David Lindsay-Abaire
Encyclopedia
David Lindsay-Abaire is an American playwright
and lyricist
. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
in 2007 for his play Rabbit Hole
, which also earned several Tony Award
nominations.
in a family of five which he describes as "very blue collar." His mother was a factory worker and his father worked for the Chelsea fruit market. He attended Boston public schools until the seventh grade, when he received a six-year scholarship
to Milton Academy
, a New England
prep school. It was there that he first became interested in writing for the theatre
. He contributed what he has called "terrible, terrible plays" as a result of the school's tradition of presenting original student work. He went on to concentrate in theatre at Sarah Lawrence College
. He was accepted into the Lila Acheson Wallace
American Playwrights Program at the Juilliard School
, where he wrote under the tutelage of playwrights Marsha Norman
and Christopher Durang
.
, Dance Theater Workshop
, and the Jerome Foundation, as well as awards from the Berilla Kerr Foundation, the Lincoln Center LeComte du Nuoy Fund, Mixed Blood Theater, Primary Stages, the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, the Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary Festival
, and the South Carolina Playwrights Festival.
Among his influences, Lindsay-Abaire lists playwrights John Guare
, Edward Albee
, Georges Feydeau
, Eugène Ionesco
, and George S. Kaufman
and Moss Hart
, 1930s screwball comedy film
s My Man Godfrey
, Twentieth Century
, and "anything by Preston Sturges
, Frank Capra
, the Marx Brothers
, and Abbott and Costello
." Walking a fine line between grave reality and joyous lunacy, the world of his plays is often dark, funny, blithe, enigmatic, hopeful, ironic, and somewhat cockeyed. "My plays tend to be peopled with outsiders in search of clarity."
Lindsay-Abaire had his first theatrical success with Fuddy Meers
, which was workshopped as part of the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center under Artistic Director Lloyd Richards
and ultimately premiered at the Manhattan Theatre Club
. He returned to the Manhattan Theatre Club with Wonder of the World
, starring Sarah Jessica Parker
, about a wife who suddenly leaves her husband and hops a bus to Niagara Falls
in search of freedom, enlightenment, and the meaning of life.
His Rabbit Hole
, produced in 2006 in New York
with Cynthia Nixon
, Tyne Daly
, and John Slattery
, won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was nominated for a Tony Award
for Best Play, as well as other Tony awards, and Cynthia Nixon won a Tony as Best Actress.
Lindsay-Abaire also wrote Kimberly Akimbo
(2000), Wonder of the World
(2000), Dotting and Dashing (1999), Snow Angel
(1999), The L'il Plays (1997), and A Devil Inside (1997).
Lindsay-Abaire describes his plays as centering around "outsiders in search of clarity." This view of life stemmed from his being a working-class student in a prestigious boarding school. His aesthetic was encouraged by Christopher Durang at Juilliard. The young playwright has always thought that theatre is a place for absurd things to happen, which is why he tends to stay away from realism in his writings. He specifically looks for characters who look at the world differently than everyone else.
Lindsay-Abaire also has writing credit on three screenplays, Robots
(2005), Inkheart
(2007), and the adaptation of Rabbit Hole, in which Nicole Kidman
starred. She produced the film, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was well-received. He has recently written a movie for DreamWorks Animation
, entitled Rise of the Guardians, based on a story by co-director William Joyce
.
Lindsay-Abaire's recent projects include the book for the musical
High Fidelity
, and the book and lyrics for Shrek the Musical. His play Good People
had its official opening on Broadway on March 3, 2011, with Frances McDormand
and Tate Donovan
in the lead roles.
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
in 2007 for his play Rabbit Hole
Rabbit Hole
Rabbit Hole is a play written by David Lindsay-Abaire. It was the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play was originally commissioned by South Coast Repertory and first presented at its Pacific Playwrights Festival reading series in 2005...
, which also earned several Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations.
Early life and education
Lindsay-Abaire was born David Abaire in South Boston, MassachusettsSouth Boston, Massachusetts
South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. One of America's oldest and most historic neighborhoods, South Boston was formerly known as Dorchester Neck, and today is called "Southie" by...
in a family of five which he describes as "very blue collar." His mother was a factory worker and his father worked for the Chelsea fruit market. He attended Boston public schools until the seventh grade, when he received a six-year scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to Milton Academy
Milton Academy
Milton Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory, boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts consisting of a grade 9–12 Upper School and a grade K–8 Lower School. Boarding is offered starting in 9th grade...
