The musical comedy stage of New York was home to George M. Cohan, vaudeville song-and-dance man, playwright, manager, director, producer, comic actor, and popular songwriter. During the first two decades of the twentieth century, Cohan's style of light comedic drama dominated American theatre, and the lyrics he composed are still remembered at the end of the twentieth century for their flag-waving patriotism and exuberance. His hit song "Over There" embodied the wartime spirit of World War I, and "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "Grand Old Flag," have been passed from generation to generation as popular tunes celebrating the American spirit.

Born on July 3 in Providence, Rhode Island, Cohan spent his childhood as part of a vaudevillian family. Living the typical vaudeville life, Cohan and his sister traveled a circuit of stages, slept in boarding houses and backstage while their parents performed...