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SAM SPEWACK (1899 - 1991) |
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Nationality: n/a Email: n/a Website: n/a |
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Literary Agent: n/a |
Please send me a biography and information about this Playwright
xxx doollee
Plays by Sam Spewack |
Boy Meets Girl | ||
| 1st Produced: | Cort Theatre, New York | 27 Nov 1935 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatists Play Service, NY, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #32971 | |||
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 | 14 | Female | 5 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | written with Bella Spewack | |||||
Synopsis: | Played against a Hollywood background, it tells of a studio waitress who, coming into the office of a big-shot producer, announces she is going to have a baby. Two clever writers get the idea of starring the as-yet-unborn infant with Larry Toms, cowboy film hero. The clever boys who had the idea in the first place are done out of a managing contract and bent on revenge, do their utmost to discredit the infant by hiring someone to claim to be his father. The mother, however, marries the son of an English lord. The writers, on the point of ruin, put over a slick deal in a scene of hilarious comedy by engineering a questionable arrangement between their studio and big foreign studio. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Clear All Wires | ||
| 1st Produced: | Times Square Theatre, New York | 14 Sep 1932 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #131833 | |||
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 | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | n/a | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Festival, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | Longacre Theatre, New York | 18 Jan 1955 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatists Play Service, NY, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #32972 | |||
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 | 5 | Female | 4 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Written by Sam and Bella Spewack | |||||
Synopsis: | Tells of Sally Ann Peters, a young piano teacher whose knowledge of life is entirely academic. Sally Ann appears in the Los Angeles home of Max Granada, a sophisticated and charmingly unscrupulous impresario, in an effort to fire him with some of her own enthusiasm for a young pupil of hers, who she claims is a child prodigy. Granada will have none of her until he finds a way of using her for his own purposes. He is frantically trying to get his chief client, a famous Pianist, to go to Mexico to participate in a festival there, and Sally Ann finds herself involved in the plot to get the pianist off for his concert. At the end she has learned a great deal about herself, accomplished her mission, and has conquered the impresario. A highly amusing play for groups interested in producing sophisticated comedy. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Golden State, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | Fulton Theatre, New York | 25 Nov 1950 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatists Play Service, NY, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #32973 | |||
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 | 8 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Tells of a number of people who have trekked to Los Angeles in the hope that they can do in California what they could not achieve in their home states. They now live in the house of Rosita Morenas, who calls her single rooms apartments, and who dreams of someday living in the manner of her "noble" ancestors. Her daughter, Carmen, is married to a young bank clerk, and Mrs. Morenas vainly seeks for affection in that quarter. When gold is discovered in her yard, Mrs. Morenas is sure that her son-in-law will accept her. Mrs. Morenas' boarders are a Philadelphia businessman who went to Los Angeles to write songs, a young veteran who is now selling mineral water while his wife works nights, and a promoter, who, like Mrs. Morenas, is native-born and is sold on the California dream to the point of embezzling for it. Gold is actually found, but it is only some ore specimens that Tim, an old prospector and friend of Mrs. Morenas, has brought from his latest mine. Though there is no gold, the dreamers make their dreams come true through a realization of themselves, rather than what they hoped to be. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Kiss Me Kate | ||
| 1st Produced: | New Century Theatre, New York | 30 Dec 1948 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | E. Littler, London 1952 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | Original cast recording: Columbia (SK 60536) 1948 | doollee no | #131299 | |||
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: | Musical | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Music and lyrics by Cole Porter; book by Bella Spewack; Sam Spewack. Based on "The Taming Of The Shrew" by William Shakespeare | |||||
| The cast of a musical version of "The Taming Of The Shrew" celebrate the opening of their show. Leading lady, Lilli and her ex-husband and leading man, Fred, celebrate the first anniversary of their divorce. Lilli receives a wonderful boquet she thinks it is from Fred. But when she reads the card she realises it is from Fred but the boquet was for one of the other actresses, Lois. Lois is in love with one of the actors in the production, Bill. Bill has been gambling - but he has signed Fred's name to IOUs. The night of the performance. Fred and Lilli bicker and two mobsters turn up wanting money from Fred | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Leave It To Me | ||
| 1st Produced: | Imperial Theatre, New York | 09 Nov 1938 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Contained in: "Great Musicals of the American Stage volume Two" published by Chilton Books 1976 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #131300 | |||
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: | Musical | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Music and lyrics by Cole Porter; book by Bella Spewack; Sam Sewack. In a dispute over who should have top billing - Ethel Merman or Jimmy Durante the crossed names was devised for the poster | |||||