, a New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
prep school. It was there that he first became interested in writing for the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
. He contributed what he has called "terrible, terrible plays" as a result of the school's tradition of presenting original student work. He went on to concentrate in theatre at Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
. He was accepted into the Lila Acheson Wallace
Lila Bell Wallace
Lila Bell Wallace was a United States magazine publisher.Born as Lila Bell Acheson, her father was a Presbyterian minister who brought his family to the USA when she was a child, and she grew up in the Midwest...
American Playwrights Program at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
, where he wrote under the tutelage of playwrights Marsha Norman
Marsha Norman
Marsha Norman is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play night, Mother...
and Christopher Durang
Christopher Durang
Christopher Ferdinand Durang is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s.- Life :...
.
Career
Lindsay-Abaire has received commissions from South Coast RepertorySouth Coast Repertory
South Coast Repertory is a professional theatre company located in Costa Mesa, California.Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, founded in 1964 by David Emmes and Martin Benson and now under the leadership of Artistic Director Marc Masterson and Managing Director Paula Tomei, is widely...
, Dance Theater Workshop
Dance Theater Workshop
Dance Theater Workshop, colloquially known as DTW, is a New York City performance space and service organization for dance companies. Located as 219 West 19th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, DTW was founded in 1965 by Jeff Duncan, Art Bauman and...
, and the Jerome Foundation, as well as awards from the Berilla Kerr Foundation, the Lincoln Center LeComte du Nuoy Fund, Mixed Blood Theater, Primary Stages, the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, the Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary Festival
Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary Festival
The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival is an annual five-day literary festival in the city of New Orleans. The festival is dedicated to the Pulitzer prize-winning American playwright Tennessee Williams...
, and the South Carolina Playwrights Festival.
Among his influences, Lindsay-Abaire lists playwrights John Guare
John Guare
John Guare is an American playwright. He is best known as the author of The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, and Landscape of the Body...
, Edward Albee
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
, Georges Feydeau
Georges Feydeau
Georges Feydeau was a French playwright of the era known as the Belle Époque. He is remembered for his many lively farces.-Biography:Georges Feydeau was born in Paris, the son of novelist Ernest-Aimé Feydeau and Léocadie Bogaslawa Zalewska. At the age of twenty, Feydeau wrote his first comic...
, Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
, and George S. Kaufman
George S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals, notably for the Marx Brothers...
and Moss Hart
Moss Hart
Moss Hart was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway.-Early years:...
, 1930s screwball comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
s My Man Godfrey
My Man Godfrey
My Man Godfrey is a 1936 American screwball comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava. The screenplay was written by Morrie Ryskind, with uncredited contributions by La Cava, based on "1101 Park Avenue", a short story by Eric Hatch. The story concerns a socialite who hires a derelict to be her...
, Twentieth Century
Twentieth Century (film)
Twentieth Century is a 1934 American screwball comedy film. Much of the film is set on the 20th Century Limited train as it travels from Chicago to New York. The film was directed by Howard Hawks, stars John Barrymore and Carole Lombard, and features Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns and Edgar Kennedy...
, and "anything by Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges , originally Edmund Preston Biden, was a celebrated playwright, screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois...
, Frank Capra
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
, the Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
, and Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
." Walking a fine line between grave reality and joyous lunacy, the world of his plays is often dark, funny, blithe, enigmatic, hopeful, ironic, and somewhat cockeyed. "My plays tend to be peopled with outsiders in search of clarity."
Lindsay-Abaire had his first theatrical success with Fuddy Meers
Fuddy Meers
Fuddy Meers is an American play by David Lindsay-Abaire. It tells the story of an amnesiac, Claire, who awakens each morning as a blank slate on which her husband and teenage son must imprint the facts of her life. One morning Claire is abducted by a limping, lisping man who claims her husband...
, which was workshopped as part of the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center under Artistic Director Lloyd Richards
Lloyd Richards
Lloyd George Richards was a Canadian-American theatre director, actor, and dean of the Yale School of Drama from 1979 to 1991, and Yale University professor emeritus.- Biography :...
and ultimately premiered at the Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most acclaimed...
. He returned to the Manhattan Theatre Club with Wonder of the World
Wonder of the World (play)
Wonder of the World is a play by American playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. This play was his second success as a playwright, the first play being Fuddy Meers which also premiered at the Manhattan Theatre Club...
, starring Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker is an American film, television, and theater actress and producer.She is best known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City , for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards...
