Bud Abbott Alone

“Bud Abbott was the greatest straight man ever.” (Groucho Marx)

During their prime in the 1940s and early 1950s, Abbott and Costello were the most popular comedy duo in show business. They first became a team in burlesque, graduated to radio with Kate Smith, then Broadway with comedian Bobby Clark and Carmen Miranda; and, ultimately, to the movies, making their debut supporting Allan Jones and Nancy Kelly in One Night in the Tropics (1940).

Their own films, including Buck Privates and In the Navy (1941), Rio Rita (1942), Hit the Ice (1943), and their biggest hit, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), made them one of biggest movie box-office stars of their day. Yet, all was not well with Bud and Lou. Aside from both of them having major health problems, there were disputes over money, billing, and a tragedy that changed their lives forever.

The team broke up in 1957. Costello would die two years later, and Abbott would be faced with major issues from the Internal Revenue Service.

Michael B. Druxman’s one-person play, Bud Abbott Alone, joins the retired straight man, now living on his Social Security, contemplating voicing himself in an animated cartoon TV series based on him and his late partner. He ponders his life, remembering the salad days of his career.

One simple set.