his portrayal of Lawrence Vail.
In 1979, Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
directed a Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
production at the Aldwych Theatre
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:...
in London, with a cast that included David Suchet
David Suchet
David Suchet, CBE, is an English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS- and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy...
, Richard Griffiths
Richard Griffiths
Richard Griffiths, OBE is an English actor of stage, film and television. He has received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actor and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor...
, Zoë Wanamaker
Zoe Wanamaker
Zoë Wanamaker, CBE is an American-British actress. She has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company; in films, including the Harry Potter series; and in a number of television productions, including a long-time role as Susan Harper in the sitcom My Family.-Early life and family:Wanamaker was...
, Peter McEnery
Peter McEnery
Peter McEnery is an English stage and film actor. His daughter Kate, by his first marriage to British actress Julie Peasgood, is an actress....
, Ian Charleson
Ian Charleson
Ian Charleson was a Scottish stage and film actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell, in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire. He is also well known for his portrayal of Rev...
, Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, CBE is an English actor of stage and screen.- Early life :Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth , a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer. Stevenson's father was in the army and was posted to a new place every...
, and David Bradley
David Bradley (actor)
David Bradley is an English character actor. He has recently become known for playing the caretaker of Hogwarts, Argus Filch, in the Harry Potter film franchise.-Life and career :...
. Gillian Lynne
Gillian Lynne
Gillian Barbara Lynne , CBE, born , is a British ballerina, dancer, actor, theatre director, television director and choreographer noted for her popular theatre choreography associated with the iconic musicals Cats and the current longest running show in Broadway history, The Phantom of the Opera.-...
notably staged the elaborate John Napier
John Napier
John Napier of Merchiston – also signed as Neper, Nepair – named Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish mathematician, physicist, astronomer & astrologer, and also the 8th Laird of Merchistoun. He was the son of Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston. John Napier is most renowned as the discoverer...
scene changes and an unforgettable fifteen minute tap-dancing finale. Nunn was nominated for an Olivier Award for his direction.
A London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
production directed by Edward Hall
Edward Hall (director)
Edward Hall is an English theatre director and an associate director at The National Theatre. Hall is known for directing Rose Rage, a stage adaptation of Shakespeare's three Henry VI plays. He also runs an all-male Shakespeare company, Propeller...
opened at the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
on December 5, 2005 and ran until March 11, 2006. It featured David Suchet
David Suchet
David Suchet, CBE, is an English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS- and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy...
as Herman Glogauer, Adrian Scarborough
Adrian Scarborough
Adrian Philip Scarborough is an English character actor and won an Olivier award for best actor in a supporting role in 2011.Scarborough was born in Melton Mowbray, and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, winning the Chesterton Award for Best Actor.In 1993, he was nominated for the Ian...
as George Lewis, and Victoria Hamilton
Victoria Hamilton
Victoria Sharp is an English actress who performs under the stage name Victoria Hamilton.-Early life:Hamilton was born on 5 April 1971 in Wimbledon, London, England, and grew up in Godalming, Surrey. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.-Career:Hamilton is best known for her...
as May Daniels.
Film Version
The play was sold to Hollywood. The film version was released by Universal StudiosUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
in 1932, starring Jack Oakie
Jack Oakie
Jack Oakie was an American actor, starring mostly in films, but also working on stage, radio and television.-Early life:...
, Sidney Fox
Sidney Fox
Sidney Fox was an American actress.-Career:Fox was born Sidney Leiffer in New York City in 1907 to a Jewish family. Her parents were wealthy until they went bankrupt and Sidney had to get a job as a teenager. She became a dressmaker, and spent her spare time studying law...
, Louise Fazenda
Louise Fazenda
Louise Fazenda was an American film actress, appearing chiefly in silent comedy films.-Early life:Of Portuguese ancestry, she was born in Lafayette, Indiana. Her father, Joseph Fazenda, was a merchandise broker. After moving west Louise attended Los Angeles High School and St. Mary's Convent...
, Aline MacMahon
Aline MacMahon
Aline MacMahon was an American actress. Her career began on stage in 1921. She worked extensively in film and television until her retirement in 1975. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Dragon Seed .-Early life:Aline Laveen MacMahon was born...
, and Zasu Pitts
ZaSu Pitts
ZaSu Pitts was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas and comedies, transitioning to comedy sound films.-Early life:ZaSu Pitts was born in Parsons, Kansas to Rulandus and Nellie Pitts; she was the third of four children...
.