| Alonzo "Stinky" Goodhue has been made US Ambassador to the Soviet Union. He did not want the job but got it because of his social climbing wife. He would much rather be back in Topeka, Kansas. He thinks that if he messes things up he will be recalled - however, every international incident he gets involved in he manages to resolve. Until that is he tries to get the Soviet Union and the US to be friends and he is recalled | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Miss Swan Expects | ||
| 1st Produced: | Cort Theatre, New York | 20 Feb 1939 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #131834 | |||
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 | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Written by Sam and Bella Spewack | |||||
Synopsis: | n/a | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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My Three Angels | ||
| 1st Produced: | Lyric Theatre, London | 1955 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Samuel French, London, 1956 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #32974 | |||
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 | 7 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Original Playwright - A Husson (Cuisine Des Anges). with Bella Spewack | |||||
Synopsis: | The scene is French Guiana, a region where on Christmas day the temperature has graciously dropped to 104 degrees. Three convicts are employed as roofers by a family, whose roof is in desperate need of maintenance. On the way from France is an evil-minded cousin, to oust the father of the family from his business, and his cold-blooded nephew, who is jilting the father's daughter for an heiress. The three convicts-two of them murderers, the third a swindler-take the visitors on. All three have warm hearts and are passionate believers in true justice. Possessing every criminal art and penal grace, they set matters right and in doing so redeem themselves as real life angels to the grateful family. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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My Three Angels | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #93913 | |||
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: | Musical | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 6 | Female | 4 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Music by David Warrack; lyrics by David Warrack; book by Sam and Bella Spewack | |||||
Synopsis: | They are no angels - they are escaped convicts | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Once There Was A Russian | ||
| 1st Produced: | Music Box Theatre, New York | 17 Feb 1961 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #131835 | |||
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 | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | n/a | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Play It By Ear (The Festival) | ||
| 1st Produced: | Coventry | 1967 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatists Play Service, NY, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #32975 | |||
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: | n/a | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 5 | Female | 4 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | written with Bella Spewack. aka Play It by Ear | |||||
Synopsis: | Tells of Sally Ann Peters, a young piano teacher whose knowledge of life is entirely academic. Sally Ann appears in the Los Angeles home of Max Granada, a sophisticated and charmingly unscrupulous impresario, in an effort to fire him with some of her own enthusiasm for a young pupil of hers, who she claims is a child prodigy. Granada will have none of her until he finds a way of using her for his own purposes. He is frantically trying to get his chief client, a famous Pianist, to go to Mexico to participate in a festival there, and Sally Ann finds herself involved in the plot to get the pianist off for his concert. At the end she has learned a great deal about herself, accomplished her mission, and has conquered the impresario. A highly amusing play for groups interested in producing sophisticated comedy. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Pleasures and Palaces | ||
| 1st Produced: | Fisher Theatre, Detroit | 11 Mar 1965 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | Original cast recording: Blue Pear (1010) 1965 | doollee no | #131757 | |||
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: | Musical | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Music and lyrics by Frank Loesser; book by Frank Loesser; Sam Spewack. Based on the play "Once There Was A Russian" by Sam Spewack | |||||
| John Paul Jones goes to Russia to assist Empress Catherine II regain Constantinople. The Empress is in love Grigori Potemkin. Potemkin is in love with Sura. Sura is in love with John Paul | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Poppa | ||
| 1st Produced: | Biltmore Theatre, New York | 24 Dec 1928 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Samuel French, NY, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #32976 | |||
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 | 10 | Female | 5 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Written by Sam and Bella Spewack | |||||
Synopsis: | Pincus Schwitsky has become an alderman. But when it turns out he is a reformer he is framed by the mayor. Pincus' son Herbert accidentally leaves a Dictaphone on and Pinkus is cleared | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Prince And Mr Jones | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatists Play Service, NY, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #32977 | |||
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 | 15 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | (Produced in New York as Once There Was a Russian.) Based on the actual events involving John Paul Jones, Prince Potemkin and Catherine the Great of Russia, the play proves again, with crackling humor, how history invariably manages to repeat itself. ". . .it is the most entertaining whack at Russian, and early American, foibles in a long time." -Wall Street Journal. "The new play abounds in laughter. . ." - NY Telegraph. ". . .Sam Spewack has written an amusing, ultimately trenchant charade. . ." - Washington, D.C. Post. "The playwright has drawn a magnificent etching of Potemkin, his lust for power, his cynicism, his rascality, and his surface urbanity, and even his hypocritical effusions of affection." -NY Women's Wear Daily. "Sam Spewack, who owns one of the more amusing minds at work in the theatre, has set it to examining the Russians in his latest comedy." -Washington, D.C. Star. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Solitaire Man | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Samuel French, NY, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #32978 | |||
