Is Jordan E. Cooper, at 27, really the youngest playwright in Broadway history?

[sassylash3s]

Posted: 11/27/22 at 8:27pm

I've seen this claim in a number of places (including Cooper's Playbill bio) and it's always stood out to me.  Not to take away from his achievement, but when I think of all the dozens of plays that went up each season in the early 20th century, it seems improbable to me that nobody under 27 ever got a play produced in a Broadway house.  Anybody have any information one way or the other?

[Wallman2]

Posted: 11/27/22 at 9:03pm

When David Merrick presented Shelagh Delaney's acclaimed play "A Taste of Honey," it was claimed that she was the youngest playwright in Broadway history at 21 years old.  That was quite a cast-- Joan Plowright, Angela Lansbury, Nigel Davenport,Billy Dee Williams.  It played for almost a year and Plowright won the Tony Award as Best Actress.

Cooper may be the second youngest but...it's still quite an achievement, even if he is 6 years older.  

[Synecdoche2]

Posted: 11/27/22 at 9:05pm

Completely untrue. Plenty of playwrights were younger for their debuts. Moss Hart was the first name that came to mind -- he was 25 when Once in a Lifetime premiered.

Updated On: 11/27/22 at 09:05 PM

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 11/27/22 at 9:07pm

Totally interested in this question, so I just did some quick research. The Philanthropist, which was nominated for Best Play in 1971, was written by Christopher Hampton, who was born on January 26, 1946. The show opened on Broadway at the Barrymore on March 15, 1971, which would have made Hampton 25 years old at the time.

Importantly, though, Jordan E. Cooper's bio says he is the youngest American playwright in Broadway history, which makes sense, since Hampton is a Brit.  

A few other tidbits I found... Look Back in Anger was nominated for Best Play in 1958. The playwright, John Osborne, was born on December 12, 1929, and the show opened on Broadway on October 1, 1957, which would have made Osborne 27 years at the time as well (though he was also a Brit).

However, A Thousand Clowns was nominated for Best Play in 1963. The playwright, Herb Gardner, an American, was born on December 28, 1934, and the show opened on Broadway on April 5, 1962, which would have made Gardner 27 years, 3 months, and 8 days old at the time as well. 

I'm not sure what Cooper's birthday is, so they might be running with the knowledge of his exact number of days of being 27 by opening night to have that tagline. But if that's the case, then Cooper would have to be born after August 25, 1995 to beat Gardner's record of the youngest American playwright on Broadway (that's 9,960 days before Ain't No Mo's opening night on December 1, 2022).

Updated On: 11/27/22 at 09:07 PM

[cardamon]

Posted: 11/27/22 at 9:12pm

In addition to the others already mentioned, Terrence McNally was 26 when 'And Things That Go Bump in the Night' opened on Broadway.

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 11/27/22 at 9:16pm

cardamon said: "In addition to the others already mentioned, Terrence McNally was 26 when 'And Things That Go Bump in the Night' opened on Broadway."

Oh, wow. That beats my whole multi-paragraph post then! LOL

But yes, And Things That Go Bump in the Night opened on Broadway on April 26, 1965 at the then-Royale (now-Jacobs). Terrence McNally, born on November 3, 1938, would indeed have been 26 years old on opening night.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 11/27/22 at 9:45pm

Excluding musical theatre writers? Because there's of course Sondheim/WSS, Moss & Marlow with SIX (when it started previews), and others.

Is he the youngest Black dramatist? Quite possibly.

[Synecdoche2]

Posted: 11/27/22 at 9:54pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Is he the youngest Black dramatist? Quite possibly."

I think this is what is meant, as Lorraine Hansberry was the previous record-holder for black playwrights at age 28.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 11/27/22 at 10:08pm

Synecdoche2 said: "I think this is what is meant, as Lorraine Hansberry was the previous record-holder for black playwrights at age 28."

Then Cooper, the producers, and O&M need to correct this language asap, since it just sounds ignorant.

[bk]

Posted: 11/28/22 at 4:20am

Ira Levin was twenty-seven when No Time for Sergeants opened on Broadway.  Arthur Kopit was twenty-six when Oh Dad, Poor Dad had its Broadway run. 

 

[troynow]

Posted: 11/29/22 at 1:53am

The claim is awful. Terrance McNally was 26 years old when he made his Broadway debut, GOD rest his soul.
Jordan and Lee using this as a byline is simply gross. And ignorant for them to not fact check before saying this.

[Sethwp2]

Posted: 11/29/22 at 10:51am

Pretty sure that Orson Welles holds this record... at 21 years old. 

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 11/29/22 at 11:00am

What a strange thing to say when it has been so easily disproven. 

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 12/8/22 at 1:01am

I cannot get over them just flat-out lying about this and just totally expecting nobody would notice or care. 

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 12/8/22 at 10:29am

For the most part, it seems like they were right. No one appears to really care that it isn’t true, even here on BWW this thread didn’t get a lot of responses. The lie certainly isn’t helping at the box office so I just don’t understand the purpose. I wonder if Cooper really thinks it’s true? Like was this told to him and he’s running with it? Has anyone approached them with the truth? I guess we’ll never know. 

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 12/8/22 at 10:55am

If your flaccid, meandering, witless "satire" had all the bite and insight of a forty-year-old TV sketch, you'd make up something to feel special about too.  

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 12/8/22 at 11:08am

In one of the TV interviews, they did specify "youngest black American playwright in history". So it seems a little odd that they haven't changed that wording anywhere else as they clearly seem aware of it.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 12/8/22 at 1:09pm

While it's true that he may not be the youngest -- he can at least take some comfort in being the WORST playwright in Broadway history!

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 12/18/22 at 12:28am

In a video clip of Queen Latifah “hosting” the show, she apparently repeated the same claim on stage 

 

I loved this show but it’s just not correct 

[Wallman2]

Posted: 12/18/22 at 12:35pm

Yes, Queen Latifah, who may not have checked any facts, announced to the audience at last night's performance that Cooper was the youngest playwright in history to have a play on Broadway.  I guess she can be forgiven since she's never been on Broadway and may not have a sense of history apropos playwrights like Terrence McNally, Ira Levin, Moss Hart, Shelagh Delaney, Arthur Kopit, and (possibly) Herb Gardner per some respondents to this thread.  Her team should have advised her more accurately.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 12/18/22 at 5:21pm

JSquared2 said: "While it's true that he may not be the youngest -- he can at least take some comfort in being the WORST playwright in Broadway history!"

Gosh. You really do lead with such nastiness all the time. It's quite sad.

[David10086]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 2:03am

In interviews I saw in early December they did make the clarification of youngest BLACK playwright.