Rusty Magee
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Rush "Rusty" Magee (August 6, 1955 – February 16, 2003) was an accomplished composer
and lyricist
for theatre, television, and film and commercials.
and attended Angell Elementary School in Ann Arbor, Michigan
. He graduated from Eaglebrook School
in Deerfield, Massachusetts
in 1970; and Phillips Exeter Academy
in Exeter, New Hampshire
in 1973. He received his bachelor's degree in music at Brown University
in 1978 and was awarded an honorary Masters of Fine Arts. from the Yale School of Drama
after working there for three years as Musical Consultant for the Yale Repertory Theatre
and the Yale School of Drama
. He was an avid Detroit Tigers
fan, which inspired his musical 1919: A Baseball Opera.
for his music and lyrics for Molière
's Scapin. This adaptation has been produced at CSC Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, the Intiman Playhouse
in Seattle, the Court in Chicago, and American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. His full length musical The Green Heart, with book by Charles Busch
, was produced by The Manhattan Theatre Club, and is published by Samuel French
. His children’s Christmas opera, Flurry Tale, with libretto by Billy Aronson
, has been produced by American Opera Projects
/Family Opera Initiative
in New York City
. He wrote the music and lyrics for ART's production of Carlo Goldoni
's Servant of Two Masters
and Molière
’s The Imaginary Invalid.
He arranged and performed the music for the Tony Award
-winning production of The House of Blue Leaves
at Lincoln Center and on Broadway
and PBS. Magee co-produced and wrote the music for hundreds of one-act plays as Musical Director and co-founder with comedian Lewis Black
and Rand Foerster of Steve Olsen's West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theatre Bar
in New York City
. He wrote the music for Moonwork's production of What You Will
, an adaptation of Twelfth Night, and for Moonwork's acclaimed version of A Midsummer Night's Dream
. He wrote the theme music for the CBS-Television pilot "Family Brood". His song, "Road To Victory" (co-written with longtime collaborator Bob Golden), was featured in the documentary film New School Order.
As an actor, Rusty appeared in the Woody Allen
film, Hannah and Her Sisters
as well as onstage in The Irish...And How They Got That Way at the Irish Repertory Theatre
in New York City
and the Wilbur Theatre
in Boston
. He was Music Director of the Irish Repertory Theatre
(Manhattan) and continued in that role even after his illness was diagnosed. He played the piano at the annual Irish Repertory Theatre
Gala which included accompanying Frank McCourt
and the singers of the Irish and the American National Anthems.
His last musical 19th Street Shuffle co- written with Billy Aronson
, was to have been finished with additional material added by Lynn Shenkel, under the direction of Sheryl Kaller. His songs have been recorded by such renowned theatre artists as Rebecca Luker
, Mary Testa
, and his cabaret anthem, “New York Romance”, was performed at Carnegie Hall
by his wife Alison Fraser
.
, the Screen Actors Guild
, AFTRA and ASCAP.
for his work at the
52nd St. Project, a theatre company in Hell's Kitchen
(Manhattan) where professionals do theatre outreach with local children.
. A memorial service was later held in his native Ann Arbor on July 26, 2003, where he was interred at Forest Hills Cemetery.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
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:...
for theatre, television, and film and commercials.
Childhood and Education
He was born at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and attended Angell Elementary School in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
. He graduated from Eaglebrook School
Eaglebrook School
Eaglebrook School is an independent junior boarding school for boys in Deerfield, Massachusetts. It is located on the Pocumtuck Range near Deerfield Academy and sited on a campus which is also preserved by the Deerfield Wildlife Trust....
in Deerfield, Massachusetts
Deerfield, Massachusetts
Deerfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,750 as of the 2000 census. Deerfield is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area in Western Massachusetts, lying only north of the city of Springfield.Deerfield includes the...
in 1970; and Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
in Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town's population was 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood...
in 1973. He received his bachelor's degree in music at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1978 and was awarded an honorary Masters of Fine Arts. from the Yale School of Drama
Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
after working there for three years as Musical Consultant for the Yale Repertory Theatre
Yale Repertory Theatre
The Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of the Yale School of Drama in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented students. In the process it has become one of the...
and the Yale School of Drama
Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
. He was an avid Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
fan, which inspired his musical 1919: A Baseball Opera.
