Tom Eyen (August 14, 1940 – May 26, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer and director. He received a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,G ...

'' in 1981. Eyen is best known for works at opposite ends of the theatrical spectrum. Mainstream theatergoers became acquainted with him in 1981, when he partnered with composer Henry Krieger and director Michael Bennett to write the book and lyrics for the hit

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical ''Dreamgirls'', about an African-American female singing trio. Eyen's career started, however, with experimental theatre that he wrote and directed

Off-Off Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the prof ...

in the 1960s. This led to his Off-Broadway success with ''

The Dirtiest Show in Town ''The Dirtiest Show in Town'' is a musical revue with a book and lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Jeff Barry. Overview An attack on air pollution, the Vietnam War, urban blight and computerized conformity, the show is filled with sex, nudity, ...

'' (1970), a musical revue with nudity, and '' Women Behind Bars'' (1975), a camp parody of women's prison

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

s. Eyen died of AIDS-related complications in Palm Beach, Florida at the age of 50.

Early life and education

Eyen was born in Cambridge, Ohio, the youngest of seven children. His parents, Abraham and Julia Eyen, owned and ran a family restaurant.Holden, Stephen.
"Tom Eyen, 50, Prolific Playwright Specializing in Off Off Broadway"
''The New York Times'', May 28, 1991. He attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

but left before graduating. Eyen moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1960 to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Career

1960 to 1970

Eyen sought acting roles without success, and worked briefly as a press agent, before he began writing for the theatre. He found an artistic home in the 1960s off-off-Broadway Experimental theatre scene, based at Caffe Cino and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Company. He gave Bette Midler her first professional acting roles in ''Miss Nefertiti Regrets'' and ''Cinderella Revisited.'' Both were produced in 1965, a children's play during the daytime and an adult show by night. With a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, Eyen formed his own theatrical company, the Theatre of the Eye Repertory, in 1964. The company performed for a decade, and took Eyen's play about Sarah Bernhardt, ''Sarah B. Divine!'', to the

Spoleto Festival The ''Festival dei Due Mondi'' (Festival of the Two Worlds) is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958. It features a vast array of conce ...

in Italy in 1967. Eyen's work was central to the 1960s neo-expressionist off-off-Broadway movement. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote in 1984, "His plays are known for emotionally grotesque material combined with sharp satire."Frank, Leah D
"Prison Satire with Bitter Laughs"
May 27, 1984, p. L-11, accessed March 20, 2018 Eyen was prolific, writing, and usually directing, 35 plays at La MaMa alone during the 1960s and 1970s. His early off-off-Broadway plays, other than those noted above, included: * ''Happening at the Cafe'' (1964; La MaMa; written by Ruth Landshoff, directed by Eyen) * ''My Next Husband Will Be A Beauty!'' (1964; La MaMa; written and directed by Eyen) * ''Frustrata'' (1964; La MaMa; written and directed by Eyen) * ''The White Whore And The Bit Player'' (1964; La MaMa; written and directed by Eyen) * ''Why Hanna's Skirt Won't Stay Down'' (1964) * ''Frustata, The Dirty Little Girl With The Paper Rose Stuck In Her Head, Is Demented!'' (1965) * ''Can't You See A Prince?'' (1965) * ''The Last Great Cocktail Party'' (1965) * ''The Demented World Of Tom Eyen'' (1965) * ''Why Hanna's Skirt Won't Stay Down; Or, Admission 10c'' (1965; La MaMa; written and directed by Eyen) * ''Miss Nefertiti Regrets'' (1965; La MaMa; written and directed by Eyen) * ''Give My Regards to Off-Off Broadway'' (1966; La MaMa; written by Eyen, directed by Ron Link) * ''Court'' (1967) * ''Sarah B Divine!'' (1967) * ''Grand Tenement/November 22nd'' (1967) * ''The (An Organic Happening)'' (1968) * ''Who Killed My Bald Sister Sophie? Or, Thank God for Small Favours!'' (1968) * ''When Johnny Comes Dancing Home Again'' (1968) * ''Alice Through A Glass Lightly'' (1968) * ''4 Noh Plays by Tom Eyen'' (1969) * ''Caution: A Love Story'' (1969) * ''Kama Sutra'' (date unknown) The title character in ''Why Hanna's Skirt Won't Stay Down'' has been described as representative of the crudeness, exuberance, decadence and profundity of the movement and the period.''Why Hannah's Skirt Won't Stay Down''
LaMaMa.org (2005)

