The Michael Stewart Centennial

Born 100 years previous to the date on this post, Broadway bookwriter and lyricist Michael Stewart (Myron Rubin, 1924-1987).

I’d love to have had the chance to interview this guy, for he was clearly such a lover of show business. After graduating from Yale, Stewart went to work in variety television, writing for Caesar’s Hour (1955-57) and Sid Caesar Invites You (1958) (how odd that he’s never listed among the famous alum among Sid Caesar’s writing staff), as well as The Polly Bergen Show (1957). His early theatrical efforts were Off-Broadway revues; he wrote sketches for The Shoestring Revue (1955), The Littlest Revue (1956), and Shoestring ’57.

Nearly of all of Stewart’s Broadway shows have show business themes: Bye Bye Birdie (1960 and its 1981 sequel), Carnival! (1961), George M! (1968, about George M. Cohan), Mack and Mabel (1974, about Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand), Barnum (1980, about P.T. Barnum), 42nd Street (1980), and Harrigan ‘n’ Hart (1985, about the famous vaudeville team). He also wrote the book to Hello Dolly (1964), a vehicle for show biz monsters from its very inception. There’s also I Love My Wife (1977), based on a French farce; The Grand Tour (1979), based on S. N. Behrman’s adaptation of Jacobowsky and the Colonel; and Pieces of Eight (1985), based on Treasure Island.

Stewart was a multiple Tony winner and the brother of Francine Pascal, best known as the author of the Sweet Valley High Y.A. novels, with whom he co-wrote George M!

For more on the history of show business,consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, and stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.