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Drama Desk Award For Outstanding Book Of A Musical
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in the theatre among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions. For two years, in addition to the award for Outstanding Book, an award was presented to the writers of the Most Promising Book. Recipients of this honor were Melvin Van Peebles for ''Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death'' in 1972 and Ron House and Diz White for ''El Grande de Coco-Cola'' in 1973. Winners and nominees 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Multiple wins ; 3 wins * James Lapine * Thomas Meehan * Hugh Wheeler ; 2 wins * Rupert Holmes Multiple nominations ; 5 nominations *Terrence McNally ; 4 nominations *James Lapine * Thomas Meehan ; 3 nominations *Joe DiPietro *Michael John LaChiusa *Dick Scanlan *John Weidman *Hugh Wheeler *Alfred Uhry ; 2 nominations *Douglas Carter Beane *Chad Beguelin *Scott Brown *Harvey Fierstein *John Guare *Rupert H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Following the 1964 renaming as the Drama Desk Awards, Broadway productions were included beginning with the 1968–69 award season. The awards are considered a significant American theater distinction. History The Drama Desk organization was formed in 1949 by a group of New York theater critics, editors, reporters and publishers, in order to make the public aware of the vital issues concerning the theatrical industry. They debuted the presentations of the ''Vernon Rice Awards''. The name honors the ''New York Post'' critic Vernon Rice, who had pioneered Off-Broadway coverage in the New York press. The name was changed for the 1963–1964 awards season to the ''Drama Desk Awards''. In 1974, the Drama Desk became incorporated as a not-for-pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Chorus Line
''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. ''A Chorus Line'' provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer, as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers. Following several workshops and an Off-Broadway production, ''A Chorus Line'' opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway July 25, 1975, directed by Michael Bennett and co-choreographed by Bennett and Bob Avian. An unprecedented box office and critical hit, the musical received twelve Tony Award nominations and won nine, in addition to the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The original Broadway production ran for 6,137 performances, becoming the longest-running production in Broadway history until surpasse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doonesbury (musical)
''Doonesbury'', also known as ''Doonesbury: A Musical Comedy'', is a 1983 musical with a book and lyrics by Garry Trudeau and music by Elizabeth Swados. Based on Trudeau's comic strip of the same name, it served to change the format of the strip from an episodic satire of college campus life that existed on a floating timeline to a more character driven, serialized political cartoon series in which characters changed, aged, and died, while still retaining a satirical political bent. Notably, the play depicts the core cast of characters—perpetually twenty-something undergraduates for the first twelve years of the strip's run—graduating college. Trudeau took a nearly two-year sabbatical from writing the comic strip to develop the project. Production After twenty previews, the musical, directed by Jacques Levy and choreographed by Margo Sappington, opened on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre on November 21, 1983, where it ran for 104 performances. The cast included Mark Linn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garry Trudeau
Garretson Beekman Trudeau (born July 21, 1948) is an American cartoonist, best known for creating the ''Doonesbury'' comic strip. Trudeau is also the creator and executive producer of the Amazon Studios political comedy series ''Alpha House''. Background and education Trudeau was born in New York City, the son of Jean Douglas ( Moore) and Francis Berger Trudeau Jr. He is the great-grandson of Edward Livingston Trudeau, who created Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis at Saranac Lake, New York. Edward was succeeded by his son Francis and grandson Francis Jr. The latter founded the Trudeau Institute at Saranac Lake, with which Garry Trudeau retains a connection. His ancestry is French Canadian, English, Dutch, German, and Swedish. Raised in Saranac Lake, Trudeau attended St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire), St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He enrolled in Yale University in 1966. As an art major, Trudeau initially focused ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Cage Aux Folles (musical)
''La Cage aux Folles'' () is a musical with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and a book by Harvey Fierstein. Based on the 1973 French play of the same name by Jean Poiret, it tells the story of a gay couple, Georges, the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and Albin, his romantic partner and star attraction, and the farcical adventures that ensue when Georges's son, Jean-Michel, brings home his fiancée's ultra-conservative parents to meet them. ''La cage aux folles'' literally means "the cage of crazy women". However, ''folles'' is also a slang term for effeminate homosexuals (queens). Opening on Broadway in 1983 ''La Cage'' broke barriers for gay representation by becoming the first hit Broadway musical centered on a homosexual relationship. The show's Act One finale, " I Am What I Am", received praise as a "gay anthem" and has been widely recorded. The original production ran for more than four years (1,761 performances), and won six Tony Awar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for his theater work in ''Torch Song Trilogy'' and ''Hairspray'' and movie roles in ''Mrs. Doubtfire'', '' Independence Day'', and as the voice of Yao in ''Mulan'' and ''Mulan II''. Fierstein won two Tony Awards, Best Actor in a Play and Best Play, for ''Torch Song Trilogy''. He received his third Tony Award, Best Book of a Musical, for the musical '' La Cage aux Folles'' and his fourth, the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, for playing Edna Turnblad in ''Hairspray''. Fierstein also wrote the book for the Tony Award-winning musicals '' Kinky Boots, Newsies,'' and Tony Award-nominated, Drama League Award-winner ''A Catered Affair.'' He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2007. For his role on the television show ''Cheers'', he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Early life and educ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunday In The Park With George