1970 to 1980

In 1970, Eyen had his biggest commercial success to date with ''

'', a satirical response to, and example of, the period's plays depicting nudity and sexual situations. ''The Dirtiest Show in Town'' initially ran at the

Astor Place Theatre The Astor Place Theatre is an off-Broadway house located at 434 Lafayette Street in the NoHo section of Manhattan. The theater is located in the historic Colonnade Row, originally constructed in 1831 as a series of nine connected buildings, of ...

for two seasons, with later runs both off-Broadway in New York and in London's West End. He also wrote the song "Ode to a Screw" with Peter Cornell for the 1971 Miloš Forman film '' Taking Off.'' Eyen's other shows in the early 1970s included: * ''The Dirtiest Show in Town'' (1970; La MaMa, before transferring to Astor Place Theatre; written and directed by Eyen) * ''Areatha in the Ice Palace; Or, The Fully Guaranteed Fuck-Me Doll'' (1970) * ''Gertrude Stein and Other Great Men'' (1970) * ''Lana Got Laid In Lebanon'' (1970) * ''What Is Making Gilda so Gray?; Or, It Just Depends on Who You Get'' (1970; La MaMa; written by Eyen, directed b
Neil Flanagan
* ''The White Whore And The Bit Player'' (1971) * ''Three Drag Queens from Daytona'' (1973; La MaMa; written by Eyen, directed b

* ''The White Whore and the Bit Player / La Estrella y La Monja'' (1973; multilingual production) * ''2008: A Spaced Oddity'' (1974; La MaMa; written by Eyen, music by Gary William Friedman) According to ''The New York Times'', "Eyen was called the

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

of Off-Off-Broadway at one point when he had four plays running simultaneously." In 1973, Eyen co-wrote the book for and directed one of Broadway's most notorious flops, the

Paul Jabara Paul Jabara, also known as Paul Frederick Jabara, (January 31, 1948 – September 29, 1992) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter of Lebanese ancestry, born in Brooklyn, New York. He wrote Donna Summer's Oscar-winning " Last Dance" from ...

disco musical '' Rachael Lily Rosenbloom (And Don't You Ever Forget It)'', which closed after seven previews. The lead character, a flamboyant entertainer, was inspired by Midler, who was apparently offered and refused the role. Following this setback, Eyen began commuting to Los Angeles to write for television and films. In 1974, he became one of the first well-known writers to write a hardcore pornographic film. He contributed writing to the 1976/1977 satirical

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', produced by Norman Lear. In 1978, Eyen earned an Emmy Award nomination for writing Midler's first television special, ''Ol' Red Hair is Back''. Eyen's campy and disturbing parody of 1950s women's prison exploitation films, '' Women Behind Bars'', became a major Off-Broadway hit in 1975.

Pat Ast Pat Ast (October 21, 1941 – October 3, 2001) was an American actress and model. She was best known for starring in Andy Warhol films and being a Halston model and muse in the 1970s. Early life Patricia Ann Ast was born on October 21, 1941 in t ...

first played the lead role of the sadistic matron in drag, followed by Divine. ''

'' called it "an extraordinarily interesting work from one of America's most innovative and versatile playwrights." Eyen followed this success with '' The Neon Woman'', another off-Broadway play starring Divine, in 1978. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "His plays are known for emotionally grotesque material combined with sharp satire." In 1980, Eyen directed a film version of ''

The Dirtiest Show In Town ''The Dirtiest Show in Town'' is a musical revue with a book and lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Jeff Barry. Overview An attack on air pollution, the Vietnam War, urban blight and computerized conformity, the show is filled with sex, nudity, ...

'' for Showtime, making it the first made-for-cable

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

. The film featured

John Wesley Shipp John Wesley Shipp (born January 22, 1955) is an American actor known for his various television roles. He played the lead Barry Allen on CBS's superhero series '' The Flash'' from 1990 to 1991, and Mitch Leery, the title character's father, on ...

. In 1976 he appeared in

Rosa von Praunheim Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky (born Holger Radtke; 25 November 1942), known professionally as Rosa von Praunheim, is a German film director, author, painter and one of the most famous gay rights activists in the German-speaking world. In ov ...

