Billy Aronson is an American playwright and writer, who originated the concept of the rock opera ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'', which was based on Puccini's

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep ...

''.Jones, Kenneth (2011)
Rent, With Andy Mientus, Fabio Monteiro, Halle Morse, Begins at Pioneer Theatre June 10
", Playbill.com, June 10, 2011, retrieved 2011-06-17

Early life

He attended

Lower Merion High School Lower Merion High School is a public high school in Ardmore, a community in Philadelphia's Main Line suburbs. It is one of two high schools in the Lower Merion School District; the other one is Harriton High School. Lower Merion serves both Lo ...

and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

''Rent'' and other plays

In 1988, as a playwright he wanted to create "a musical based on

Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

's ''

La Bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep ...

'', in which the luscious splendor of Puccini's world would be replaced with the coarseness and noise of modern New York." Although in 1989 he began a collaboration with

Jonathan Larson Jonathan David Larson (February 4, 1960 – January 25, 1996) was an American composer, lyricist and playwright most famous for writing the musicals ''Rent'' and '' Tick, Tick... Boom!'', which explored the social issues of multiculturalism, ...

, he provided additional lyrics for ''Rent'', and wrote almost all of the number, "Santa Fe". In addition to ''Rent'', he has written many

one act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

s such as ''Of Two Minds'', ''Guilt'', ''Night Rules'', and ''In the Middle of the Night'', which was performed as part of the

Ensemble Studio Theatre The Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) is a non-profit membership-based developmental theatre located in Hell's Kitchen, New York City. It has a dual mission of nurturing individual theatre artists and developing new American plays. Overview The E ...

's 2011 Marathon.Rooney, David (2011)
From Elegiac Appalachian Hollers to New Terrain
, ''

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 ...

'', May 30, 2011, retrieved 2011-06-17 Other plays by Aronson include ''Light Years'' and ''The News''.Weber, Bruce (2001)
THEATER REVIEW; Four Years in Three Acts: College Becomes a Collage
, ''

'', October 22, 2001, retrieved 2011-06-17Blankenship, Mark (2007)
Ensemble Studio Theater Marathon 2007: Series A
, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', June 4, 2007, retrieved 2011-06-17 He also helped create musicals such as ''No Dogs Allowed'', and ''Flurry Tale'' with Rusty Magee. He has written for many popular children shows, such as ''

Postcards from Buster ''Postcards from Buster'' is a live-action/animated children's television series that originally aired on PBS. It is a spin-off of the '' Arthur'' TV series. The show stars Arthur's best friend, 8-year-old anthropomorphic rabbit Buster Baxter ...

'', '' Codename: Kids Next Door'', ''

Wonder Pets! ''Wonder Pets!'' is an American educational animated children's television series created by Josh Selig for Nickelodeon. The series follows a trio of classroom pets—Linny the Guinea Pig, Turtle Tuck and Ming-Ming Duckling—who use teamwork to ...

'', ''

The Upside Down Show ''The Upside Down Show'' is a children's television series produced by Blink Films and Sesame Workshop. It was made for the Noggin channel. The series is set in a strange apartment building where the doors lead to a variety of unusual rooms. It i ...

'', ''

The Backyardigans ''The Backyardigans'' is a computer-animated musical children's television series created by Janice Burgess. The series was written and recorded at Nickelodeon Animation Studio. It centers on five animal neighbors who imagine themselves on fantas ...

'', ''

Courage the Cowardly Dog ''Courage the Cowardly Dog'' is an American animated comedy horror television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. It was produced by Dilworth's animation studio, Stretch Fil ...

'', and co-created ''

Peg + Cat ''Peg + Cat'' is an animated children's television series based on the children's picture book "The Chicken Problem", which was published in 2012. The series, which featured the voice acting of Hayley Faith Negrin and Dwayne Hill, was created b ...

'' along with

Jennifer Oxley Jennifer Oxley is an American author, illustrator, television writer/director, and songwriter. She is the co-creator of the PBS children's program ''Peg + Cat''. She was the creative director of '' Wonder Pets!'' and ''3rd & Bird'', as well as the ...

. He was also a writer on ''

Beavis and Butthead ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American adult animated series created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, lowbrow humor, an ...

''.

Personal life

Aronson is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

.Lisa Vogel Wed To Billy Aronson
, ''

'', April 29, 1990, retrieved 2011-06-17 He currently lives in

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 ...

with his wife Lisa Vogel (whom he married in 1990), and children Anna and Jake.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aronson, Billy American musical theatre lyricists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Princeton University alumni Lower Merion High School alumni