The story covers the period from the late 1880s until 1937 and focuses on Cohan's life and show business career from his early days in vaudeville with his parents and sister to his later success as a Broadway singer, dancer, composer, lyricist, theatre director and producer.

[1] The cast featured Joel Grey as George M. Cohan, Bernadette Peters, Jill O'Hara, Jamie Donnelly, and Betty Ann Grove.

"[3] Goldman wrote it and Little Foxes "were the "two most painful productions of the season as far as most of the skilled theatre professionals were concerned" as both "were patently rotten and got away with it" in terms of receiving excellent reviews. "

A lot of bright, caring people are trying to earn a decent living on Broadway, and when crap sells, panic sets in.

A television adaptation, presented as a staged reading of the musical with the performers discussing Cohan's life and work between rehearsal-style song-and-dance routines, was broadcast by NBC on September 12, 1970.

But Albee doesn't make a good enough offer, and George books the act into the Adams Street Theatre in New York.

Now George is determined to move "The Five Cohans" from vaudeville to musical comedy, and so he writes his first full-length show, The Governor's Son.

Soon they are married and, together with Agnes, George writes some of his most enduring work, including the songs "Yankee Doodle Dandy", "Harrigan", "Over There", and "You're a Grand Old Flag."

was one of the two most painful productions of the season..."[6] Clive Barnes, reviewing for The New York Times, wrote that while the musical "has a lot going for it", it was "burdended" by its book.