''Sunday in the Park with George'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It was inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting ''A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte''. The plot revolves around George, a fictionalized version of Seurat, who immerses himself deeply in painting his masterpiece, and his great-grandson (also named George), a conflicted and cynical contemporary artist. The Broadway production opened in 1984. The musical won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, two Tony Awards for design (and a nomination for Best Musical), numerous Drama Desk Awards, the 1991 Olivier Award for Best Musical and the 2007 Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production. It has enjoyed several major revivals, including the 2005–06 UK production first presented at the Menier Chocolate Factory, its subsequent 2008 Broadway transfer, and a 2017 Broadway revival. Synopsis Act I In 1884, Georges Seurat, known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Lapine
James Elliot Lapine (born January 10, 1949) is an American stage director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for ''Into the Woods'', ''Falsettos'', and '' Passion''. He has frequently collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and William Finn. Early life Lapine was born in Mansfield, Ohio, the son of Lillian (Feld) and David Sanford Lapine. He graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1971. Though he did not actively pursue theatre in childhood, Lapine did play Jack in an elementary school production of Jack and the Beanstalk. Career Lapine did graduate study in photography and graphic design at the California Institute of the Arts, where he received an MFA in 1973."Stars Over Broadway, James Lapine" pbs.com, accessed March 10, 2011 He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (often referred to simply as ''Sweeney Todd'') is a musical play with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler. It is based on the 1973 play of the same name by Christopher Bond. The character of Sweeney Todd first appeared in a Victorian penny dreadful titled ''The String of Pearls'' (1846-7). ''Sweeney Todd'' opened on Broadway in 1979 and in the West End in 1980. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Olivier Award for Best New Musical. It has been revived in many productions as well as inspiring a film adaptation. The original logo for the musical is a modified version of an advertising image from the 19th century, with the sign replaced by a straight razor. There is also a woman wearing a blood-stained dress and holding a rolling pin next to the man. Background The character Sweeney Todd originated in serialized Victorian popular fiction, known as penny dreadfuls. A story called ''The Strin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Annie (musical)
''Annie'' is a Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre, musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip ''Little Orphan Annie'' and loosely based on the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" written by James Whitcomb Riley. The musical includes music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and a musical theater, book by Thomas Meehan (writer), Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years, setting a record for the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre). It spawned numerous productions in many countries, as well as national tours, and won seven Tony Awards, including the Tony Award for Best Musical. The musical's songs "Tomorrow (song from Annie), Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard Knock Life" are among its most popular musical numbers. Background Charnin first approached Meehan to write the book of a musical about ''Little Orphan Annie'' in 1972. Meehan researched by rereading prints of the comic strip, but was unable to fin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Meehan (writer)
Thomas Edward Meehan (August 14, 1929 – August 21, 2017) was an American playwright. He wrote the books for the musicals ''Annie'', '' The Producers'', ''Hairspray'', ''Young Frankenstein'' and ''Cry-Baby''. He co-wrote the books for '' Elf: The Musical'' and '' Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin''. He received the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times—in 1977 for ''Annie'', in 2001 for ''The Producers'' (shared with Mel Brooks), and in 2003 for ''Hairspray'' (shared with Mark O'Donnell). Early life Meehan was born in Ossining, New York, but grew up in Suffern, New York. His father, Thomas, was a businessman, and his mother, Helen Cecilia O’Neill, was an emergency department nurse. He graduated from Hamilton College."Thomas Meehan bio" cityfile.com, accessed March 12, 2011. according to this biography, Meehan was bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Overtures
''Pacific Overtures'' is a Musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by John Weidman, with "additional material by" Hugh Wheeler. Set in 19th-century Japan, it tells the story of the country's westernization starting in 1853, when American ships forcibly opened it to the rest of the world. The story is told from the point of view of the Japanese, and focuses in particular on the lives of two friends who are caught in the change. Sondheim wrote the score in a quasi-Japanese style of parallel 4ths and no leading-tone. He did not use the pentatonic scale; the 4th degree of the major scale is represented from the opening number through the finale, as Sondheim found just five pitches too limiting. The music contrasts Japanese contemplation ("There Is No Other Way") with Western ingenuousness ("Please Hello") while over the course of the 127 years, Western harmonies, tonality and even lyrics are infused into the score. The score is generally conside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
