George M!

George M!
George M! Original Broadway Cast Album
Music	George M. Cohan
Lyrics	George M. Cohan Mary Cohan
Book	Michael Stewart John Pascal Francine Pascal
Basis	The life of George M. Cohan
Productions	1968 Broadway 1970 NBC Television adaptation

George M! is a Broadway musical based on the life of George M. Cohan, the biggest Broadway star of his day who was known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway." The book for the musical was written by Michael Stewart, John Pascal, and Francine Pascal. Music and lyrics were, of course, by George M. Cohan himself, with revisions for the musical by Cohan's daughter, Mary Cohan.

The story covers the period from the late 1880s until 1937 and focuses on Cohan's life and show business career from his early days in vaudeville with his parents and sister to his later success as a Broadway singer, dancer, composer, lyricist, theatre director and producer. The show includes such Cohan hit songs as "Give My Regards To Broadway", "You're A Grand Old Flag", and "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

The musical opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on April 10, 1968 and closed on April 26, 1969 after 433 performances and 8 previews. The show was produced by Emanuel Azenberg and directed and choreographed by Joe Layton. The cast featured Joel Grey as George M. Cohan, Bernadette Peters, Jamie Donnelly, and Betty Ann Grove.