, about a wife who suddenly leaves her husband and hops a bus to Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
in search of freedom, enlightenment, and the meaning of life.
His Rabbit Hole
Rabbit Hole
Rabbit Hole is a play written by David Lindsay-Abaire. It was the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play was originally commissioned by South Coast Repertory and first presented at its Pacific Playwrights Festival reading series in 2005...
, produced in 2006 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City . She has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award....
, Tyne Daly
Tyne Daly
Tyne Daly is an American stage and screen actress, widely known for her work as Detective Mary Beth Lacey in the television series Cagney & Lacey and as Maxine Gray in the television series Judging Amy. She is also known for her role as Alice Henderson in television series Christy...
, and John Slattery
John Slattery
John M. Slattery, Jr. is an American actor and director, best known for his role as Roger Sterling on AMC's series Mad Men. He has been nominated for many awards, and has won two SAG Awards with the Mad Men ensemble....
, won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was nominated for a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Play, as well as other Tony awards, and Cynthia Nixon won a Tony as Best Actress.
Lindsay-Abaire also wrote Kimberly Akimbo
Kimberly Akimbo
Kimberly Akimbo is a play written in 2000 by Pulitzer prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. Its title character is a lonely teenage girl suffering from a disease a lot like progeria, that causes her to age 4 and a half times as fast as normal. Thus, Kimberly is trapped inside the frail...
(2000), Wonder of the World
Wonder of the World (play)
Wonder of the World is a play by American playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. This play was his second success as a playwright, the first play being Fuddy Meers which also premiered at the Manhattan Theatre Club...
(2000), Dotting and Dashing (1999), Snow Angel
Snow Angel (play)
Snow Angel is a 1999 play by American playwright David Lindsay-Abaire.- Synopsis :"When the quiet town of Deerpoint, Vermont is hit by the biggest blizzard in 107 years, a mysterious girl named Eva steps out of a snow bank and into the lives of 15 confused teenagers who are asked to help her in her...
(1999), The L'il Plays (1997), and A Devil Inside (1997).
Lindsay-Abaire describes his plays as centering around "outsiders in search of clarity." This view of life stemmed from his being a working-class student in a prestigious boarding school. His aesthetic was encouraged by Christopher Durang at Juilliard. The young playwright has always thought that theatre is a place for absurd things to happen, which is why he tends to stay away from realism in his writings. He specifically looks for characters who look at the world differently than everyone else.
Lindsay-Abaire also has writing credit on three screenplays, Robots
Robots (film)
Robots is a 2005 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox, and was released theatrically on March 11, 2005. The story was created by Chris Wedge and William Joyce, a children's book author/illustrator. The two were trying to create a film version of...
(2005), Inkheart
Inkheart (film)
Inkheart is a 2008 fantasy film directed by Iain Softley and starring Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis and Jim Broadbent. It is based on the novel with the same name by Cornelia Funke...
(2007), and the adaptation of Rabbit Hole, in which Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
starred. She produced the film, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was well-received. He has recently written a movie for DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates animated feature films, television program and online virtual worlds...
, entitled Rise of the Guardians, based on a story by co-director William Joyce
William Joyce
William Joyce , nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an Irish-American fascist politician and Nazi propaganda broadcaster to the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He was hanged for treason by the British as a result of his wartime activities, even though he had renounced his British nationality...
.
Lindsay-Abaire's recent projects include the book for the musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
High Fidelity
High Fidelity (musical)
High Fidelity is a musical with a book by David Lindsay-Abaire, lyrics by Amanda Green, and music by Tom Kitt. Based primarily on the Nick Hornby novel rather than the subsequent film version it inspired, the plot focuses on Rob Gordon, a Brooklyn record shop owner in his thirties obsessed with...
, and the book and lyrics for Shrek the Musical. His play Good People
Good People (play)
Good People is a 2011 play by David Lindsay-Abaire. The world premiere was staged by the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City. The production was nominated for two 2011 Tony Awards – Best Play and Best Leading Actress in a Play , with the latter winning.- Synopsis :Margie Walsh, a resident of...
had its official opening on Broadway on March 3, 2011, with Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand
Frances Louise McDormand is an American film and stage actress. She has starred in a number of films, including her Academy Award-winning performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo, in 1996...
and Tate Donovan
Tate Donovan
Tate Buckley Donovan is an American actor. He is known for his role in the FX drama Damages, as Tom Shayes, and for his role as Jimmy Cooper in the American teen drama television series The O.C....
in the lead roles.