Say Goodnight, Gracie Say Goodnight, Gracie Say Goodnight Gracie is a one-man play by Rupert Holmes. Adapted from the reminiscences of George Burns, the multimedia presentation traces the comedian-raconteur's life from his childhood on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to his early career in vaudeville to his momentous meeting and subsequent personal and professional relationships with wife Gracie Allen. After 27 previews, the Broadway production, directed by John Tillinger, opened on October 10, 2002, at the Helen Hayes Theatre, where it ran for 364 performances. It is the third-longest-running solo show in Broadway history. Frank Gorshin starred as Burns, and Didi Conn
Goodnight, Irene Goodnight, Irene "Goodnight, Irene" or "Irene, Goodnight," is a 20th-century American folk standard, written in 3/4 time, first recorded by American blues musician Huddie 'Lead Belly' Ledbetter in 1933. The lyrics tell of the singer's troubled past with his love, Irene, and express his sadness and frustration. Several verses refer explicitly to suicidal fantasies, most famously in the line "sometimes I take a great notion to jump in the river and drown," which was the inspiration for the 1964 Ken Kesey novel "Sometimes a Great Notion" and a song of the same name from John Mellencamp's 1989 album, "Big Daddy",