|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
Hart, Moss
Hart, Moss (1904–61), playwright and director. Born in New York, he received his earliest theatrical training as assistant to producer Augustus Pitou. Hart's first two plays failed, but success came when he collaborated with George S. Kaufman on the Hollywood spoof Once in a Lifetime (1930). The team of Kaufman and Hart would write some of the most popular or interesting plays of the day, including Merrily We Roll Along (1934), You Can't Take It with You (1936), The Fabulous Invalid (1938), The American Way (1939), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939), and George Washington Slept Here (1940), as well as the libretto for the musical I'd Rather Be Right (1937). With others or alone, Hart wrote the books or sketches for the musicals Face the Music (1932), As Thousands Cheer (1933), The Great Waltz (1934), Jubilee (1935), Sing Out the News (1938), and Lady in the Dark (1941). His solo nonmusical efforts include Winged Victory (1943), Christopher Blake (1946), Light Up the Sky (1948), and The Climate of Eden (1952). Because so many of Hart's earlier works were collaborations, it is difficult to assess his precise contribution to them, but his solo efforts revealed a gift for superior, literate dialogue and probing characterization, this last quality probably reflecting his interest in human psychology following his own much‐publicized psychoanalysis. Besides directing many of his own shows, he also staged such hits as Junior Miss (1941), Dear Ruth (1944), My Fair Lady (1956), and Camelot (1960). Autobiography: Act One, 1959. Biography: Dazzler: The Life and Times of Moss Hart, Steven Bach, 2001.
|
|
|
Cite this article
Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Hart, Moss." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Hart, Moss." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-HartMoss.html Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Hart, Moss." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-HartMoss.html |
|
Moss Hart
Moss Hart 1904-61, American dramatist, b. New York City, studied at Columbia. His first important play, Once in a Lifetime (1930), marked the beginning of a long collaboration with George S. Kaufman . Among their other successful comedies are Merrily We Roll Along (1934), You Can't Take It with You (1936; Pulitzer Prize), I'd Rather Be Right (1937, written with George M. Cohan ), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939), and George Washington Slept Here (1940). Hart also collaborated on musicals with Irving Berlin and Cole Porter , and his most successful musical, Lady in the Dark (1941), was written with Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin . Among his plays, produced between 1941 and 1952, are Winged Victory, Christopher Blake, Light Up the Sky, and The Climate of Eden. Hart also directed several 1940s film comedies and wrote the 1952 screen hit Hans Christian Andersen. In 1956 he returned to Broadway as director of the long-running musical hit My Fair Lady.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"Moss Hart." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Moss Hart." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Hart-Mos.html "Moss Hart." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Hart-Mos.html |
|
Hart, Moss
Hart, Moss (1904–61), American dramatist and director, who began his career as office boy to Augustus Pitou, a theatre impresario to whom he sold his first play The Beloved Bandit. His second, Once in a Lifetime (1930; London, 1933), was bought by Sam Harris, and successfully produced after extensive rewriting by George S. Kaufman, which led to a long collaboration between the two. Hart also wrote plays on his own, of which the most interesting were Winged Victory (1943), about the Air Force, Christopher Blake (1946), and Light up the Sky (1948). His last play was The Climate of Eden (1952) based on Edgar Mittelholzer's novel Shadows Move among Them and set on a missionary colony in British Guiana. His work for the musical stage included the sketches for the Irving Berlin revue As Thousands Cheer (1933), the libretto for the operetta The Great Waltz (1934), and the book for Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark (1941). He directed a number of his own works, and, among those by others, the musicals My Fair Lady (1956; London, 1958) and Camelot (1960).
|
|
|
Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Hart, Moss." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Hart, Moss." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-HartMoss.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Hart, Moss." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-HartMoss.html |
|
Hart, Moss
Hart, Moss (1904–61), New York playwright, was best known for his collaborations with George S. Kaufman, which include Once in a Lifetime (1930), You Can't Take It with You (1936, Pulitzer Prize), I'd Rather Be Right (1937), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939), and George Washington Slept Here (1940). He also wrote the librettos for the Irving Berlin revues Face the Music (1932) and As Thousands Cheer (1933), and the musical comedy Lady in the Dark (1941), with songs by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin. Winged Victory (1943), a play about the air force, was performed by soldiers. Act One (1959) is his autobiography.
|
|
|
Cite this article
James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Hart, Moss." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Hart, Moss." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-HartMoss.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Hart, Moss." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-HartMoss.html |
|
Hart, Moss
|
|
|
Cite this article
"Hart, Moss." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Hart, Moss." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-HartMoss.html "Hart, Moss." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-HartMoss.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
