First Dance; or, A Lesson in Romance: a comedy for women in three acts

New York/Los Angeles/Toronto/London: Samuel French. Very Good. (c.1939). Unstated edition. Softcover. (printed wraps) [small tear in binding at top of spine, light handling wear and age-toning; a few pencil annotations in Act One]. (stage diagram) A comedy with an all-female cast, about a wise grandmother counseling her granddaughter, who is nervous about attending her first dance, with a flashback to how she, as a young woman, helped her six young cousins to rebel against parental strictures, and in the process found romance herself. "A charming, ideal comedy for girls' colleges, schools, and clubs. Fourteen good acting parts -- ten ingenues; four character women." As a screenwriter, the author was probably best known for writing several of the Val Lewton horror films at RKO in the 1940s, including CAT PEOPLE and THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE. Although he was associated for a number of years with the Pasadena Playhouse, I've found no evidence that was ever professionally produced there, or anywhere else. (Bodeen wrote dozens of plays, but the only one to ever make it to Broadway was "Harvest of Years," which had a two-week run in 1948.) .