Craig Lucas

Biography

Craig Lucas is an American playwright, screenwriter, theatre director, musical actor, and film director. He is currently Associate Artistic Director at the Intiman Theatre in Seattle.

Born on April 30, 1951, and abandoned in a car in Atlanta, Lucas was adopted when he was eight months old by a conservative Pennsylvania couple. His father was an FBI agent; his mother was a housewife. He graduated in 1969 from Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. In the 1960s and 1970s, Lucas became interested in the political left and discovered an attraction towards men. He recalls that his coming out made it possible for him to develop as a playwright and as a person.

In 1973, Lucas left Boston University with a Bachelor of Arts in theatre and creative writing. His mentor, Anne Sexton, urged him to try his luck in New York City. He worked in many day jobs while performing in Broadway musicals including Shenandoah, On the Twentieth Century, and Sweeney Todd.

In 1991, he rewrote his play Missing Persons. A friend showed it to director Norman Rene, who promised to produce it when it was finished. Thus began a fifteen-year collaboration. While working on Missing Persons, the two developed a musical revue called Marry Me a Little. Based on the work of Stephen Sondheim, it follows two people who, though they live next to each other, never meet, all the while singing about the failure to connect with others.

After his early work on romantic comedies, Lucas began to write more serious works about AIDS, including Singing Forest and The Dying Gaul, the latter of which was made into a film that Lucas also directed. Lucas also authored the book for the musical The Light in the Piazza, which garnered him a Tony Award nomination.

Lucas has also directed classic plays such as Miss Julie and Loot. While some critics have divided his work into gay plays (Blue Window, Longtime Companion) and straight plays (Reckless, Three Postcards, Prelude to a Kiss), Lucas has always written about human problems in a universal manner.

Source:
Wikipedia contributors, "Craig Lucas," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Craig Lucas&oldid=166164710 (accessed November 21, 2007). [Read More...]

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