THE RACONTEURS: A STORY OF GEORGE BURNS AND GRACIE ALLEN Presented As Weekly Podcast
After her passing in 1964, Gracie's story has mostly been told through the memories of her devoted husband and straight man George, who lived another 32 years.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Jun. 29, 2021
The Raconteurs: A Story of George Burns & Gracie Allen, takes you on the origins journey of real-life comedy legends George Burns and Gracie Allen, focusing on milestones in the couple's life such as their first meeting, falling in love, and the evolution of their act. Based on detailed research and rare thought-to-be-lost interviews with the elusive and private Gracie Allen herself, The Raconteurs is the first dramatization told from the point-of-view of the namesake for the Alliance of Women in Media's Gracie Award. After her passing in 1964, Gracie's story has mostly been told through the memories of her devoted husband and straight man George, who lived another 32 years.
Listen to the trailer below!
A female pioneer in comedy, who has been the basis for such modern characters as Phoebe Buffay on Friends and Rose Nyland of The Golden Girls, Gracie Allen is often forgotten in terms of her place in the pop-culture history books, until now. The four-part podcast is presented in a radio-style format to mirror their much loved and successful 1930s radio show, hosted by actor Stephen Tobolowosky (Groundhog Day; "One Day At A Time") and featuring Kevin Sebastian (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as George Burns and playwright Lauren Milberger as Gracie Allen.
The full two-act play itself is a play-with-in-a play where George Burns, in his traditional role as narrator, puts on the story of his life with his best friends Jack Benny, Mary Kelley, and his wife Gracie Allen. But as years pass and their lives become more complicated (infidelities, friends die, Gracie's heath & her need to retire from the act), George comes to the painful realization that life isn't always a "happy showbiz story". Feeling no longer in control of his life, George loses control of the play as narrator... and Gracie takes over.
Playwright Lauren Milberger is an actor and writer as well as a published essayist with a focus on Gracie Allen's history, spending many years and hours researching Miss Allen over the last decades. For more information visit www.laurenmilberger.com/Burnsandallenplay or the podcast website.
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