Once in a Lifetime | Once in a Lifetime

At a glance:

Author: George S. Kaufman, Moss Hart
First Published: 1930
Type of Plot: Comedy
Time of Work: The late 1920’s
Setting: New York City and Hollywood
Principal Characters: Jerry Hyland, May Daniels, George Lewis, Susan Walker, Helen Hobart, Herman Glogauer
Genres: Drama, Comedy
Subjects: Values, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Acting or actors, Power, personal or social, Love or romance, New York City, 1920’s, Success or failure, Drama or dramatists, Hollywood, Filmmaking or filmmakers, Entrepreneurship or entrepreneurs
Locales: California, New York, NY, Hollywood, CA

The Play

Once in a Lifetime opens in a rundown apartment in New York City in 1929, where George Lewis, whose passion is eating Indian nuts, is conversing with the witty May Daniels. Jerry Hyland, the third to enter, completes the team for their vaudeville act. The three have only $180 between them, and their prospects seem dim.

Jerry, an ambitious man in his early thirties, proclaims that the new “talkies” have made the theater extinct and that he has just sold their act for five hundred dollars. He has decided to take his chances in Hollywood, inspired by Al...

Once in a Lifetime | Once in a Lifetime

At a glance:

The Play

Join eNotes