ONCE IN A LIFETIME
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This is what Jerry, May, and George have in mind when they strike out for Hollywood in 1927. The Jazz Singer has just been released, and with it has come the end of silent films. This looks to be a golden opportunity for the road-weary vaudeville trio: they expect to make it big teaching film actors how to talk. The tale of how these all-American kids find success and romance in the razzle-dazzle madhouse of moving pictures forms the framework for George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s satirical farce, Once in a Lifetime.
Reviving this 1931 play in 1989 is a far more ambitious project than it may seem at first glance. Like most Kaufman and Hart comedies (with the exception of the domestic comedy You Can’t Take It With You), Once in a Lifetime relies heavily on topical references. There are takeoffs on Hedda Hopper, Erich von Stroheim, Louis B. Mayer, and George S. Kaufman himself.
