Seeking Help re one person plays

[Komack]

Posted: 1/15/13 at 2:49pm

I am trying to come up with a list of plays (and the playwrights who wrote them) of one-person plays which involve historical figures (politicians, poets, etc). So far, I've come up with "Give 'Em Hell, Harry," "The Belle of Amherst," "Thurgood," "Mark Twain Tonight," "Read Hot Patriot" (Molly Ivins), "Golda's Balcony," "Clarence Darrow," and Holland Taylor's "Ann." Any other suggestions?

[madbrian]

Posted: 1/15/13 at 2:51pm

I believe "Say Goodnight, Gracie" was a one-man show, with Frank Gorshin playing George Burns.

[artscallion]

Posted: 1/15/13 at 2:55pm

Nobody Don't Like Yogi - about Yogi Berra

Paul Robeson - about the civil rights activist

Updated On: 1/15/13 at 02:55 PM

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 1/15/13 at 2:57pm

I Am My Own Wife is based on the life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf.

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 1/15/13 at 3:10pm

Don't forget the soon to be seen on Broadway Ann, by Holland Taylor.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/15/13 at 3:12pm

"Tea at Five" was about Katharine Hepburn

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 1/15/13 at 3:21pm

TRU, about Truman Capote, by Jay Presson Allen.

ETA: FULL GALLOP, by Mark Hampton and Mary Louise Wilson, about Diana Vreeland. Updated On: 1/15/13 at 03:21 PM

[WOSQ]

Posted: 1/15/13 at 3:48pm

William Luce who wrote The Belle of Amherst seems to have made a career of this kind of show. Julie Harris did one on Isak Dinesson, the title of which escapes me, and I think Mr. Luce wrote one called Lillian about Lillian Hellman.

There are two plays about Gertrude Stein and the one that starred Pat Carroll had a very satisfactory off-Broadway run. Pat Bond wrote and starred in the other which I don't think ever played NY although it was taped for PBS.

Clarence Darrow was written for Henry Fonda.

Roy Dotrice had over a decade's work as John Aubrey in the vastly entertaining Brief Lives in the 60s & 70s. He played everywhere in the English speaking world that he could get a booking.

For some reason someone thought Alec McCowan as Rudyard Kipling would sell in NYC. It didn't and died after a week. Vincent Price played Oscar Wilde and Ben Kingsley played Edmund Kean to slightly better success.

Colleen Dewhurst played Carlotta O'Neill in a show that played the Public although it went nowhere. More recently Judith Ivey played Martha Mitchell there.

There are probably quite a few more.

[Jon]

Posted: 1/15/13 at 5:41pm

Robert Vaughn did a one-man show about FDR.

Leonard Nimoy did "Vincent", about Van Gogh, except it it was told through the eyes of his brother, Theo.

James Whitmore did Will Rodgers beforwe he did Harry Truman.

Are we counting Will Ferrell's G.W. Bush show (not actually a one-man show)?

[bobs3]

Posted: 1/15/13 at 5:46pm

Alec McCowen performed "ST. MARK'S GOSPEL" in the UK, Broadway, and I think it was taped for the old "Broadway on Showtime" series.

I'm not a religious person but it was a mesmerizing performance

Updated On: 1/16/13 at 05:46 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 1/15/13 at 9:22pm

I don't think you should ignore Anna Deveare Smith. It's true she plays multiple characters in her one-woman shows, but they are historical figures, famous and not. In fact, she usually crafts the monologues of the characters from actual interviews.

It doesn't get much more "historical" than that.

[darquegk]

Posted: 1/15/13 at 9:34pm

I've been looking for the video of Mark's Gospel for ages- McCowan did an audiobook for commercial release but it's just not the same.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/15/13 at 11:25pm

"Eleanor: Her Secret Journey" by Rhoda Lerman.

[rhdery]

Posted: 1/16/13 at 12:21am

"Trumbo" about the great, blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. Christopher Lloyd played the part in NYC.

I saw a one man show about Zero Mostel about a year ago. May have been called Mostel. Also blacklisted, incidentally.

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 1/16/13 at 1:06am

Dael Orlandersmith has a lot of material like this.

[NJBway]

Posted: 1/16/13 at 12:05pm

9 Parts of Desire by Heather Raffo, about the women in Iraq affected by the war, it's a one woman show that plays 9 roles one of which is based off of a famous artist in Iraq who was killed.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 5:25pm

I saw a one man show about Zero Mostel about a year ago. May have been called Mostel. Also blacklisted, incidentally.

That would likely be Zero Hour, written by and starring the enormously talented Jim Brochu.

[rhdery]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 6:03pm

Yes! Zero Hour, and he was great! Thanks for the help on the title.

[Jon]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 8:52pm

About 20 years ago, John Astin did a one man show as Edgar Allan Poe.

[NJBway]

Posted: 1/20/13 at 11:14am

i dont know if you'd necessarily count it as political but property known as garland is a two person show that is just phenomenal

[ggersten]

Posted: 1/20/13 at 2:16pm

I saw Nehemiah Persoff do a one person show about the author, Sholem Aleichem, around 1981 or 1982.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 1/20/13 at 4:19pm

I had the great joy of seeing (twice) Siobhan McKenna's performance of HERE ARE LADIES, her one-woman show of famous characters from Irish literature.

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 1:12am

Bump for thread about actors who hardly ever off stage

Updated On: 7/20/13 at 01:12 AM

[Marcellus2]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 10:42am

The Santaland Diaries.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 11:02am

David Sedaris is not quite yet a historical figure.