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Once in a Lifetime

A down-at-heels vaudeville troupe decide to make their fortune by going Hollywood.

More information

Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Comedy
  • 120 minutes

  • Time Period: 1920s
  • Target Audience: Appropriate for all audiences
  • Set Requirements: Unit Set/Multiple Settings
  • Cautions: No Special Cautions

  • Performance Group:
  • High School/Secondary, Community Theatre
It's winter of 1928 and the biggest news in entertainment is the whopping success of Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer, the first all-talking picture. A down-at-heels vaudeville troupe — the ascerbic May Daniels, the fast-talking Jerry Hyland, and their slightly dopey cohort, George Lewis — decide to make their fortune by going Hollywood. The only problem is: they don’t know what they’re going to do out there. That’s all right: no one knows anything in Hollywood either. 

The trio pretends to be a team of skilled vocal coaches and, with the help of Lotusland’s greatest gossip columnist, Helen Hobart, they find themselves working for Herman Glogauer, the volatile producer behind Glogauer Pictures. Glogauer makes George the head of production, and George obliges him by making the worst picture ever made.  Yet, even this comedic satire has a Hollywood ending: George makes the studio a success despite himself and finds the girl of his dreams, while May and Jerry fall into each other’s arms. Fade-out: The End.
REVIEWS:

"'Nobody knows anything,' was William Goldman's acerbic comment on the movie industry. And that was the conclusion reached by Moss Hart and George S Kaufman in this 1930 satire on Hollywood: a play which, still has a certain period charm and a vindictive wit."

The Guardian

"Ideal summer theatre with comic climaxes that distinguish the humor of the 30s...Grand chains of lunacy."

The New York Times

"A lovely play...Gracefully insane."

The New York Post

Premiere Production: Once in a Lifetime opened at the Music Box Theatre on September 24, 1930 and ran for 305 performances. It was produced by Sam H. Harris.

Characters

  • Casting: 24M, 14F
  • Casting Attributes: Reduced casting (Doubling Possible), Ensemble cast

Available Material

Name Price
Once in a Lifetime Script This is optional. Order Now

It's winter of 1928 and the biggest news in entertainment is the whopping success of Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer, the first all-talking picture. A down-at-heels vaudeville troupe — the ascerbic May Daniels, the fast-talking Jerry Hyland, and their slightly dopey cohort, George Lewis — decide to make their fortune by going Hollywood. The only problem is: they don’t know what they’re going to do out there. That’s all right: no one knows anything in Hollywood either.

The trio pretends to be a team of skilled vocal coaches and, with the help of Lotusland’s greatest gossip columnist, Helen Hobart, they find themselves working for Herman Glogauer, the volatile producer behind Glogauer Pictures. Glogauer makes George the head of production, and George obliges him by making the worst picture ever made.  Yet, even this comedic satire has a Hollywood ending: George makes the studio a success despite himself and finds the girl of his dreams, while May and Jerry fall into each other’s arms. Fade-out: The End.

$24.95

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