George M. Cohan 101
Cohan's Broadway Shows
Compiled by John Kenrick
This chronological list includes every Broadway production that we can verify Cohan had a hand in. It is known that he frequently revised plays by others that he produced – we're not always certain to what extent. In many cases, he took no public credit for revising plays he produced.
KEY to Cohan's involvement:
C - Composer/Lyricist
A - Author/Librettist
P - Producer
D - Director
S - Star
1901
The Governors Son (CADS) - The Four Cohans starred, with George playing the smart aleck son of a governor dodging female suitors at a summer resort. A brief Broadway run was followed by a two year national tour. (32 performances)
1903
Running for Office (CADS) - Jerry and Nellie Cohan play older newlyweds who keep their marriage a secret until their adult children become engaged. A brief Broadway run was followed by a year long national tour. (48 performances)
1904
Little Johnny Jones (CAPDS) - The Four Cohans starred, with George as an American jockey falsely accused of throwing the English Darby. Ethel Levey co-starred as his love interest. Score included "Give My regards to Broadway" and "The Yankee Doodle Boy." A brief Broadway run was followed by a long national tour that included two return visits to Broadway in 1905. (52 performances)
1906
Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway (CAD) - Fay Templeton starred as a housemaid who renounces an inheritance so as not to lose the love of street-smart boyfriend Victor Moore. (90 performances)
1906
George Washington Jr. (CAPDS) - Cohan starred as a patriotic lad who refuses to marry the British aristocrat his US Senator father has selected for him. Jerry & Nellie Cohan and Ethel Levy were featured. A brief Broadway run was followed by a long national tour. (81 performances)
Popularity (APD) - Cohan's first play involved a popular actor who triumphantly marries a millionaires daughter. The critics demolished this one. (24 performances)
1907
Little Johnny Jones (CAPDS) - Cohan starred in this early and short-lived revival. (16 performances)
The Honeymooners (CAPDS) - George, Jerry and Nellie co-starred in this revised version of Running For Office. (72 performances)
The Talk of New York (CAPD) - Victor Moore starred in this popular sequel to 45 Minutes from Broadway. (157 performances)
1908
Fifty Miles From Boston (CAPD) - This small town musical comedy featured the hit song "Harrigan." The brief NY run was followed by a prolonged tour. (32 performances)
The Yankee Prince (CAPDS) - The Four Cohans (billed as "George M. Cohan and His Royal Family") made their final joint appearance as Americans on the loose in London. Once again, a brief NY run was followed by a successful tour. (28 performances)
1909
The Cohan & Harris Minstrels (CAPD)- An unsuccessful attempt to revive the minstrel tradition, co-written by Cohan and George Evans. (16 performances)
The Fortune Hunter (PD) - John Barrymore starred in this Cohan & Harris production. (345 performances)
The American Idea (PD)
The Man Who Owns Broadway - A hit musical reworking of Popularity, starring Raymond Hitchcock. (128 performances)
1910
Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (APD) - One of Cohan's longest running comedies, based on a popular novel. Hale Hamilton starred. (424 performances)
The Aviator (P) - (44 performances)
1911
The Little Millionaire (CAPDS) - George, Jerry and Nellie Cohan co-starred. In order to share a rich inheritance, a father and son must have each others permission to marry. (192 performances)
The Only Son (P) - Wallace Eddinger starred. (32 performances)
The Red Widow (P) - Raymond Hitchcock starred. (128 performances)
1912
Officer 666 (P) - (198 performances)
Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway (CAPDS) - George Cohan starred in this revival. (36 performances)
Broadway Jones (CAPDS) - George starred in this comedy about a city boy who inherits a small town chewing gum factory. He saves the factory and wins the heart of a local girl. Co-stars Jerry and Nellie Cohan retired at the end of the tour in 1914. (176 performances)
Hawthorne of the USA (P) - Douglas Fairbanks starred. (72 performances)
Stop Thief (P) - Frank Bacon starred. (149 performances)
1913
Nearly Married (P) - (123 performances)
Seven Keys to Baldpate (APD) - Cohan's mystery spoof based on the popular novel of the same name became a surprise hit. (320 performances)
1914
The Beauty Shop (P) - Raymond Hitchcock starred. (88 performances)
It Pays to Advertise (P) - Grant Mitchell starred. (399 performances)
The Miracle Man (APD) - Cohan's first serious drama involved a faith healer converting a group of con men. The critics ripped it to pieces. (97 performances)
Hello, Broadway (CAPDS) - Cohan's first musical revue, it featured the popular "Down By the Erie." Cohan and William Collier co-starred. (123 performances)
1915
Young America (P) - Otto Kruger and Peggy Wood starred. (105 performances)
The House of Glass (APD) - Cohan co-authored with Max Marcin. (245 performances)
Hit-the-Trail Holliday (APD) - Cohan's brother-in-law Fred Niblo starred. (336 performances)
1916
Cohan Revue of 1916 (CAPD) - Charles Winninger was featured in Cohan's second musical revue. (165 performances)
The Intruder (P) - (31 performances)
Captain Kidd Jr. (P) - Otto Kruger starred. (108 performances)
1917
The Willow Tree (P) - Fay Bainter starred. (103 performances)
A Tailor-Made Man (P) - Grant Mitchell starred. (398 performances)
The King (P) - (127 performances)
Going Up (P) - This Louis Hirsch-Otto Harbach hit was inspired by Kern's Princess Theater series. (351 performances)
1918
Cohan Revue of 1918 (CAPD) - Cohan's final musical revue played the New Amsterdam. (96 performances)
The Little Teacher (P) - (128 performances)
Once Upon a Time (P) - Chauncey Olcott starred. (24 performances)
Out There (A) - Cohan appeared in this play by J. Hartley Manners. An all-star wartime benefit for the Red Cross, it spent one week in NY, followed by a three week tour.
