The Royal Family
by George S Kaufman, Edna Ferber
Highlights
Awards & Recognition
Nominee: 2010 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play Winner! 1976 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival
Synopsis
The curtain goes up on the most famous theatrical family on Broadway: the fabulous Cavendish clan, which has defined unforgettable stage acting for over three generations.
A bittersweet bouquet to the glory of the Great White Way, The Royal Family portrays the offstage melodrama of what it means to have greasepaint in your veins.
While matriarch Fanny Cavendish plans a farewell tour, her leading lady daughter, Julie, has to choose between a dinner date and a first rehearsal – and just when matinee idol brother Tony is on the lam for slugging a Hollywood director.
In the meantime, Fanny’s granddaughter, Gwen, is thinking the unthinkable – chucking the whole thing to marry a stockbroker.
But the show must go on – and so must the Cavendish tradition.
When the curtain falls, the torch is passed from one generation of actors to another.
Press Reviews
"Little doubt that the premiere was especially appealing to the initiated out front. This group knows considerable about the theatre, and the play is about a supposedly famous family of actors named Cavendish. Yet the comedy content is certainly there and is bound to wring laughter from metropolitan and visiting patrons alike."
— Variety
"The Royal Family finds humor in the lunacies of artistic tribes and contains a ferocious send-up of the warping force of fame and the self-obsession it induces."
— Charles Isherwood, The New York Times
Characters
| Character |
|---|
Jo |
Hallboy |
Mcdermott |
Herbert Dean |
Kitty Dean |
Gwen |
Perry Stewart |
Fanny Cavendish |
Oscar Wolfe |
Julie Cavendish |
Anthony Cavendish |
Chauffeur |
Gilbert Marshall |
Another Hallboy |
Gunga |
Miss Peake |
Della |
Videos
CUNY Theater Talk – Christopher Isherwood and John Glover on The Royal Family
Publication
The Royal Family is a comedy play written by George S Kaufman and published by Samuel French (1977).
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Buy Play
Paperback
Samuel French · 1977 · 171 pp
Performance Rights
Restrictions: Major Markets Only (US) / Standard Restriction (UK)
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