About the Play:

Stage Door is a full-length comedy, written by two of the theatre's greatest writers, Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman. Artistry or celebrity? Broadway or Hollywood? The young actresses living at the Footlights Club in 1930s New York play out their struggles with art, love and life as they pursue their passion to act. Comedy and heartbreak abound in one of the most successful plays ever offered. A college favourite and most popular title with community theatres.

Stage Door concerns a group of young girls who have come to New York to study acting and find jobs. The scene is Mrs. Orcutt's boarding house, where the hopes and ambitions of sixteen young women are revealed in scenes of entertaining comedy. Contrasted with this are the cases of the girl without talent and the elderly actress whose days are over. The central plot has to do with courageous Terry Randall, who fights against discouragement to a position in the theater where we are sure she will conquer. One of her fellow aspirants gives up in despair, one gets married, and one goes into pictures, but Terry, with the help of idealistic David Kingsley, sticks to her guns. Colour and contrast are offered by Mattie, the maid; Frank her husband; a few young men callers; a movie magnate; and young Keith Burgess, the playwright who "goes Hollywood." The play can be presented in a single setting. Direction on this and instructions covering slight alterations in the play appear in the back of the book.

Stage Door premiered in 1936 on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre. Although it is an ideal play for colleges or community groups with a large female membership, to this date, there has been no Broadway revival.

Cast: 21 women, 11 men (16 of the 21 women are young women, doubling possible)

What people say:

"The show is a good vehicle for student actors, since it concerns aspiring actresses only a few years older than themselves who have come to New York determined to make their way in the theater world, despite heartbreak and hardship." — Chicago Tribune

About the Playwright:

Edna Ferber (1885 – 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright whose work served as the inspiration for numerous Broadway plays and Hollywood films –– her book Show Boat became a musical, and Giant was made into a movie (James Dean's final film). She co-wrote the plays with George S. Kaufman (including Stage Door) and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1925 for her novel So Big.

George S. Kaufman (1889 – 1961) was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. After brief periods studying law and as a salesman, he began to contribute humorous material to newspapers; by 1915 he was writing for the theatre section of the New York Tribune, moving to The New York Times (1917-30). He wrote forty-five plays and musicals in his career. The vast majority were hits and two of his collaborations won the Pulitzer Prize.