About the Play:

Hollywood Arms is a full-length comedic drama by Carrie Hamilton and Carol Burnett. A young daughter of ineffectual parents finds escape and solace in her own dreams of stardom in this warmhearted, coming-of-age play by comic legend Carol Burnett and her daughter, Carrie Hamilton. Based on the great comedian's memoir One More Time, this revealing stage version is an entertaining, moving, and sometimes zany look into the not-so Hollywood-land childhood of Carol Burnett.

Hollywood Arms chronicles the life of a woman named Helen in pre- and post-World War II Hollywood. This funny and moving story centres on three generations of women living on welfare in a one-room apartment at the Hollywood Arms, at the foot of the Hollywood hills. The piece contains a cavalcade of characters, including a tough, funny, yet tender pill-popping Christian Scientist grandmother who cares for the heroine, Helen, after the divorce of her parents; a beautiful wide-eyed and distant mother who is struggling to be a writer, only to drown her ambitions in a bottle; a loving but absent and alcoholic father who wants to be the daddy he never was; and a young girl Helen whose only escape is up on the roof of their rundown apartment house where she creates her own magical world at the foot of the Hollywood Hills. Finally, it's a story about shattered hopes and realized dreams. Audiences will laugh and cry as they watch the story of the childhood that birthed the incredible talent of Carol Burnett.

Hollywood Arms premiered in 2002 at Chicago's Goodman Theater and transferred to Broadway at The Cort Theater, with legendary Broadway icon Hal Prince directing both production. Since then the play has been produced widely at professional theatres across the US and has been mounted by colleges and community theatres.

Cast: 5 female, 5 male, 1 girl

What people say:

"…pure theatre and pure entertainment…." — Talkin' Broadway

"…a warm, fuzzy evening of theatre." — BroadwayBeat.com

About the Playwright:

Carrie Hamilton (1963-2002) was an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer/songwriter, and musician. She was the daughter of actor Carol Burnett and the late producer Joe Hamilton. The role for which she first began to receive national attention was in the television series Fame. Guest starring roles on other series soon followed. She also starred in numerous movies for television and conceived the idea of writing a play based on her mother's best-selling memoir One More Time. Together they wrote Hollywood Arms.

Carol Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. She has demonstrated such versatility since ending the eleven-year run of The Carol Burnett Show that she is now as widely recognized for her dramatic abilities as she is for her comedic and musical talents. Americans fondly consider Carol Burnett a true living legend in entertainment, having bestowed more People's Choice Awards upon her than any other woman in the award show's history. In 2003 she was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honor. Some of her other notable awards include six Emmy Awards and five Golden Globes.