The Shannons of Broadway

About the show

The locale of the play is a small-town hotel with a dining room and barber shop attached, in Sutton, New England. Act I (A shabby old-fashioned hotel lobby. An early spring evening.) The "railroad trade" relaxes in the hotel lobby after their dinner on a snowy day. The railroad supplies its workers with meal tickets to the hotel dining room. Oscar greets Charley, Vance, and Pa Swanzey, while taking down a theater bill: the vaudeville show just folded. Bert comes in late and Minerva blocks him from entering the dining room, but promises he can eat after she goes to the pictures. Emma and Mickey Shannon come in from the cold, but Pa Swanzey will not let them stay because they are "actors". Mrs. Swanzey intervenes to allow the Shannons to warm themselves at the pot-bellied stove. Emma forestalls Nez Davis from getting Chuck Bradford any drunker. The Shannons overhear how Charles Bradford Sr is pressuring Pa Swanzey to sell the hotel and his other property outside town. Bradford shows up to take Chuck home and threaten Nez Davis and Pa Swanzey over the bootleg hooch. Tessie confronts Bradford and Newt Eddy over the invalid lien against the hotel, and a general fracas ensues when Bradford insults her. Emma and Mickey persuade Pa Swanzey to sell them the hotel for $6000, which they had been saving for a farm. Minerva, whom Emma had slapped down earlier for sassing her, is dismayed but the Swanzeys are elated. (Curtain) Act II (Same as Act I, with refurbished lobby. A few weeks later.) Mickey is manning the front desk when hotel guests Eddie and Alice Allen admit they can't pay the room bill. They offer to demonstrate their vaudeville act to establish credit worthiness. It is dismal and the Shannons tell them so. But instead of ejecting the Allens and confiscating their luggage, they offer them jobs as night clerk and seamstress with free room and board. Vance Atkins, impressed with the Shannons generosity, tells them about the planned railroad expansion and new "government flying field" planned for outside of town. He learned from his brother the construction would be north of the river, which is just where Bradford is buying land options. Emma charms Newt and sends him out with a $3000 check to buy up options before Bradford does. Chuck, who has stopped drinking and opposes his father over Tessie, is also sent out to buy options with another $3000 check. The Melody Boys arrive, and are given a corner suite and invited to practice their saxophones in the hotel. Emma, however, has forgotten to get Mickey's buy-in for the land options. When he learns she has given the last of their savings to comparative strangers, he explodes and threatens to leave. (Curtain) Act III (Same as Act II. Next day, early afternoon.) Emma and Mickey have reconciled. Minerva comes crying to Emma; Bert is ignoring her since she is now "in trouble". Emma assures her she won't lose her job or room. Mickey is just phoning Bradford to offer the hotel for sale, as he's convinced their savings are lost. Just then Mr. Albee comes into the lobby. After some initial confusion over his identity, the deflated Shannons perk up when he offers to pay $25,000 for the hotel. He further informs them that all the new projects are going south of the river. Now Vance enters, dragging a fearful Newt, who admits buying the options north of the river with Emma's check, but recording them in Bradford's name. Chuck then comes to confess he second-guessed Emma, and bought south of the river instead of north. Elated, Mickey gleefully pounces on Bradford when he comes to buy the hotel. Mickey scares him with jail for sub-borning Newt, while Chuck threatens him for again insulting Tessie. Bradford repays the money Newt spent for him, and yields to his son about marrying Tessie. Now Bert arrives and is confronted by Emma, who demands he marry Minerva. He refuses until Mickey knocks him down, then relents. With the Melody Boys providing the music, the entire cast goes into a song and dance number: the Shannons are returning to Broadway. (Curtain)