's documentary film about New York's SoHo theatre and arts scene in the 1970s, ''Underground and Emigrants''.

''Dreamgirls'' and later work

Eyen and Henry Krieger first worked together on the 1975 musical version of ''The Dirtiest Show in Town'', called ''The Dirtiest Musical in Town''.

Nell Carter Nell Carter (born Nell Ruth Hardy; September 13, 1948 – January 23, 2003) was an American singer and actress. Carter began her career in 1970, singing in the theater, and later crossed over to television. She was best known for her role as Ne ...

's performance in that musical inspired Eyen and Krieger to craft a musical about a black singing trio, which they workshopped for Joe Papp with Carter,

Sheryl Lee Ralph Sheryl Lee Ralph OJ is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut in the 1977 comedy film '' A Piece of the Action'', before landing the role of Deena Jones in the Broadway musical '' Dreamgirls'' (1981), for which she received ...

, and

Loretta Devine Loretta Devine (born August 21, 1949) is an American actress, singer and voice actor. She is known for numerous roles across stage and screen. Her most high profile roles include Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of '' Dreamg ...

. The project was shelved in 1978 when Carter took a role in a soap opera.Aufderheide, Jeremy
''Dreamgirls: Your virtual coffee-table book of the musical''
Accessed July 16, 2010. A year later, the project caught the interest of Broadway director-producer Michael Bennett, who asked Eyen to direct a workshop production of ''Big Dreams'', as the musical was then named, featuring Ralph, Loretta Devine, and gospel singer

Jennifer Holliday Jennifer Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American actress and singer. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as '' Dreamgirls'' (1981–83), '' Your Arms Too Short to Box with God'' (1980–1981) and later became a ...

as Carter's replacement. However, Holliday left the project, unhappy that her character died at the conclusion of the first act. After several workshops and numerous rewrites, Bennett decided that the production needed Holliday, and the team rewrote act two to build up Holliday's character. Produced on Broadway in 1981, ''

'' was the biggest commercial success of Eyen's career. It was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, including two for Eyen: Best Book and Best Original Score. The show won six Tonys, including Best Book. It also earned Eyen a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Lyrics. The

original cast album A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

won Eyen a Grammy Award as lyricist, and one of the show's songs, "

And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (also known in short as just "And I Am Telling You") is a torch song from the Broadway musical '' Dreamgirls'', with lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger. In the context of the musical, "And I Am ...

", as sung by Holliday, became a hit. In 1984, Eyen sought to duplicate his ''Dreamgirls'' success with ''Kicks: The Showgirl Musical'', a collaboration with composer Alan Menken about the Rockettes during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The show never made it past the workshop stage, though individual numbers from the show have been performed in concert. A film adaptation of ''Dreamgirls'', written and directed by Bill Condon, was released in 2006 by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. Two of Eyen's songs from the soundtrack, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", as sung by

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Throughout her career, she has received various accolades for her works in recorded music, film, televisio ...

, and " One Night Only", as sung by

Beyoncé Knowles Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

, became hits. To promote the film's release, DreamWorks and the licensee of the musical, The Tams-Witmark Music Library, paid the licensing fees for all non-professional stage performances of ''Dreamgirls'' in 2006. As a result, more than fifty high schools, colleges, and community theaters staged productions of ''Dreamgirls'' that year.

Death

Eyen died of complications from AIDS in 1991, at the age of fifty, in Palm Beach, Florida. A memorial service was held at the St. James Theatre in

on September 23, 1991. In 1993, Eyen posthumously received the

Jerome Lawrence Jerome Lawrence (born Jerome Lawrence Schwartz; July 14, 1915 – February 29, 2004) was an American playwright and author. After graduating from the Ohio State University in 1937 and the University of California, Los Angeles in 1939, Lawrence pa ...

and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute Award from

, where his papers are archived."Tom Eyen Collection"
Ohio State University, accessed March 20, 2018

References

External links

* *
Tom Eyen at the Lortel Off-Broadway databaseEyen's page at La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyen, Tom 1940 births 1991 deaths American lyricists Broadway composers and lyricists American gay writers People from Cambridge, Ohio American theatre directors Tony Award winners Grammy Award winners AIDS-related deaths in Florida 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights LGBT composers American male dramatists and playwrights Songwriters from Ohio 20th-century American male writers 20th-century LGBT people