Community Players

A thinly-veiled portrait of the Barrymores, another renowned “Royal Family of Broadway,” the Cavendish family comprises three generations of legendary American actors: dowager Fanny Cavendish, widow of the premier actor of his day, who at seventy is planning an upcoming tour; brother Herbert, a histrionic player now in his decline; Fanny’s daughter Julie, at the height of her Broadway fame, and other brother Tony who has forsaken the stage for Hollywood. Heralding the third generation of players, Julie’s daughter Gwen is just starting a promising ingenue career. When Tony rushes home only to flee to Europe escaping the attentions of a Polish movie star and Gwen shocks the family by marrying a “non-professional,” it seems the Cavendish name and reputation is threatened. Through it all, Fanny rules with a combination of strength, wit, courage, and a sharp tongue, proving that the “show” indeed, “must and will go on.”