George M. Cohan’s Irish American Patriotism on Broadway

Playwright, songwriter, producer, and star performer George M. Cohan (1878–1942) looms large in musical theater legend. Remembered today for classic tunes like “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and “Give My Regards to Broadway,” he has been called “the father of musical comedy” and his statue stands in the heart of the New York theater district. Cohan's early twentieth-century songs and shows captured the spirit of an era when staggering social change gave new urgency to efforts to define Americanism. He was an Irish American who had the audacity to represent himself as the emblem of the nation, a vaudevillian who unapologetically climbed the ranks and packaged his lower-brow style as Broadway.This lecture-recital by Prof. Elizabeth T. Craft and a group of guest performers will feature some of Cohan’s most memorable songs as it illustrates how he navigated racial and class tensions, staged national identity on Broadway, and shaped the cultural landscape during a fraught time in U.S. history.