"Yankee Doodle Boy" writer and ASCAP co-founder to get statue in Providence, RI
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George M. Cohan |
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The statue of George M. Cohan was unveiled on July 3, 2009 in the newly named George M. Cohan Plaza on Wickenden Street in Providence, Rhode Island. |
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As part of the festivities, which included speeches, a parade, music, and more, Providence Mayor David Cicilline named July 3rd "George M. Cohan Day" in Providence. ASCAP's Jon Bahr delivered a speech about Cohan's involvement as a charter member of ASCAP and his legacy. Pictured are (left) Providence Mayor David Cicilline and ASCAP's Jon Bahr. |
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A close-up of the new George M. Cohan statue in Providence, RI. |
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If there is one city that is associated with ASCAP charter member George M. Cohan (1878 – 1942) – the multi-talented songwriter, song and dance man and musical theater producer who gave the world "You're a Grand Old Flag," "Over There" and "Give My Regards to Broadway" – it's New York City. In 2009, however, a committee of citizens of Providence, Rhode Island – the actual city of Cohan's birth – is seeking to unveil a new bronze statue of Providence's most famous musical native son that will stand on Wickenden Street, where Cohan was born over 130 years ago.
George M. Cohan's impact on both the American musical theater and the popular song is immeasurable. He grew up onstage as a part of the popular Irish-American family vaudeville group, the Four Cohans and by 1904, began to take Broadway by storm as the singing and dancing star, as well as principal songwriter and co-producer of numerous innovative hit musicals, beginning with Little Johnny Jones. That show featured both "Give My Regards to Broadway" and the "The Yankee Doodle Boy," which contains the memorable phrase, "a real live nephew of my Uncle Sam's, born on the Fourth of July." Many more hit shows followed, including Forty-five Minutes from Broadway (1905), George Washington, Jr. (1906), The Talk of New York and many more. Among the timeless standards these shows featured were "Harrigan," "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "Mary's a Grand Old Name." His country's involvement in World War I spurred Cohan to write his anthemic patriotic classic, "Over There."
Sy and Judi Dill, a transplanted New York couple who head the effort to build the statue in Providence, view all Americans as "real live nephews" and nieces of their Uncle Sam and believe Cohan to be a major unifying cultural figure. For more information on the Cohan statue or to offer assistance to the Dills, email sdsydill@gmail.com.
