Composers and their stage works 



George (Francis) Abbott

(1897 - 1998)

Born in Forestville, New York, 25 June 1889. Educated at Hamburg High School, New York; Rochester University, Rochester, New York, B.A. 1911; Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1912-13. Married 1) Ednah Levis in 1914 (died 1930), one daughter; 2) Mary Sinclair in 1946 (marriage dissolved 1951); 3) Joy Moana Valderrama in 1983. Founder, with Philip Dunning, Abbott-Dunning Inc., 1931-34. Recipient: Boston Globe award, 1912; Donaldson award, for directing, 1946, 1948, 1953, 1955; Tony award, 1955, 1956, 1960, and for directing, 1960, 1963, Special Tony, 1987; Pulitzer prize, 1960; New York Drama Critics Circle award, 1960; Lawrence Langner award, 1976; City of New York Handel medallion, 1976; Kennedy Center award, 1983. D.H.: Rochester University, 1961; H.H.D.: University of Miami, 1974. Address: 1270 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020, U.S.A.

Stage Works

  1. The Head of the Family (prod. 1912)
  2. Man in the Manhole (prod. 1912)
  3. The Fall Guy, with James Gleason (produced 1924). 1928.
  4. A Holy Terror: A None-Too-Serious Drama, with Winchell Smith (produced 1925). 1926.
  5. Love 'em and Leave 'em, with John V.A. Weaver (also director: produced 1926). 1926.
  6. Cowboy Crazy, with Pearl Franklin (produced 1926).
  7. Broadway with Philip Dunning (1926)
  8. Four Walls, with Dana Burnet (also director: produced 1927). 1928.
  9. Coquette, with Ann Preston Bridgers (also director: produced 1927). 1928.
  10. Ringside, with Edward A. Paramore, Jr., and Hyatt Daab (also director: produced 1928).
  11. Those We Love, with S.K. Lauren (also director: produced 1930).
  12. Lilly Turner, with Philip Dunning (also director: produced 1932).
  13. Heat Lightning, with Leon Abrams (also director: produced 1933). Ladies' Money (also director: produced 1934).
  14. Page Miss Glory (also director: produced 1934).
  15. Three Men On A Horse with John Cecil Holm (1935)
  16. On Your Toes with Rodgers and Hart (1934)
  17. Sweet River, adaptation of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (also director: produced 1936)
  18. The Boys From Syracuse (1938)
  19. Best Foot Forward, with John Cecil Holm (also director: produced 1941).
  20. Beat the Band, with George Marion, Jr. (also director: produced 1942).
  21. Where's Charley music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, adaptation of the play Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas (also director: produced 1948). 1965.
  22. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, with Betty Smith, adaptation of the novel by Smith (also director: produced 1951).
  23. The Pajama Game with Richard Bissell, music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, adaptation of the novel 7.½ Cents by Bissell (also co-director: produced 1954). 1954.
  24. Damn Yankees with Douglass Wallop, music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, adaptation of the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant by Wallop (also director: produced 1955). 1956.
  25. New Girl In Town music and lyrics by Bob Merrill, adaptation of the play Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill (also director: produced 1957). 1958.
  26. Fiorello!, with Jerome Weidman, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, music by Jerry Bock (also director: produced 1959). 1960.
  27. Tenderloin, with Jerome Weidman, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, music by Jerry Bock, adaptation of the work by Samuel Hopkins Adams (also director: produced 1960). 1961.
  28. Flora, The Red Menace, with Robert Russell, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb (also director: produced 1965).
  29. Anya, with Guy Bolton, music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adaptation of the play Anastasia by Marcelle Maurette and Bolton (also director: produced 1965).
  30. Music Is, music by George Adler, lyrics by Will Holt, adaptation of Twelfth Night by Shakespeare (also director: produced 1976).
  31. Tropicana, music by Robert Nassif, lyrics by Nassif and Peter Napolitano (also director: produced 1985).
  32. Frankie, music by Joseph Turin, lyrics by Gloria Nissenson, adaptation of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (also co-director, with Donald Saddler: produced 1989).

Screenplays

  1. The Saturday Night Kid, with others, 1929;
  2. Why Bring That Up?, with others, 1929;
  3. Half-Way to Heaven, with Gerald Geraghty, 1929;
  4. All Quiet on the Western Front, with Dell Andrews and Maxwell Anderson,1930;
  5. The Sea God, 1930;
  6. Manslaughter, 1930;
  7. Stolen Heaven, 1931;
  8. Secrets of a Secretary, with Dwight Taylor, 1931;
  9. The Pajama Game, with Richard Bissell, 1957;
  10. Damn Yankees (What Lola Wants), 1958.

Novels

  1. Broadway (novelization of stage play), with Philip Dunning. 1927.
  2. Tryout. 1979.

Autobiography:

Mister Abbott (1964)