Editing George S. Kaufman (section)

====Musical theater====
Despite his claim that he knew nothing about music and hated it in the theater, Kaufman collaborated on many [[musical theater]] projects. His most successful of such efforts include two Broadway shows crafted for the Marx Brothers, ''[[The Cocoanuts (musical)|The Cocoanuts]]'', written with [[Irving Berlin]], and ''[[Animal Crackers (musical)|Animal Crackers]]'', written with [[Morrie Ryskind]], [[Bert Kalmar]], and [[Harry Ruby]]. According to Charlotte Chandler, "By the time ''Animal Crackers'' opened&nbsp;... the Marx Brothers were becoming famous enough to interest Hollywood. Paramount signed them to a contract".<ref>Chandler, Charlotte (2007). ''Hello, I Must Be Going: Groucho and His Friends'', Simon and Schuster, {{ISBN|1-4165-6521-3}}.</ref>  Kaufman was one of the writers who excelled in writing intelligent nonsense for [[Groucho Marx]], a process that was collaborative, given Groucho's skills at expanding upon the scripted material. Though the Marx Brothers were notoriously critical of their writers, Groucho and [[Harpo Marx]] expressed admiration and gratitude towards Kaufman. [[Dick Cavett]], introducing Groucho onstage at [[Carnegie Hall]] in 1972, told the audience that Groucho considered Kaufman to be "his god".

While ''The Cocoanuts'' was being developed in Atlantic City, Irving Berlin was hugely enthusiastic about including the song "[[Always (1925 song)|Always]]", which he had written as a wedding present for his bride.{{efn|1=Both Kaufman and Marx describe the song as having been written expressly for the show,<ref name="Kaufman site">{{Cite web |url=http://www.georgeskaufman.com/play-catalogue/16-play-catalogue/critics-choice/80-the-cocoanuts-1925.html |title=The Cocoanuts (1925) |last1=Schneider |first1=Anne Kaufman |last2=Maslon |first2=Laurence |author-link2=Laurence Maslon |year=2013 |website=George S. Kaufman website |access-date=May 17, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://thelifeandtimesofhollywood.com/irving-berlins-always-that-groucho-complained-was-for-the-marx-brothers-play-the-cocoanuts/ |title=Irving Berlin's 'Always' That Groucho Complained was for the Marx Brothers play 'The Cocoanuts.' |date=June 29, 2017 |website=The Life and Times of Hollywood |access-date=May 17, 2019 |archive-date=May 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517164818/https://thelifeandtimesofhollywood.com/irving-berlins-always-that-groucho-complained-was-for-the-marx-brothers-play-the-cocoanuts/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> but it had been registered with the [[National Music Publishers Association|Music Publishers' Protective Association]] in May 1925, before Berlin started working on ''The Cocoanuts''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ArxJGmmIQR8C&pg=PA228 |title=The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin |last1=Kimball |first1=Robert |last2=Emmet |first2=Linda |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |year=2005 |isbn=9781557836816 |pages=228}}</ref> "Always" was eventually restored to the score in a 1996 revival.<ref name="Kaufman site"/>}} Kaufman was less enthusiastic, and refused to rework the libretto to include this number. The song ultimately became a huge hit for Berlin, recorded by many popular performers. According to Laurence Bergreen, "Kaufman's lack of enthusiasm caused Irving to lose confidence in the song, and 'Always' was deleted from the score of ''The Cocoanuts'' – though not from its creator's memory.&nbsp;... Kaufman, a confirmed misogynist, had had no use for the song in ''The Cocoanuts'', but his disapproval did not deter Berlin from saving it for a more important occasion."<ref>Bergreen, Laurence  (1996). ''As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin'', Da Capo Press, {{ISBN|0-306-80675-4}}, pp. 249, 264.</ref> ''The Cocoanuts'' would remain Irving Berlin's only Broadway musical – until his last one, ''[[Mr. President (musical)|Mr. President]]'' – that did not include at least one eventual hit song.

Kaufman recalled the matter differently.  In an article in ''Stage'' magazine, he recalled that Berlin woke him up at 5 am one morning to play a new song he had just written.  "Even ''my'' deficient musical sense recognized that here was a song that was going to be popular.  I listened to it two or three times, then took a stab at it myself, and as dawn came up over the Atlantic, Irving and I were happily singing 'Always' together—its first performance on any stage.  I went back to bed a happy man, and stayed happy until rehearsals started, when it turned out that 'Always' had not been written for our show at all, but purely for Irving's music-publishing house.  In its place in ''The Cocoanuts'' was a song called 'A Little Bungalow,' which we never could reprise in Act Two because the actors couldn't remember it that long."<ref>"Music to My Ears", ''Stage'', August 1938. Reprinted in ''By George: A Kaufman Collection'', 1979.</ref>

Humor derived from political situations was of particular interest to Kaufman. He collaborated on the hit musical ''[[Of Thee I Sing]]'', which won the 1932 Pulitzer Prize, the first musical so honored,<ref name=pulitzer/> and its sequel ''[[Let 'Em Eat Cake]]'', as well as one troubled, but eventually successful, satire that had several incarnations, ''[[Strike Up the Band (musical)|Strike Up the Band]]''. Working with Kaufman on these ventures were Ryskind, [[George Gershwin]], and [[Ira Gershwin]]. Also, Kaufman, with Moss Hart, wrote the book to ''[[I'd Rather Be Right]]'', a musical starring [[George M. Cohan]] as [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] (the U.S. president at the time), with songs by [[Richard Rodgers]] and [[Lorenz Hart]]. He also co-wrote the 1935 comedy-drama ''[[First Lady (play)|First Lady]]''.  In 1945, Kaufman adapted ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]'' into ''[[Hollywood Pinafore]]''.

Kaufman also contributed to major New York revues, including ''[[The Band Wagon (musical)|The Band Wagon]]'' (which shared songs, but not plot with the 1953 film version) with [[Arthur Schwartz]] and [[Howard Dietz]]. His often-anthologized sketch "The Still Alarm" from the revue ''[[The Little Show]]'' lasted long after the show closed. Another well-known sketch of his is "If Men Played Cards as Women Do". Also, musicals have been based on Kaufman properties, such as the 1981 musical version of ''[[Merrily We Roll Along (musical)|Merrily We Roll Along]]'', adapted by [[George Furth]] and [[Stephen Sondheim]].<ref>Rich, Frank (November 17, 1981). [http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9805E6D91F39F934A25752C1A967948260 "Stage: A New Sondheim, ''Merrily We Roll Along''"]. ''The New York Times''.</ref> The musical ''[[Sherry!]]'' (1967) was based on his play ''The Man Who Came to Dinner''.<ref>[http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3073 "''Sherry!''"]. Internet Broadway Database (ibdb.com). Retrieved November 13, 2010.</ref>