# Is there an IMDB for plays?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-imdb-for-plays/146413
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 3, 2003, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-imdb-for-plays/146413 "2003-01-03T14:16:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2003, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-imdb-for-plays/146413/1 "2003-01-03T14:16:40Z")
I was looking for a specific play the other day (actually, this morning, but I imagine by the time this gets off the board, it will be the “other day” - now watch, now that I have said it, this thread won’t last the hour before it is off the board) and could not find it. If it were a movie, I could have hit [IMDB.com](http://IMDB.com) and found it under a number of headings.
So…is there such a service for plays?
TV
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### Author:  [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-imdb-for-plays/146413/2 "2003-01-03T15:08:30Z")
Ask and ye shall recieve: [www.ibdb.com](http://www.ibdb.com) (or Internet Broadway Database).
I don’t believe it is as complete as the imdb quite yet, but maybe you can find what you are looking for there anyway. If not, tell me what play you’re looking for and I’ll see what I can do.
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### Author:  [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-imdb-for-plays/146413/3 "2003-01-03T15:32:25Z")
Thanks **DooWahDiddy**. It was a start.
I’m trying to find the play on which \*Roxie Hart \*(with Ginger Rogers and John Payne) the movie that the muscial _Chicago_ is based upon, is based. I heard it was a Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur comedy but Ibdb just lists titles and no plots. When I ran likely titles through google, none seemed to apply.
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### Author:  [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-imdb-for-plays/146413/4 "2003-01-03T15:57:29Z")
It was originally a 1926 play, obviously called _Chicago_, by Maurine Dallas Watkins. She was a reporter for the Chicago Tribune and wrote the play based on the collected stories from the city’s criminal courts.
She does have an official website, at [http://www.maurinewatkins.com/index2.html](http://www.maurinewatkins.com/index2.html)
As for getting a _script_ of this play, that could be a little tougher…
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### Author:  [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-imdb-for-plays/146413/5 "2003-01-03T15:58:15Z")
The original play was called _Chicago_ and was written by a Chicago Tribune reporter, [Maurine Watkins](http://www.maurinewatkins.com/plays04.html).
> [@](#):
>
> Chicago, or, Play Ball (1926). Originally titled The Brave Little Woman before it was initially copyrighted in 1926. Opened on Broadway at the end of 1926 to rave acclaim. Published as Chicago (1927) and produced in New York, England, Germany and elsewhere; toured the US for many months, as well. Shortly after this play opened, it is reported that Maurine was making $2,000.00 per week. Not bad…
> Cecil B. De Mille supervised the silent film version of Chicago (1927) and Nunnally Johnson adapted and produced this script as the film Roxie Hart (Twentieth Century-Fox, 1942, starring Ginger Rogers).
I don’t know if a copy of the play is available, but this will give you a starting place. The link above refers to a website dedicated to the author which is still under construction; there may be more info as the site is built.
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### Author:  [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-imdb-for-plays/146413/6 "2003-01-03T16:04:07Z")
While we’re here, maybe someone could tell me what an “understudy” is. Is it like a standby?
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### Author:  [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-imdb-for-plays/146413/7 "2003-01-03T16:08:21Z")
And [here’s](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0809321297/edventuresonline/103-4978801-8286215) a link to the script on sale at [amazon.com](http://amazon.com).
[sub]GoogleMeister strikes again![/sub]
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### Author:  [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-imdb-for-plays/146413/8 "2003-01-03T16:09:06Z")
**Lurkmeister** , I don’t think we could have planned that better if we tried. 🙂
**bean\_shadow** , the phrases are synonymous.
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### Author:  [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-imdb-for-plays/146413/9 "2003-01-03T16:31:58Z")
wow, a duet—cool
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### Author:  [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-imdb-for-plays/146413/10 "2003-01-04T04:24:29Z")
Somebody let me know if anyone ever create an IMDB for books (or even just novels/fiction).