Career
Rusty Magee then moved to New York where he became an accomplished composer and lyricist for theatre, television, and film and commercials as well as a beloved comedian. In 1993 he won the New York James Fleetwood Outer Critics Circle AwardOuter Critics Circle Award
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
for his music and lyrics for Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
's Scapin. This adaptation has been produced at CSC Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, the Intiman Playhouse
Intiman Playhouse
Intiman Theatre in Seattle, Washington, was founded in 1972 by Margaret "Megs" Booker, who named it for August Strindberg's Stockholm theater. With a self-declared focus on "a resident acting ensemble, fidelity to the playwright's intentions and a close relationship between actor and audience", the...
in Seattle, the Court in Chicago, and American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. His full length musical The Green Heart, with book by Charles Busch
Charles Busch
Charles Louis Busch is an American actor, screenwriter, playwright and female impersonator, known for his appearances on stage in his own camp style plays and in film and television. He wrote The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, which was a success on Broadway.-Early life:Busch was born in 1954 and...
, was produced by The Manhattan Theatre Club, and is published by Samuel French
Samuel French
Samuel French was a U.S. entrepreneur who, together with British actor, playwright and theatrical manager Thomas Hailes Lacy, pioneered in the field of theatrical publishing and the licensing of plays....
. His children’s Christmas opera, Flurry Tale, with libretto by Billy Aronson
Billy Aronson
Billy Aronson is an American playwright and writer best known for coming up with the original concept of the rock opera Rent . He also came up with additional lyrics for Rent, and he almost completely wrote "Santa Fe"...
, has been produced by American Opera Projects
American Opera Projects
American Opera Projects is a professional opera company based in New York City, NY and is a member of OPERA America, the Fort Greene Association, and the Alliance of Resident Theatres/ New York]] . The company's primary mission is to develop and present new works...
/Family Opera Initiative
Family opera initiative
Family Opera Initiative is an American opera company based in New York City that commissions, develops, and premieres original works for cross-generational audiences. It was founded in 1995 by Grethe Barrett Holby, originally as part of American Opera Projects...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He wrote the music and lyrics for ART's production of Carlo Goldoni
Carlo Goldoni
Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays of Goldoni for their ingenious mix of wit and honesty...
's Servant of Two Masters
Servant of Two Masters
Servant of Two Masters is a comedy by the Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni written in 1743. Goldoni originally wrote the play at the request of actor Antonio Sacco, one of the great Truffaldinos in history...
and Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
’s The Imaginary Invalid.
He arranged and performed the music for the 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...
-winning production of The House of Blue Leaves
The House of Blue Leaves
The House of Blue Leaves is a play by American playwright John Guare, first staged in 1966 by Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut....
at Lincoln Center and on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and PBS. Magee co-produced and wrote the music for hundreds of one-act plays as Musical Director and co-founder with comedian Lewis Black
Lewis Black
Lewis Niles Black is an American stand-up comedian, author, playwright, social critic and actor. He is known for his comedy style, which often includes simulating a mental breakdown, or an increasingly angry rant, ridiculing history, politics, religion, trends and cultural phenomena...
and Rand Foerster of Steve Olsen's West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theatre Bar
West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theatre Bar
The Laurie Beechman Theatre is an 80-seat dinner theatre in the basement of the West Bank Cafe at 407 West 42nd Street in the Manhattan Plaza apartment complex just west of Times Square....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He wrote the music for Moonwork's production of What You Will
What You Will
What You Will is a late Elizabethan comedy by John Marston, written in 1601 and probably performed by the Children of Paul's, one of the companies of boy actors popular in that period....
, an adaptation of Twelfth Night, and for Moonwork's acclaimed version of A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
. He wrote the theme music for the CBS-Television pilot "Family Brood". His song, "Road To Victory" (co-written with longtime collaborator Bob Golden), was featured in the documentary film New School Order.