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 | 7 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Everyone aboard a plane flying from Paris to London turns out to be a crook of some sort | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Spring Song | ||
| 1st Produced: | Morosco Theatre, New York | 01 Nov 1934 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatists Play Service, NY, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #32979 | |||
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: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 8 | Female | 10 | ||
Parts other: | extras | |||||
Notes: | written with Bella Spewack | |||||
Synopsis: | A tender and tragic drama of Jewish life | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Trousers To Match | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatists Play Service, NY, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #32980 | |||
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 | 8 | Female | 4 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | written with Bella Spewack | |||||
Synopsis: | Miss Swan works in a publisher's office. Her husband has been laboring two years on the biography of a tycoon, and his fee, it is hoped, will pay for the baby his wife expects. Unfortunately, the tycoon decides to postpone publication till after his death, but since the baby can't be postponed, the couple concoct a scheme for raising money which involves using an ex-general as a sandwich man. This precipitates further complications and a plot that is completely cockeyed. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Two Blind Mice | ||
| 1st Produced: | Cort Theatre, New York | 02 Mar 1949 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatists Play Service, NY, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #32981 | |||
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 | 14 | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | The Office of Medicinal Herbs of the Department of Agriculture in Washington, manages to persist because no one realizes that it was abolished years ago, but no official steps have been taken to close it. Two nice old ladies run this department, but never answer the phone for fear of discovery. The are really interested in helping people, and are too scrupulous to cash the salary checks which are automatically sent to them. They manage to exist by renting parts of their office to a pants presser and a dance teacher, and by collecting fees from a parking lot nearby. In the words of the Daily News, they are "taken over by a newspaper reporter who transforms their hideaway into a top-secret bureau, staffed with Army, Navy, and State Department people who never know exactly what they are doing but believe they are developing a new science of herbal warfare which is the deadliest yet. There's a love story about the reporter, his ex-wife and the ex-wife's new fiance-and if you know your theatre you know who wins." The journalist enjoys mystifying people, particularly literal-minded Government employees. This farcical play is not only an entertaining, but is full of caustic and amusing satire on bureaucracy, stupidity and red tape. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Under the Sycamore Tree | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | 1953 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatists Play Service, NY, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #32982 | |||
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: | Farcical fable Farce | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 5 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | extras | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | If ants could speak, if they could love and hate and dream and philosophize like humans, how would they react to the present state of the world? Crist (NY Herald-Tribune) wrote: "We come upon the ant colony at a time when words have replaced numbers as language; radio, telephone and a secret war weapon (DDT) have established superiority over the enemy brown ants and the scientist is ready to go beyond man's machines to man himself, to discover the "X" that makes man's world go round. The mysterious ingredient is, of course, love-and before long the scientist has taught it to a boy and girl ant, and the queen. Contentment reigns. The humanizing process continues to the point where the ants have 'politics, confusion-everything' plus the utterly unhuman factor of happiness. They manage to get rid of that but then hit upon the equally unhuman notion of conducting a full-scale non-deadly war. The scientist sets out to give this secret to the President of the United States. His attempt to gain the Presidential ear is frustrated but at least he and his queen can, like humans, conclude that they 'have lived.'" A truly delightful piece which has proven to be enormously popular. The play book includes photos illustrating the set and costumes used in the London production. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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War Song | ||
| 1st Produced: | National Theatre, New York | 24 Sep 1928 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #131836 | |||
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: | Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | n/a | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Woman Bites Dog | ||
| 1st Produced: | Belasco Theatre, New York | 17 Apr 1946 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Dramatists Play Service, NY, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #32983 | |||
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 | 17 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Written by Sam and Bella Spewack | |||||
Synopsis: | This play is a riotous satire about an egotistic and fanatical newspaper owner who is determined to see bugbears in every direction. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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