Three Faces East (P) - Emmet Corrigan & Violet Hemming starred. (335 performances)
The Matinee Hero (P) - (64 performances)
A Prince There Was (APD) - Cohan starred. (159 performances)
The Voice of McConnell (APD) - Chauncey Olcott starred (30 performances)
1919
Mis'Nelly of N'Orleans (P) - Mrs. Fiske starred. (127 performances)
The Royal Vagabond (CAPD) - Cohan freely adapted this comic operetta, one of his most successful "Cohanizations." (208 performances)
1920
The Acquittal (APD) - Cohan heavily rewrote this Ruth Weidman play. (138 performances)
Genius and the Crowd (P) - (24 performances)
The Tavern (APD) - Arnold Daly starred in this comic travesty about a strange traveler stopping in a roadside colonial American tavern on a dark & stormy night. Cohan was particularly proud of this hit. (252 performances)
The Meanest Man in the World (APDS) - Frank M. Thomas starred in this Augustin MacHugh play heavily rewritten by Cohan. Enemies felt the title made more sense when Cohan took over the title role partway through the run. (212 performances)
Mary (P) - This Louis Hirsch, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel musical starred Janet Velie and Jack McGowan. (219 performances)
1921
Nemesis (P) An Augustus Thomas play that had a brief run. (56 performances)
The Tavern (Revival) (APDS) - Cohan starred in this revival featuring the Chicago cast. (27 performances)
The O'Brien Girl (P) - This Louis Hirsch, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel musical starred Elizabeth Hines. (164 performances)
1922
Madeline and the Movies (CAPDS) - Cohan's daughter Georgette co-starred with James Rennie. Cohan replaced Rennie partway through the run.
So This is London (AP) - Cohan heavily rewrote this Arthur Goodrich play. (343 performances)
Little Nellie Kelly (CAPD) Elizabeth Hines starred. (248 performances)
1923
Two Fellows and a Girl (AP) - Written with Vincent Lawrence. (132 performances)
The Rise of Rosie O'Reilly (APD) - (87 performances)
The Song and Dance Man
1925
American Born (APDS) - (88 performances)
1926
The Home Towners (APDS) - (64 performances)
Yellow (P) - Spencer Tracy was featured in the cast. (135 performances)
1927
The Baby Cyclone (APD) - Spencer Tracy was featured in the cast. (184 performances)
The Merry Malones (CAPDS) - The last Cohan-composed musical to succeed. (208 performances)
Los Angeles (P) - (16 performances)
1928
Whispering Friends (APD) - (112 performances)
Elmer the Great (P) - This Ring Lardner play stared Walter Houston. (40 performances)
By Request (P) - (28 performances)
Billie (APD) - (112 performances)
1929
Vermont (P) - (15 performances)
Gambling (APDS) - (152 performances)
1930
The Tavern (Revival) (APDS) - Cohan trotted out his favorite yet again. (32 performances)
The Song and Dance Man (APDS) - (16 performances)
The Rhapsody (P) - (16 performances)
1931
Friendship (APDS) - (24 performances)
1933
Pigeons and People (APDS) - (70 performances)
Ah, Wilderness (S) - Cohan won raves playing the congenial father in this nostalgic Eugene O'Neill comedy. (289 performances)
1935
Seven Keys to Baldpate (Revival) (PA) - Cohan appeared in this special 8 performance run presented by The Players Club.
1936
Dear Old Darling (APDS) - (16 performances)
1937
Fulton of Five Oaks (APDS) - (37 performances)
I'd Rather Be Right (S) - Cohan triumphed as a singing and dancing President Franklin Roosevelt, with a score by Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart and book by George S. Kaufmann & Moss Hart. (290 performances)
1940
The Return of the Vagabond (APDS) - Cohan made his final stage appearance in this weak sequel to The Tavern. (7 performances)
1969
George M! (CA) - George's daughter Mary helped put together this tribute to the Yankee Doodle Boy. The score was pure George M. Cohan, and snippets of his dialogue were included. Joel Grey triumphed in the title role. (427 performances)
1982
Little Johnny Jones (CA) - The book was revised, but George's songs still delighted in this Goodspeed Opera House production. After a year long road tour and several cast changes, it came to Broadway starring Donny Osmond. As always, the NY critics were vicious, and this entertaining production closed on its opening night. (29 pvws + 1 perf)