As an actor, Rusty appeared in the Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
film, Hannah and Her Sisters
Hannah and Her Sisters
Hannah and Her Sisters is a 1986 American comedy-drama film which tells the intertwined stories of an extended family over two years that begin and end with a family Thanksgiving dinner...
as well as onstage in The Irish...And How They Got That Way at the Irish Repertory Theatre
Irish Repertory Theatre
The Irish Repertory Theatre is an Off Broadway theatre, founded by Ciarán O’Reilly and Charlotte Moore, which opened its doors in September 1988, with Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars.The mission of the theatre was and remains:...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and the Wilbur Theatre
Wilbur Theatre
Wilbur Theatre is a historic theater at 244-250 Tremont Street in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located in Boston's theatre district.Clarence Blackall built the theatre in 1913. The National Historic Register added the Wilbur in 1980....
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. He was Music Director of the Irish Repertory Theatre
Irish Repertory Theatre
The Irish Repertory Theatre is an Off Broadway theatre, founded by Ciarán O’Reilly and Charlotte Moore, which opened its doors in September 1988, with Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars.The mission of the theatre was and remains:...
(Manhattan) and continued in that role even after his illness was diagnosed. He played the piano at the annual Irish Repertory Theatre
Irish Repertory Theatre
The Irish Repertory Theatre is an Off Broadway theatre, founded by Ciarán O’Reilly and Charlotte Moore, which opened its doors in September 1988, with Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars.The mission of the theatre was and remains:...
Gala which included accompanying Frank McCourt
Frank McCourt
Francis "Frank" McCourt was an Irish-American teacher and Pulitzer Prize–winning writer, best known as the author of Angela’s Ashes, an award-winning, tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood....
and the singers of the Irish and the American National Anthems.
His last musical 19th Street Shuffle co- written with Billy Aronson
Billy Aronson
Billy Aronson is an American playwright and writer best known for coming up with the original concept of the rock opera Rent . He also came up with additional lyrics for Rent, and he almost completely wrote "Santa Fe"...
, was to have been finished with additional material added by Lynn Shenkel, under the direction of Sheryl Kaller. His songs have been recorded by such renowned theatre artists as Rebecca Luker
Rebecca Luker
Rebecca Luker is an American musical theatre actress and soprano who has appeared in several prominent Broadway productions.-Life and career:...
, Mary Testa
Mary Testa
Mary Testa is an American stage actress. She is a two-time Tony Award nominee, for performances in revivals of Leonard Bernstein's On the Town and 42nd Street ....
, and his cabaret anthem, “New York Romance”, was performed at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
by his wife Alison Fraser
Alison Fraser
Alison Fraser is an American actress and singer who has appeared in concert at such venues as Carnegie Hall, The White House, Town Hall, The Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Tisch Center for the Arts, The Folger Shakespeare Library, The Wilma, The Emelin, Joe's Pub and Symphony space.Fraser is a two...
.
Affiliations
He belonged to Actors' Equity AssociationActors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association , commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing the world of live theatrical performance, as opposed to film and television performance. However, performers appearing on live stage productions without a book or...
, the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
, AFTRA and ASCAP.
Awards
In 2000, Magee was awarded the "Coming Up Taller" Humanitarian Award from then-First Lady Hillary Clinton at the White HouseWhite House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
for his work at the
52nd St. Project, a theatre company in Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton and Midtown West, is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City between 34th Street and 59th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River....
(Manhattan) where professionals do theatre outreach with local children.
Death
Rusty Magee died of colon cancer, aged 47. A memorial service and celebration of his life was held at Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. A memorial service was later held in his native Ann Arbor on July 26, 2003, where he was interred at Forest Hills Cemetery.
External links
- Official site
- Rusty Magee at the Internet Off Broadway DatabaseLortel ArchivesThe Lortel Archives, or the Internet Off-Broadway Database is an online database that catalogues theatre productions shown off-Broadway.The archives are named in honor of actress and theatrical producer Lucille Lortel.-See also:...