Update: Since I’ve written this post, Jacobs’ bio has finally been added to the Impressionism official site. (Those two events are not related, however.)
Update: Since I’ve written this post, Jacobs’ bio has finally been added to the Impressionism official site. (Those two events are not related, however.)
I’ve previously mentioned this play called Impressionism, which is about to open on Broadway with Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen as the stars (and Marsha Mason also in the cast). I haven’t seen or read the play and don’t know what the advance word is about it, but the TV connection — and forgive me, those of you who have seen me mention this before — is that the writer of this romantic comedy is Michael Jacobs, who had his first Broadway play produced at age 22 but (after finding limited success in the theatre) moved to California, becoming a successful writer-creator of family-oriented comedies: Boy Meets World, Dinosaurs, the first season of Charles in Charge, My Two Dads, The Torkelsons and much more. He went back to Broadway when the market for family sitcoms dried up. I’ve always liked his writing, and at least some of the shows he did, so I’m naturally rooting for him.
Now, that said, I just looked at the official site for his play. The site has bios for the whole cast, and every member of the crew… except the playwright. I don’t know if that’s intentional or not, but I do notice that what little publicity material I’ve seen on this play seems to tiptoe around or altogether ignore the previous credits of the person who wrote the play. (Jacobs apparently doesn’t appear on the special features for the upcoming DVD of My Two Dads, either, so maybe he’s just not seeking the public eye any more.)
Now, I know that Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen are the main selling points of the play. The question in my mind is, would it help or hurt a play if the producers played up, or at least mentioned, the fact that the playwright created many shows that potential theatregoers have probably seen (and many of which they grew up watching)? They may not be prestige credits, but if I were a producer I’d find some way to try and turn them into a selling point. Which may explain why I’m not a producer. But come on, someone would have to want to see this play because it’s written by the person who co-wrote the Charles In Charge theme song, gave William Daniels a character who could make kids forget he was KITT, and also created this: