Ben Rimalower (born May 12, 1976) is an American theatre director, writer, producer, and performer. He is best known for writing and performing the critically acclaimed long-running hit off Off-Broadway solo play ''Patti Issues''. He is also a contributing writer for ''

Playbill.com ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's p ...

'' and ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''. Rimalower is openly gay. Rimalower founded the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

's student-run theatre organization, BareStage Productions, in 1995 while he was a student at the school. In 2004, Rimalower directed a concert production of ''

Snoopy! The Musical ''Snoopy: The Musical'' is a musical comedy with music by Larry Grossman, lyrics by Hal Hackady, and a book by Warren Lockhart, Arthur Whitelaw, and Michael Grace. The characters are from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip ''Peanuts''. This seque ...

'' to benefit the Pied Piper Children's Theatre of New York City. The concert featured

Sutton Foster Sutton Lenore Foster (born March 18, 1975) is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical twice, in 2002 for her role as Millie Dill ...

as Peppermint Patty, Deven May as Charlie Brown,

Ann Harada Ann Harada (born February 3, 1964) is an American actress and singer who was first known for the musical ''Avenue Q'', in which she originated the role of Christmas Eve, the heavily accented Japanese therapist. Early life Harada was born in Ho ...

as Lucy, Jennifer Cody as Sally,

Hunter Foster Hunter Foster (born June 25, 1969) is an American musical theatre actor, singer, librettist, playwright and director. Career After touring in several shows and playing on Broadway, in 2001 he was cast in his breakthrough role of Bobby Strong i ...

as Linus, and

Christian Borle Christian Dominique Borle (born October 1, 1973) is an American actor and singer. He is a two-time Tony Award winner for his roles as Black Stache in ''Peter and the Starcatcher'' and as William Shakespeare in ''Something Rotten!''. Borle also ...

in the title role. He produced and directed the New York premiere of John Fisher's ''Joy'' at the Producers Club and later, Off-Broadway at the Actors' Playhouse in 2005. Rimalower conceived and directed

Leslie Kritzer Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (born May 24, 1977) is an American singer and musical theatre actress. Life and career Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer was born in Manhattan and raised in Livingston, New Jersey. Her father is Jewish, and her mother is of Puer ...

in ''Leslie Kritzer is Patti LuPone at Les Mouches,'' a recreation of

Patti LuPone Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theater. She has won three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of Fa ...

's famed nightclub act, which premiered in New York at

Joe's Pub Joe's Pub, one of the six performance spaces within The Public Theater, is a music venue and restaurant that hosts live performances across genres and arts, ranging from cabaret to modern dance to world music. It is located at 425 Lafayette St ...

and also played in San Francisco at the Plush Room in 2006 and 2007. Rimalower received a Special ''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'' Award for the production. In 2007, he directed an Off-Broadway production of Marissa Kamin's ''The Fabulous Life of a Size Zero'', starring

Gillian Jacobs Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles as Britta Perry on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015) and Mickey Dobbs on the Netflix romantic comedy series ''Love'' (2016� ...

and

Anna Chlumsky Anna Maria Chlumsky (; born December 3, 1980) is an American actress. She began acting as a child, and first became known for playing Vada Sultenfuss in the film '' My Girl'' (1991) and its sequel, ''My Girl 2''. Following her early roles, she we ...

, at the Daryl Roth/DR2 Theatre. He has directed solo shows for many artists including

Lindsey Alley Lindsey Erin Alley (born December 6, 1977) is an American actress and singer, who for several years lived in New York City and now resides in Los Angeles. She is known for Bedtime Stories (2008), Ernest Saves Christmas (1988) and Jessica Jone ...

Cole Escola Cole Escola (born November 25, 1986) is an American comedian, actor, and singer. They are best known for their cabaret work and their appearances on the television series '' Jeffery & Cole Casserole'' (2009–2010), ''Difficult People'' (2015– ...

, Lance Horne,

John Hill John Hill may refer to: Business * John Henry Hill (1791–1882), American businessman, educator and missionary * John Hill (planter) (1824–1910), Scottish-born American industrialist and planter * John Hill (businessman) (1847–1926), Austral ...

, Natalie Joy Johnson, Erin Markey, Scott Nevins and Molly Pope. In August 2012, Rimalower's solo play ''Patti Issues'' premiered at the Duplex, directed by Aaron Mark, and has since received a 2013

Bistro Award ''Backstage'', also previously written as ''Back Stage'', is an American entertainment industry trade publication. Founded by Allen Zwerdling and Ira Eaker in 1960, it covers the film and performing arts industry from the perspective of performer ...

("Best Solo Play") and a 2013

MAC Award The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (1967), National ...

("New York Debut - Male"). The production has been extended numerous times, running well into 2013 and playing engagements in several other cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley, San Diego, Chicago, Provincetown, Boston, and Fire Island Pines, as well as engagements in Berlin and Glasgow. In September 2013, Rimalower gave his final performance in the play in New York City. Tony Award nominee

Robin de Jesús Robin de Jesús is an American film and theater actor of Puerto Rican descent. He has received Tony Award nominations for his roles in ''In the Heights'', '' La Cage aux Folles'', and '' The Boys in the Band''. Life and career Robin de Jesús ...

replaced him in the role for a limited run.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rimalower, Ben 1976 births Living people American male stage actors American gay actors American theatre directors 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights American theatre managers and producers 21st-century American LGBT people