George M. Cohan Tonight! CD

Irish Repertory Theatre Premiere Recording
Music and Lyrics by George M. Cohan
Starring Jon Peterson
Additional Material by Chip Deffaa

George M. Cohan may well have been the single most talented figure in American theatrical history. He gave Broadway its pace, its beat, its snap. He wrote, directed, and produced scores of shows; penned hundreds of songs; and became the most popular musical comedy star of his era. Critics called him "The First Actor" and "The Man Who Owns Broadway.” Starting out as a poor Irish-American kid from Providence, RI, Cohan never spent more than a few weeks in school. Nevertheless, he remade the American songbook, and made America - not Europe - the standard-setter for musical theater.

"Set in the prop room of a theater, the one man show has the spirit of Cohan rising again in Jon Peterson, as he illustrates the details of his life in show business, punctuating his story with more than 30 songs crammed into a very taut 100-minute running time. Most theatergoers will probably think of either James Cagney or Joel Grey as the Man Who Owns Broadway, but Mr. Peterson, lanky and tall, easily erases memories of both early on as he strides across the seemingly small Irish Rep stage as if it were Radio City Music Hall. And the man can dance: you won't see a buck-and-wing like this on too many stages any more." - New York Times

Track Listing:

1) Hello Broadway/Give My Regards to Broadway
2) The Man Who Owns Broadway
3) Night Time
4) Musical Moon
5) Ireland, My Land of Dreams
6) I’m Saving Up To Buy A Home For Mother
7) Josephine/Oh, You Wonderful Girl
8) The Hinkey Dee
9) Thank You
10) Harrigan
11) You Won’t Do Any Business If You Haven’t Got a Band
12) If I’m Going To Die I’m Going To Have Some Fun
13) My Father Told Me
14) Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway
15) Oh! You Beautiful Girl/I Want The World To Know
16) Goodbye Flo
17) I Want To Hear A Yankee Doodle Tune
18) The Fatal Curse of Drink
19) The Yankee Doodle Boy
20) Mary
21) You’re A Grand Old Flag
22) Over There
23) Sweet Popularity/I’m A Popular Man
24) Drink With Me/Did Ya Ever Have One of Those Days
25) I Love Everyone In The Wide Wide World/I’m True To Them All
26) All-American Sweetheart
27) I Won’t Be An Actor No More
28) Life’s A Funny Proposition After All
29) All Aboard for Broadway/Give My Regards To Broadway


Audio CD

Label: Ghostlight Records